it’s strange doing the newsletter these weeks! my usual go-to spots for tutorials and resources are now either 1) tutorials for things like sewing masks or printing shields or 2) tutorials for how to learn very practical things that will maybe make you competitive for remote work in the shifting economy. plus, there’s a glut of online/streamed experiences instead of events, and it’s a bit tricky to suss out what is worth the time. everyone is extremely online! there’s tons of open calls, but damn it’s hard to write a proposal right now. where is the space for making creative things, and digesting creative things?
I know I’ve also had trouble focusing on doing anything more than the bare minimum of productive work and consuming anything more than, say, old episodes of Brooklyn 99 while I cycle on a training rack. maybe I will do some livestreams this week! idk! I have a big backlog of games and online exhibitions I want to stream, but I am also having trouble keeping a strict schedule around other commitments and transitional shit. you can follow me on Twitter if you want a heads up on stuff like that.
resource roundup!
the Zine Machine is a website template by Rowan Merewood that uses the magic of CSS to allow you to print the site into an 8-page folded zine. what a clever way to make content easily distributable by both web and print! the project is hosted on Glitch, so you can easily remix it for your own projects. luv 2 see a simple way to make content more accessible and archivable!
this thread by Everest Pipkin is an interesting meditation on map creation, with 10 very Oblique Strategies-esque suggestions for creating imaginary spaces for exploration:
Jason Shum has made his animation tutorials free for anyone wanting to learn game animation while cooped up inside. it’s over 45 hours of workflow demonstrations, and worth checking out here.
open calls & residencies!
The Revenge of the Real is an open call for papers, projects, and research related to the urgent topics of establishing a viable planetarity through the lens of the COVID-19 pandemic and its urban realities. you can submit a proposal by sending an abstract and a brief bio to opencall@strelka.com by April 24. learn more about the call and the thematic prompts here.
the NYU Game Center Incubator is accepting applications for experimental gaming works. the program is a launchpad for commercial games that provides a stipend, free working space, and access to mentors. applications are due by May 4, and there will be a live-streamed information session on April 16. learn more here.
Artist Relief is distributing $5000 grants to artists facing dire financial emergencies due to COVID-19 who are able to receive taxable income in the US (citizens, green card holders, permanent residents with an SSN or ITIN). learn more here.
the Jane Love Tiny Fund is hoping to send some much needed funds to artists in need in these trying times. please send a very short (2-3 sentence) email to lovejane183@gmail.com about your work including a Paypal address to request a tiny fund. Tiny funds are $100-$500. people who have great WFH jobs who would like to donate to this fund should email lovejane183@gmail.com to get connected with an artist.1
arebyte has an open call for young artists (under 28) based in the UK (tho outside of London). you can learn more and apply here by April 16.
El Centro de Cultura Digital has an open call for the development of an installation in El Memorial in Mexico City during the month of October, after a period of exploration and planning during August and September. projects might involve lighting design, sound design, use of electronic sensors, experimental interfaces, etc. etc. etc. they’re accepting proposals until today. you can learn more here.
Virtual Worlds Festival has an open call for immersive linear and interactive experiences, including VR, 360º films, AR, games, and multi-media installations. the call is open until April 19, and the festival will hopefully take place in Munich from June 26 – July 4. you can learn more and apply here.
VR Arles Festival is seeking submissions for the 2020 edition of the festival that meet their 3 curation themes. the deadline has been bumped back to April 30, and the festival will now take place in the fall. you can learn more and apply here.
online learning!
School for Poetic Computation will be holding an online creative coding bootcamp beginning April 21. this is a 5 session course aimed at teaching the foundations of coding to beginners by creating visual art and animations in openFrameworks. applications are open now. you can learn more here.
School of Machines, Making, and Make-Believe has introduced some new online programs for this spring on the themes of AI and bio-engineering, art and medicine, making personal games, and better worlds through cooperation. they’re also offering a limited number of pay-what-you-can solidarity tickets, with preference given to women, POC, LGBTQ+, and persons from underrepresented communities in tech. you can learn more and sign up here.
Biology Studio has moved some of their spring programming online, including workshops on bio-design and innovation with bio-materials. I’m signed up for a class beginning later this month! you can learn more here.
📅 upcoming events!
Tues Apr 14! Rancho Electrónico is hosting an online workshop in digital self-defense (Spanish language), with a particular focus on alternatives to Google tools for online action. the meetup will be held via Jitsi at this link.
Fri Apr 24! Empatía Net is the inaugural digital event of CUNA, a new platform for art, science, and technology. starting at 1pm CDT, they’ll be hosting a full afternoon of presentations on topics like surveillance, disinformation, digital activism, self-care, and art therapy. looks good! you can learn more and register here.
Hackaday has been collecting a bunch of virtual events on this Google calendar. check it out!
creator featurette! Rita Eperjesi – New Media Artist/Art Director
this is a new section starting this week to feature artists and technologists who are currently available for hire, have art works to sell, or are crowd-funding a project. if you’d like to be featured in an upcoming issue of the newsletter, please fill out this form.
Rita is an art director/new media artist. She has been working in advertising in the past years, she is great at coming up with out-of-the-blue ideas and finding visual ways to express them, let it be installations, campaigns, videos or social media. She is the founder of Creative Code Budapest meetup, and she has a wide perspective on new technologies when it comes to developing a new concept.
I love the imagination and joy of projects like her installation, The Cloud Factory. The piece uses LeapMotion, an Arduino, a projector, and OpenFrameworks to let you cloud watch and create your own clouds!
She’s looking for part-time work, but also open to freelance gigs. She is based in Berlin. You can reach her via email at eperjesirit@gmail.com, and you can learn more about her work on her website.
recommendations!
Thea Flowers just released 2 Eurorack modules for pre-order that are both enormously cute and sound super fun to play with! Big Honking Button is a sampler, and Sol is a full USB MIDI to CV interface, but what makes them both special is that they’re designed to be customized by the user using any text editor and a lil bit of CircuitPython! super rad! you can learn more about them and pre-order here.
Samantha Irby’s new book is literally the only thing I feel like reading right now, and there was an excerpt in the Paris Review last week that is just *chef’s kiss*. just go read it, I promise.
Southland Tales is showing on Mubi right now and hoo boy what an oddity. they’ve been screening a lot of apocalyptic-themed things lately, and most of them (ex. Threads, The Quiet Earth) are great but also like, pretty heavy and distressing for the current moment. and then there’s Richard Kelly’s spectacular failure of a sophomore film, which somehow works better 14 years later? a cast full of comedic actors, musicians, and Dwayne Johnson in one of his first post-WWE roles all playing it incredibly straight, with lots of spaghetti-strap + lip gloss lewks, unsettling CGI, and a denouement in a giant zeppelin. wut? idk but it kept me distracted for over 2 hours! if ur a podcast person, there’s an old Patreon-supporters episode of The Worst Idea of All Time where Tim and Guy role play as Kelly and producer Bo Hyde in a full-length director’s commentary track. ok!
just for lulz!
here’s just some good muppet content!
*~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 April 20 – 26, but I’m happy to promote events further in the future as well and keep them on the calendar.
