Tagged: 2008
Center for Urban and Regional Affairs
UMN CLA-OIT Infotech Small Grant for MAW Summer 2008
UMN Institute for Advanced Studies Research Grant
Minnesota Futures
MAW and the I and I in a Make: Television profile
Make Zine‘s TV component, Make: Television, decided to do a profile and me and MAW. After hours and hours of talking, filming, outing and editing, a preview has been released.
The show airs on Feb. 14 2009 on public television, all across America. Here’s the video….
2008 UMN Research Teaching Service
Research
Sample Works by Ali Momeni
- Smoke and Hot Air (2008)
in collaboration with Robin Mandel
Installation for smoke-ring quartet, synthesized voice, electronics and microcontroller - Table Settings (2008)
in collaboration with David Bithell
Live table-top musical theater performance - For Air, For Water (2008)
in collaboration with Da Wei Xu
Live Cinema - Animal Warmth (#28, Now is the Time) (2008)
Installation for carbon filament light bulbs, electronics and real-time software - Minneapolis Art on Wheels (2008)
Public Arts Collective formed and led by Ali Momeni
See this page for the "About Us" information, or explore the MAW site. - Wall Whisperer (2008)
Live Cinema - Eyes and Ears and the Truth it self (No People Allowed) (2008)
In collaboration with Jenny Schmid
Live Cinema - What Paint Doesn’t (2007-8)
Live Cinema
Teaching
Sample Course Syllabi and Student work by Ali Momeni
I am committed to using technology in my teaching. With the help of the pedagogic tools available at the University of Minnesota, I have conducted all of my courses thus-far in a mostly paper-free manner. All course syllabi, reading assignments, references and student works are on-line. Below you will find directed links to my course materials; please use the digital copy of this document with a computer connected to the internet.
2008-2009
-
ART 8400: Theoretical Constructions in Contemporary Art (Fall 2008)
Class Blog and Course Information/Syllabus
Assigned Readings and students’ responses - COLA 1521/3521/4521 Collaboratory I: Collaborative Research Laboratory (Fall 2008)
Class Blog - COLA 1001: The Art of Collaboration (Fall 2008)
Class Blog and Course Information/Syllabus
2007-2008
- ARTS 5670: Interdisciplinary New Media Collaborations: Teating Time (Spring 2008)
Class Blog and Course Information/Syllabus - COLA 3950/5950: Art for the People, Art on Wheels (Spring 2008)
Class Blog and Course Information/Syllabus
Some Sample Student Works - ARTS 3603/5630: Experimental Video (Fall 2007)
Class Blog and Course Information/Syllabus
Some Sample Student Works
Service
Other
Dzeny Shootout live animation try
While spending pre-thanks giving night, pre-into-birthday night-morning at Kitchen Budapest, things are looking up on the Dzeny Shoot out front. Here’s a lil demo of: iPhone’s accelerometers into ali’s parameter spaces, implemented in max/msp into kibu’s Animata into Jenski‘s big headed people.
What Paint Doesn’t
What Paint Doesnt (1) from Ali Momeni on Vimeo.
UMN Collaborative Arts Service: Curriculum
As a founding faculty member of the Collaborative Arts program, my colleagues and I have devised the major/minor requirements, established the core curriculum, created the fundamental COLA 1001 course, as well as a number of to-be-permanent course, currently offered as workshops (among the Art for the People/Art on Wheels, the precursor to MAW.
UMN Collaborative Arts Service: Curriculum Committee
Spring 2008, Fall 2008
Together with the two other core faculty of COLA, Michael Sommers and Guerino Mazzola, and our director Michael Cherlin, we finalized and submitted the following:
1) Requirements for a COLA major in the CLA
2) Description of the COLA Fundamentals course (i.e. COLA 1001, The Art of Collaboration). The course is approved, and will be co-taught by all COLA core faculty.
UMN Art Department Service: Public Image/Web Presence Committee
Fall 2008: After a convincing argument to the department, delivered by myself and Jenski at the faculty retreat in Feb. 2007, I was appointed chair of the Public Image/Web Presence committee.
The College of liberal arts has approved (and funded) a major update of the West Bank Arts Quarter (including Arts, Music, Theater and Dance, and Collaborative Arts). The college has hired the services of bswing to evaluate the usage and needs of the arts departments websites.
