happy new year!!
if you, like me, are already 1000% sick of everyone on your TL posting self-aggrandizing stuff about how they lived/laughed/loved in the past 10 years, fear not! there will be no such nonsense in this week’s newsletter! let’s just move on and start making new things in the new year.
THAT SAID, this year I am hoping to focus more time on community projects and creative work like this newsletter, and you can * ~ directly support ~ * that work by becoming a paying subscriber or making a 1-time donation. $5/mo (literally the lowest that Substack lets u charge) or $30/year (the year is half price!!!) lets me do less stuff idgaf about and more stuff that feels good and meaningful in these dark days. this newsletter will always be free, but, u know, we live in a society, etc.
and to all u donors and subscribers,
resource roundup!
happy Public Domain Day! a bunch of stuff fell into the public domain yesterday, aka you have lots of new stuff to play with in your work. here’s a project by Michael Weinberg that uses the Cleveland Museum of Art’s API to power a digital picture frame with a rotation of public domain works to get you inspired.
ok so I literally haven’t had time to play with all the lovely Adafruit stuff I bought the last time I was in the US, but who can resist coveting the soon-to-be-released Clue board. omg so cuteeeeeeeee- lots of sensors, a cute lil color display on the reverse, and sized to play nice with micro:bit robots. can’t wait til this one comes out properly! you can learn more here.
are u finally actually gonna learn React this year? this post lists out some solid resources, and the comments section actually lists out some good materials as well. useful comments! whodathunkit!
here’s an interesting way to use CSS variables to create a dark mode support for your website. I am now living that life of always wearing blue light blocking glasses when I work (pro-tip: if u get safety glasses that also block blue light u can kill 2 birds with 1 stone in ur studio practice), but I can also see this being a cute way to toggle between any 2 color palettes in a project. maybe a show/reveal interactive experience? idk, but I’m getting some ideas….
even if you have zero application for video scrubbing animations on the web, this post is worth at least a skim because it’s a pretty thorough exploration of a number of approaches to the desired result. it can get pretty easy when you’re vibing on a problem to tear through your failures without really documenting them, which is a pity – sharing your suboptimal attempts can be as enlightening to other creators as sharing the thing the finally worked best.
opportunities!
I’m making time this weekend to start reviewing the first wave of applications for the ?? an artist’s guide to computation ?? residency program! if u sent something in, stay tuned for a reply over the next few days. if you’d like to submit something for later in the year, please email me at info@marthahipley.com with your name, a short description of the work you’d like to share, and any relevant links (website, social, etc.).
ok ok here is one new years post I am down with. I really like that every year CircuitPython makes space for feedback from their community – if your goal is to be an accessible tool, you’d better be listening to the voices in the community. they’re asking for things like videos, forum posts, blog posts, tweets, Github gists, etc. on any topic relating to CircuitPython to be tagged with #CircuitPython2020 and sent to circuitpython2020@adafruit.com by the middle of the month. you can learn more 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! the submission fee is €30 per entry, and submission gets you a 25% on festival tix, so if you’re planning on going anyway why not give it a shot? 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.
El Centro de Cultura Digital in Mexico City just opened their call for workshop proposals for 2020. designers, artists, musicians, programmers, educators, developers, scientists, etc etc etc are invited to propose inclusive workshops of 6-12 hours that can serve their community. you can learn more & apply by January 6 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!
the other day I came across meetXR.de, a calendar for XR/AR/VR events in Germany. it’s primarily in German, so I can’t offer too much insight into individual events, but they have regular listings for events in Munich, Bremen, Hamburg, Berlin, etc. maybe worth checking out if you’re based in Germany! you can share your own events with the calendar by sending them an email at hello@meetXR.de.
today, Jan 2! Postdoc Brewing Company! Seattle, WA USA: Hardware Happy Hour is celebrating it’s 2nd birthday with their first meetup of 2020! I don’t know much about this crew, but it looks like a chill hang for talking about hardware, having a drink, and enjoying some Taiwanese food. they encourage both hobbyists and career hardware folks to attend, which might be a nice way to get some expert advice on your latest side project. why not! you can learn more and RSVP here on Meetup.
Thurs Jan 9! Babycastles! New York, NY USA: the CyPurr Collective is back with another SUPER FUN SOCIAL, a screening and discussion of Robocop:
Partnerships between states and corporations can be scary! Whether talking Amazon and Department of Homeland Security, Google and Department of Homeland Security, Palantir and….seemingly every government entity, come by to watch this (severely problematic) 80s imaging of what the future of policing and targeting the poor will look like.
the screening will be subtitled in English, and the event is free to attend, tho any donations will help support the venue and the snack budget. you can learn more here.
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. this looks like a cool chance to hang with some scientists and support an interesting project. learn more and get your tix 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. based on this Artsy writeup, the show alone is worth checking out, and the artist salon will be well worth your time.
just for lulz!
this one goes out to everyone updating their websites for the new year:
*~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 6 – 12, but I’m happy to promote events further in the future as well and keep them on the calendar.
