my grandmother recently moved and used some of the money from the sale of her old house to upgrade her phone and home computer. she was devastated to find that her fav Flash games no longer worked! grandmas are gamers too! this 10th anniversary post by Pierre Corbinais of Oujevipo.fr digs into a similar sadness that many of the nearly 1,800 games he’s featured have fallen into disfunction or have disappeared. but it’s not just an elegy for the fallen, he’s actively working to find and archive all of the featured games for posterity. he’s managed to archive about 65%, but is asking for help! are you a creator whose game has been featured on the site? are you a tinkerer who might be able to help get some source code up and running? are you just a fan who might have your own downloaded copy of a lost game? check out his call for help and see what you can do!
resource roundup!
if you need a music for programming fix this week, I’d recommend this mix by Avsluta via Netil Radio. Introspective Electronics began as a monthly show on Netil Radio, but has since expanded into an event series. if ur London-based, the next event will be on January 22! more info below.
3DBuzz has shuttered but has left behind a torrent with their massive library of tutorials centering around creating modern computer games on topics like AI programming, ASP.net, Blender, iPhone and Android apps, C#, C++, Objective C, Python, OpenGL, HTML and JavaScript, Solidworks, Photoshop, GIMP, Unity, and several game engines like Unreal 4 and Doom 3. it’s a pretty massive collection (over 200 GB!!!!), so it’s worth looking through the torrent and picking and choosing what you’d like to download. you can learn more and get the torrent here. Hackaday also has a link here to a corrected torrent that seems to have a few files that are missing in the original link.
here’s a nice overview via Stack Overflow of some of the most popular tools for creating graphics on the web. if you’re wondering, say, whether Three.js or D3.js is right for your project, this is a good place to get grounded in your options.
here’s an interesting little design experiment: how do you design a website to be low-tech while still managing to be visually attractive and mobile friendly? this post by Low-tech Magazine details their efforts to practice what they preach with a new site design that runs 100% on solar power with a decreased average page size of a factor of 5! it’s an interesting deep dive into optimizing a site not just for user experience but for environmental impact. worth a read!
Daniel Santalla’s #under60sec tutorials keep trickling into my timeline, and they’re worth a look! sometimes it can feel totally overwhelming to set aside the time to plow through a long tutorial or online course. his bite-sized vids can get you going with something cute with minimal commitment! check out this zippy little illustration of a lazy but effective way to texture an object in Unity without unwrapping it:
opportunities!
submissions have been extended to January 15 for Commiserate Chicago 2020! you can, and should, apply to exhibit your artwork, run a workshop, propose a talk or panel, or participate in the Object-Oriented Orgasm Hackathon. you can learn more and apply here. if you need some extra motivation, they’ve been making daily announcements of the OOOHack mentors on Twitter:
Artefact has an open call for their festival of experimental sound, Ten Acres of Sound. they’re looking for noise-makers of all kinds to produce centerpieces for their unusual mix of concert series, site-specific exhibition, and village fete. the 6 selected artists will receive £900 to produce and oversee the installation of the work. proposals ideally will explore locality and community, and should in some way be site-responsive. you can learn more and apply here by January 24.
early program and scholarship applications for School of Machines, Making & Make-Believe are open! the programming for 2020 is a mix of one-, two-, and four-week programs all thoughtfully designed around prioritizing human experience in technology. take some time this week to read more here and consider applying before January 26! if you need some extra motivation, check out this interview with founder Rachel Uwa.
Stochastic Labs in SF is accepting applications for their residency program! residents receive a private apartment, dedicated work space, shop access, a $1k monthly stipend, and a budget for materials. damn! projects can be in any medium, though for-profit ventures are preferred. you can learn more in their faq, and can apply here.
this is for all u code poets out there: if ur new years resolution is to finally finish that book you’ve been tinkering with, brokenenglish.lol has an open call for books longer than 20 pages. it’s worth checking out their site for a vibe check, as well as their current roster of books. send an email to envia@brokenenglish.lol by January 23 to be considered.
do you have a fresh game ur ready to share with the world?? do u have a WIP game that u can get out the door by Feb 2? submit your works for the A MAZE. / Berlin 2020 festival! if you just wanna play some sweet games, you can also apply to become a member of the selection committee (and also get a 25% discount on festival tix if you review 5 or more games). you can learn more here.