Update (11/20/08)
I met with bswing on a number of occasions for interviews and discussions. They seem to be asking the right questions, though their focus seems to be the West Bank Arts Quarter, as opposed to the departments that make up the WBAQ.
Update (12/04/08)
According to the presentation on bswing on Dec. 4, 2008, the WBAQ remains only a geographical indication, while the needs of the websites for independent departments remain many, diverse and sometimes overlapping. The next stage will be a graphical presentation of a web-site by bswing to the WBAQ-wide committee to which I am the Art Department representative.
Supporting materials for Linz 2009 “80plus1” Commission
Supporting Materials are here.
The full URL is:
http://alimomeni.net/files/share/view/2009LinzNoPeopleAllowed/index.html
Smoke and Hot Air on Northern Lights
The wonderful new Minneapolis arts organization Norther Lights is beginning to take off.
An article appeared there today about the installation Smoke and Hot Air, Robin Mandel and myself.
Lecture on Works, Light and Public Spaces
Lecture at the Mutating Media symposium in October of 2008, held at favorite Gent spot (after Ingrid and Bram’s pad of course): Vooruit. This symposium of a part of Almost Cinema 2008.
Physical Computing Workshop Vooruit@Gent – Day 3
Working with Motors:
1. Our Simple Voltage Amplification Circuit
2. Graphical Resistance Calculator
3. Transistor and Diode basics
4. Our TIP122 voltage amplifier
Physical Computing Workshop Vooruit@Gent – Day 2
More interfaces:
Excellent stepper motor:
Stepper Motor
Source for premade driver boards:
Futurlec Electronics (Thailand)
Physical Computing Workshop Vooruit@Gent – Day 1
Basic Electronics Resources
Tom Igoe – Understanding Electricity
Electronics Calculator (Resistance, Voltage, Amps, etc.)
General Resources
Tom Igoe’s Physical Computing Site
STEIM (Netherlands Interactivity Center)
Hardware Hacking
Instructables (DIY everything)
Sensors
CNMAT’s Gestural Controller Page
ITP (Tom Igoe) Sensor Reports – plus implementation code for PIC microcontrollers
Protolab Sensor Tutorial – uses arduino microcontrollers for examples
Light Sensing Resistor Circuit
Actuators
Interfaces
Tom Igoe – Microcontroller Overview
Arduino
Learning Electronics with the Arduino
Software
iShowU (documentation software)
Electronics Retailers and Surplus
All Electronics (surplus electronics)
Digikey (retail general electronics)
Electronics Goldmine (surplus electronics)
Futurlec (dc power boards, etc.)
Jameco (retail general electronics)
Mouser (retail general electronics)
Radio Shack (retail general electronics)
SparkFun Electronics (Arduinos Robots)
Tanner Electronics (local surplus store in Carrolton)
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UMN Art Department Service: Curriculum Committee
Fall 2008: I served on the Curriculum Committee in the department of art. Our main considerations were:
1) re-evaluation of major project for the BFA track; after consideration of all feedback from students and instructors, we decided to recommend to the department to break the class into a number of options: 1st, an “Art and Life” course, much in the style of the present “Art in the Twin Cities” course; as many of the BFAs do not go on to pursue careers in the arts, a fitting cap-stone course would be to assure that the know their local art world well and have experienced it aesthetically and critically. Another option would be an advanced studio; most BFAs do not get a lot of studio experience in our department (more than P are transfer students). An additional upper level studio would allow them valuable time to develop their voice
2) re-consideration of the Public Spaces position for grads: the last three graduate students have quit this position due to its unrealistic demands. A potential solution can be to make the BFA show juried, and therefore smaller.
3) re-consideration of the 2-year language requirement for BFAs. This question is to be investigated further
ART 8400: Theoretical Constructions in Contemporary Art
Fall 2008: ART 8400: Theoretical Constructions in Contemporary Art
First Year Graduate Seminar
Professors: Ali Momeni, Jenny Schmid
This course focuses on theories of contemporary art and how they have created a foundation for current art practices. In addition to reflecting on theory, this class seeks to collectively explore new paradigms in the ways that artists are working today- through the creation of collectives, the globalized community and artist-as-curator model. Can post-modernism shift to not just operate as a resistance against an historical Western paradigm, but rather formulate new approaches that are based in a globalized, less provincial and more dynamic way of thinking?
Here are links to the syllabus/course description, the class blog, and the assigned readings.
COLA 1521/3521/4521 Collaboratory I: Collaborative Research Laboratory
Fall 2008: COLA 1521/3521/4521: The Art of Collaboration
Professors or record: Ali Momeni,
Participating professors: Guerino Mazzola, Michael Sommers
A collaborative creative environment where over the course of a semester, students from different disciplines create a installation or performance that expresses their independent and collective talents and interests.
Find more information on the class blog.
COLA 1001: The Art of Collaboration
Fall 2008: COLA 1001: The Art of Collaboration
Professors: Guerino Mazzola, Ali Momeni, Michael Sommers
This introductory course presents the characteristics and the challenges of collaboration through three representative approaches from the visual arts, music, and theater. The course unfolds around concrete problematic situations arising from the project of a collaborative and multimedia-enhanced project.
The class includes lectures by guest artists as well as exploration of the cultural landscape of the Twin Cities.
See the syllabus and class description or find more information on the class blog.
Vooruit: Almost Cinema 2008
I will spend Oct. 3 to 16 in Ghent, Belgium, participating in the 2008 Almost Cinema Festival. The plan is to show two sculptural works, and give a with my man David Bithell.
MAW and I in a Minnesota Daily Profile
Check out this article in the Minnesota Daily, showcasing MAW’s activities as a student activities group. Here is the original link from MN Daily’s site.
MAW and the I and I in the New York Times
This article in the New York Times by Julie Bloom covers The UnConvention and MAW’s participation in the event.
MAW in Seattle Business Monthly
An article by Chris Clayton on MAW in the Seattle Business Monthly…
Union Break in Berlin
MAW and I in a Metro Magazine Article
Check out this article on MAW which appeared in METRO magazine this week. Here is the original link on METRO’s site.
2008 CNMAT MaxMSP Night School, taught by Ali Momeni
Between July 21-25 of 2008, I taught the 13th annual MaxMSP Night School, hosted by CNMAT. This was the 9th year I taught at the night school, crazy!
I have posted all course material on CNMAT’s 2008 Max/MSP Night School page.
Painting the wall MAW
After party for the Minneapolis Bicycle Film Festival, got a few moments to paint the wall with light….
President’s Faculty Multicultural Research Award
Interdisciplinary Program in Collaborative Arts Grant
CLA Grant
Faculty Summer Research Program
Alexander Dubcek Fund
McKnight Special Events Funds
McKnight Summer Research Fellowship
CLA-OIT Instructional Equipment Grant
Microsoft New Faculty Fellowship
Interdisiplinary International Institutional Partnership Grant
MAW – ZERO 1 Block Party Take-over
get there at 2pm,
ping pong from 3 to 5pm,
block party ’til 2am:
MAW knows how to make it last…
UMN College/University Service: Weismann Expansion Advisory Committee
Spring 2008:
I was recommended by UMN Vice President Steven Rosenstone to Weismann Art Museum Director Lyndel King to serve on the advisory committee for the museums expansion project.
The project involves the construction of several new gallery spaces, as well as a “Target Collaborative Studio”, on the front side of the museum.
The project should be completed by 2010.
Lecture at Carleton College
I gave a lecture to a class of bright eyed Carletonites, makes me miss Swarthmore College….
Here is the announcement.
MAW on MinnPost.com
Minneapolis Art on Wheels, people!
Many Thanks to Gabriel Cheifetz of 612authentic, his amazing camera, and the MinnPost….
UMN College/University Service: Northrop Hall Technological Advisory Committee
Spring 2008:
I was invited by Vice President for Scholarly and Cultural Affairs, Steven Rosenstone, to be a part of the 6-member technology advisory committee for the ambitious re-design of Northrop Hall, one of the oldest buildings on the UMN Twin Cities Campus.