FILE (Electronic Language International Festival) has an open call for its 2020 edition. artists and researchers can submit works into the categories of: Interactive Art, Digital Language, Electronic Sonority, Workshops, Symposium, and Led Show. the deadline is January 14, and you can learn more here.
Theorizing the Web 2020 has opened their call for papers! this is their 10th anniversary, so they’re looking for a bit of a more retrospective approach. the submission deadline is January 19, and the event will take place from April 17-18 in NYC.
? upcoming events!
Tues Jan 14! Gray Area! San Francisco, CA USA: NEO.LIFE is having a celebration and Kickstarter launch party for the new book: Neo.Life: 25 Visions for the Future of Our Species. if you’re interested in biohacking/transhumanism/etc. learn more and get your tix here.
Jan 16 – 18! also Gray Area! San Francisco, CA USA: artist Refik Anadol is presenting two kinetic data sculptures, Bosphorus and Black Sea. you can learn more and get tickets here. Gray Area is also having a live A/V show by Belief Defect on the Friday, and you can get tix for that here.
Weds Jan 16! Westbeth Gallery! New York, NY: celebrate 7 years of School for Poetic Computation with an exhibition of projects from teachers and alumni, as well as material from the school’s archives! learn more here.
Fri Jan 17! Artechouse! Washington, DC USA: Artechouse is kicking off their Washington DC 2020 seasons with a collaboration with artist Zach Lieberman, co-creator of openFrameworks:
Future Sketches is the first solo exhibition of Lieberman’s work in Washington D.C., with an emphasis on his eclectic style of sketching with code for creative exploration. The installations presented draw on over a decade of work and research in the field of media art, exploring how the body, voice and gesture can be transformed in expressive ways.
the exhibition is open thru March 1 from 10am to 10pm, with 21+ After Hours Sessions starting at 5pm every day. learn more and get tix here.
Sat Jan 18! SFPC! New York, NY USA: Society for Poetic Computation is hosting a one-day event on mathematics as a transcendent reflection of culture. tix are available on Eventbrite.
also Sat Jan 18! co.up coworking! Berlin, Germany: the Creative Code Jam is back for January! this open and experimental gathering is a chance to connect with other artists, makers, designers, illustrators, coders, musicians, performers, learners and anyone interested in the use of computing skills for artistic expression. you can learn more and RSVP here.
Sun Jan 19! TRANSFER! Los Angeles, CA USA: TRANSFER will reopen with their current exhibition ‘Virtual Beings’ on the 4th, and will be holding a salon evening on the 19th with featured artists Stephanie Dinkins and Ryan Kuo in conversation with Nora Khan. you can RSVP for the event by emailing director@transfergallery.com.
also Sun Jan 19! Bluestockings! New York, NY USA: CyPurr Collective is back with another session of Securitea, a conversation series centered around reducing cyber harassment harm from a feminist lens:
This social event from the CyPurr Collective hopes to build a system of support offline by creating a comfortable space to discuss issues, share experiences, ask questions, and build up our digital-agency. All while enjoying delicious tea and snacks, of course.
the event is free, with all donations going to support the venue.
Weds Jan 22! The Lion & Lamb! London, UK: if u can’t get enough of Introspective Electronics on mixcloud, u can check it out IRL in the first 2020 gathering of this platform for deep listening meditations and adventurous dance rituals. sounds like a sonic safe space to center your creative energy for the year ahead! learn more here.
just for lulz!
how is this NES art for Superman better than literally the entire DC universe film franchise??? ghost cat spin-off ASAP!
*~housekeeping~*
if you have anything in the works that you are excited about (an event, a workshop, a new project), please send me all the details. the next newsletter will cover the week of January 20 – 26, but I’m happy to promote events further in the future as well and keep them on the calendar.