We collectively came up with a list of wants, needs and ideas; they include: the maximization of public spaces, the allocation of the best spaces in the building to those public spaces, the need for a highly wired building, the possibility to use the outside of the building (e.g. projections) as well as the inside, the possibilities of visualizing the activity inside the space on the outside architecture.
Fall 2008:
Benjamin M. Johnson has been appointed to the position of Concerts and Lectures at the University of Minnesota, here‘s the announcement.
Minneapolis Art on Wheels Still images from Dinkytown
Minneapolis Art on Wheels, people.
Check us out….
DZR on the move, on the Barker
Time to try her out out doors, in this case, on the Barker Center for Dance, with Tyler Hallet’s groovy visuals on the bottom…
Ali onto Flash, DZR on the move
I give in.
I’m going to learn Flash.
My first day of Flash CS3 programming: got a hold of Box2DFlashAS3 and one of Jenski‘s ladies.
Not exactly finished but a good start, as well as a good ending considering TV on the Radio just ended, and it’s 4am, people!
Arduino for Robin’s Storm machine, no more computers!
I’ve been working on some software and electronics for Robin Mandel in order to realize his Storm. First I made a Arduino-MIDI-output-translator application that converted MIDI out of GarangeBand to on and offs on the Arduino’s Digital Outputs. Then I integrated the MIDI playback into the translator application.
But ultimately, best if the Arduino simply did it all, this way the Storm installation can run without a computer. The latest implementation does just that: first you translate the midi-file to a text format; then you load it on the the arduino as a part of a sketch; the sketch also integrates a potentiometer for setting the threshold of the light-sensor, and an LEd on pin 13 that gives visual feed-back about passing the threshold.
There are a couple of ingredients:
-A Stand-alone application that converts MIDI to a peculiar text file format. Get it here.
-An Arduino Sketch that takes care of the playback from the score, as well as the triggering using a light-sensor. Get that here.
Here’s a video:
and here’s the circuit, close up.
Storm light sensor arduino circuit
Arduino :: MaxMSP, light sensor for Robin’s storm
An arrangement for Arduino MaxMSP circuit so that blocking the light will turn on the storm. With the new MaxMSP patch, a photosensitive resistor is used to start/stop playback of a MIDI file that is a composition for Robin‘s electro-mechanical storm machine.
Here’s the circuit….
Minneapolis Art on Wheels heads West to ZERO1, San Jose 2008
I have been invited by Steve Dietz, Director of the festival, to take the Minneapolis Art on Wheels posse to the 2008 ZERO1 Festival. The 2nd Biennial 01SJ Global Festival of Art on the Edge will take place in San Jose, Cali, between June 4 and June 8.
Peter, TJ, Tyler and myself will trek west in a big truck and be there for the festivities. Along the way, we’ll make 10 or so stops in natural, rustic, sub-urban and urban settings to make some projections.
Plan is to leave around May 27, 2008, and return by around June 11th….
Mount Rushmore, here we come…
View Larger Map
Minneapolis Art on Wheels is ON!!!
So i’m teaching this class where we built a bunch of fancy mobile projection unites.
Check us out at our first official outing during the 2008 Spark Festival .
ArduinoBT :: Max/MSP
ArduinoBt, talking to Max/MSP, using SimpleMessageingSystem.
Had many many troubles with this “programmer not responding” bull shit, but got it going eventually… still doesn’t exactly stay up for hours.
(i.e. get in touch if you’re one of the other brave few trying it!)
Panel Discussion for Art On Wheels
Video documentaiton of a panel discussion on Feb. 13, 2:30-4:30pm, in Regis Art Center’s In-flux space.
The participants were the following:
-Mary Altman, Minneapolis Art Commission Public Arts Coordinator (confirmed)
-Mike Hoyt, Director of Kulture Klub (confirmed)
-Nora Paul, Director of the Institute for New Media Studiesat the U of M (confirmed)
-Jim Nystrom, UMN Police officer responsible for West Bank and Athletic Facilities (confirmed)
-Tracy Smith, UMN General Council Attorney in charge of student activities (confirmed)
-Steve Johnson, UMPD Deputy Chief
I acted as a moderator for the first segment of the panel discussion (about one hour); we then open the discussion to questions and answers for another hour.
Lecture: Ali Momeni, Works and the Body at UMN’s ECE Colloquia Series
I was invited to give a lecture on my work as a part of the UMN Electrical and Computer Engineering Department‘s colloquia series.
Below, a video recording of the lecture….
Ali Momeni and Jenny Schmid – Stadium Shores
Just another night at the South Shores (UMN South Stores), recorded in one (random) take, my new best friend Jenny Schmid rockin the electric base, and I myself on the Lemur.
This track is a good representation of how we roll here at the south shores, people.
MIDI to Arduino
Demonstration of a little stand alone application for translating MIDI to an Arduino‘s digital outputs.
The editable MaxMSP patch (and many more things) are a part of aLib. You will find the patch in the “for controllers” folder, within the “Arduino” section.
This application uses
–SimpleMessageSystem library for the Arduino platform.
–Cycling 74’s MaxMSP.
–Arduino USB drivers
-RetroWare’s MidiO plugin to allow GarageBand to send MIDI to other apps.
Many thanks to Nick Mariette for his help…
ARTS 5670 Interdisciplinary Media Collaborations: Treating Time
I’m teaching a course along with Professor Doug Geers from the School of Music, on the topic of treating time. The course is titled Interdisciplinary Media Collaborations: Treating Time and here is the course description.
COLA 3950/5950: Art for the People/Art on Wheels
I received a grant from University of Minnesota’s CLA-OIT to support a course I devised inspired by Graffiti Research Lab. The course is titled Art for the people/Art on Wheels here’s the course description.
I am immeasurably excited about the possibilities of the course…
Where I Work: Regis Art Center
At last, thanks to my main man Mark Knierim, a map of this incredible facility call Regis Art Center.
Mark also told me about the Four Gates of Speech among his many wise words…
Here is the full size image.
U of M West Bank Arts Quarter Panoramics
Some cats coming to the 2008 Spark Festival have been asking about the spaces we have available. Here are a few panoramics of the performance and installation spaces around the West Bank Arts Quarter. Look at the full size picture for a description of the location.
San Pedro la Laguna and Cartagena Pictures and Panoramics
Some panoramics from the recent trip to Guatemala and Columbia.
Here are some more panoramics, and the other pictures are on my Google Picasaweb albums.
JazzMutant Featured Artist
To share my work with their Lemur controller, the cats at JazzMutant have selected me among their featured artists with this profile.
2008 Spark Festival
UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA’S WEST BANK ARTS QUARTER PRESENTS SIXTH ANNUAL SPARK FESTIVAL OF ELECTRONIC MUSIC AND ARTS FEBRUARY 26 – MARCH 2, 2008
Festival to feature media artist Paul DeMarinis, sound artist/designer/remixer Richard Devine, composer Iancu Dumitrescu, art group Graffiti Research Lab, and music/pop culture writer Simon Reynolds
Minneapolis, MN (1/15/2008) — The University of Minnesota’s West Bank Arts Quarter will present the sixth annual SPARK Festival of Electronic Music & Arts, running Tuesday, February 26 to Sunday, March 2, 2008.
Events will take place in various locations on the University’s West Bank Campus and Minneapolis’ West Bank District. A complete schedule can be found at www.sparkfestival.org, listing of featured artists are in the attached press release.
Update:
A quick overview video made of various activities form the 2008 Spark Festival at the University of Minnesota. Still images by Sharolyn Hagen. Video documentation by many many people, and edited by AnderPander.
CNMAT MaxMSP Night School Student Evaluation
Evaluation form for the students of CNMAT’s annual MaxMSP Night School. Course syllabus and materials are here: 2005, 2006, 2007.
The”main instructor” refers to you Ali Momeni, whereas the guest lecturers refer to the invitees who began the classes and presented on Friday night.
Most questions are to be answered on a scale of 1 to 7; unless otherwise noted, 1 represents the worst rating and 7 the best. Ideally you should leave no questions unanswered!
Click here for the evaluation results.
aLib
A library of abstractions and java scripts for Max/MSP; part of my doctoral dissertation from UC Berkeley. aLib is organized by category and folders and contains many help-files as documentation. aLib is currently under beta testing. Please forward all comments to Ali. Update 06.2009: new slim and friendly aLib; many things removed, the best kept; includes latest pattr space interpolation work…