Wait, hrm. If I’m going to make myself some, why not leave them up for everyone else – just in case? Good idea. So I did, and added a few more. Not all of what I do lends itself to this sort of thing, but I like to think what I put up works well.

You can find the store here on my site: http://jackwhitsitt.com/store/

Or you can go straight to my Zazzle Store (Easier to Use): http://www.zazzle.com/sintixerr

It’s been a fun process making these shirts and other products out of my art. Not only is it actually difficult to figure out which pieces will work on clothing – many of my own favorites do not – but not a single one was “ready to go” out of box to put on a shirt. Each one of them took some editing…many of them some creative editing.

For instance, “Dead Jen” went from an interesting photo to something very graphic:

Before

After

This was also my chance to get a lot of my old doodles and sketches into better shape.  “Strained Peace”, for example, was a very old sketch that I only had a 136×200 pixel scan of. I managed to take it to 2400×3500 pixels. Crazy

You also may notice a lot of what I put on the shirts are faces, portraits, and characters. Well, yeah. It’s what I do.

Anyway, more will be going up. Let me know what you think.

For the raid, my goal was actually to create an 80′s style fim strip of the raid (to be projected)using a cheap half frame 35mm camera.  I did get some great shots, but I had the camera 90 degrees the wrong way the whole time (horizontally positioning the camera resulted in….vertically framed shots. ugh).

I’ll try and figure out a fix for that later, but for now I wanted to post some of my digital shots from the raid. I think they’d some of the best shits I’ve gotten in awhile. In keeping with the theme, though, I did break one of my rules and really played with the colorization of the shots to make them feel more apocalypse-movie than they did by themselves. Let me know how you like the results?

I’ll do a more detailed write-up of it after tonight…like instructions, hints at things to try, etc.

In the mean time, for now, download it here:

http://jackwhitsitt.com/Artomatic09-final-whitsitt.zip

Click here to see it (sortof) in the background of my live art demonstration:

http://vimeo.com/5045791

This is obviously a terrible example, so Ill have better video up soon.

Summary:

I’m going to be creating a homemade projection screen out of black out cloth and something called “Screen Goo”. Screen Goo is supposed to be much better than regular paint for projecting things onto and, considering there is a lot of ambient light during the day, I need the best available.  The screen will be roughly 50 sq feet and will -probably- be framed by molding purchased from Home Depot. On either side and above the screen/frame will be black drapery. This is to darken the area around the screen and focus the eye. I could paint, but I really dont want to (I may have to paint beneath it, though).

Onto the screen will be three framed charcoal drawings (possibly with glass).  Those drawings will have been done from photos I’ve taken (right now I think it’ll be three girls from the Landon House Civil War shoot)….and will be slightly different moods than the original photos….but still proportionally accurate in key areas.

The original photos will be projected onto the framed drawings to make it look like they’re glowing, and to provide a conflicting perception of what mood the girls in the pictures are actually in.  Behind the framed drawings, a moving vividly colors abstract projection will provide the background.  The content of the abstraction will be generated by (via Quartz Composer) a webcam pointed at the audience looking at the piece.  The movement, size, speed, and color of the abstraction will be generated in real time based on whatever music is playing on my laptop at the time (youll be able to hear it).

The reason for the Civil war era-looking dress, b&w vs color, and calm expressions in the pictures Im choosing is that they’re intended to contrast so sharply with the ludicrously noisy background that they’ll somehow form a complement.

The neat thing will be that the framed pictures will look like theyre actually in front of the projection, when they’re not really. They effect is striking when done right.

(For those of you keeping score, this is a combination of plans B and C with some extra decisions on how to handle the area not being projected on)

Where am I in this?

1. I finished the moving (some would say seizure-inducing) abstract webcam/audio visualizer background last night. Some of you have seen this projected, but I wasn’t happy with the effect or it’s ability to keep time with the music.  I’ve since dramatically improved the look, feel, and performance of this and I’m happier with it than Ive been in weeks. The two biggest changes were to swap a rotating cube with 2 2D squares which move around the screen, big bigger and smaller, and rotate on the Z axis. This resulted in significant performance and aesthetic improvements
2. I ordered the Screen Goo. I just got a UPS notification that it was on its way 5 minutes ago. When that arrives, I’ll go to Walmart and pick up a huge blackout drape.  I’ll probably paint the drape with the goo (on the rubbery side) in the street near Artomatic after I move this weekend.
3. I’ve also settled on three black and white photos that I’m going use as the framed  focal points / anchors.  I chose the B&W to contrast with the crazy colors in the projection.  Once I move this weekend, I’ll make the drawings of them in the new apartment. Ill use projections of the photos as the stencils for them since they need to be pretty much 100% proportionally accurate.  Each will take about 3 hours to do.
4. I probably still have the same black drapes I used last year (and I actually still have 1 from 2007), but Ill need to check that next week. I also need to go buy the frames and the molding.  If I have to paint under the projection screen, ill probably use someones leftover paint since it’s not a huge area.
5. I still have to set up and test the “recover nicely from the power being cycled every night”
6. Put the projector on its mount, lock it in place, and get measurements.  If I do the drawings after this, Ill do them AT Artomatic…might be interesting.

So….pineapple.

All in all, Im pretty happy with where I am, but there’s still a lot to do.

For registration questions, e-mail register@artomatic.org. To volunteer, e-mail volunteer@artomatic.org.

You can also visit the forums (which I help moderate) at: http://artdc.org/forum/index.php?board=37.0

I participated as an artist in both 2007:

• http://sintixerr.wordpress.com/2007/04/27/new-artomatic-in-second-life-event-schedule/
• http://sintixerr.wordpress.com/2007/04/04/artomatic-second-life-splattered-paint-oh-my/

and 2008:

• http://sintixerr.wordpress.com/2008/04/27/python-photography-digital-art-artomatic/

Both times were phenomenal experiences as an artist and as a visitor. The art was fun, good, bad, amusing, awful, and totally worth seeing. More than that,  being part of such a huge volunteer-run event outside of the uptight art snootery and commodities market you normally encounter is totally worth it.

The official press release can be found here:

—

Artomatic 2009 to be held in D.C.’s Capitol Riverfront neighborhood

In celebration of its 10th anniversary, Artomatic will be bringing its trademark one-of-a-kind
multimedia arts event to Half Street’s 55 M Street, S.E., in Washington, D.C.’s Capitol
Riverfront neighborhood in summer 2009, the arts organization announced today.

In conjunction with the Capitol Riverfront Business Improvement District (BID) and Monument
Realty, Artomatic will be presenting more than five weeks of art, music, theater, workshops
and more — all of it free for visitors. Located between the U.S. Capitol Building and the
Anacostia River and between Barracks Row Main Street and South Capitol Street, the Capitol
Riverfront is a vibrant new business center, urban neighborhood, entertainment district and
waterfront destination.

“We’re thrilled to be partnering with Artomatic on this unique arts event. With both Artomatic
and Major League Baseball within blocks of one another, the Capitol Riverfront will be the goto
location for summertime entertainment in 2009,” said Michael Stevens, executive director
of the Capitol Riverfront BID. “Artomatic sets the stage for the type of future festivals and
entertainment that you will see in the Capitol Riverfront at the three new parks — Diamond
Teague, The Yards Park and Canal Park — which begin opening spring 2009 through 2011.”
Artomatic 2009 will be held at 55 M Street, S.E., a new 275,000 square feet LEED Silver Class
A office building developed by Monument Realty. The building, currently under construction, is
located atop the Navy Yard Metro stop and within a block of Nationals Park, home to the
Nationals baseball team.

“We are pleased to be hosting Artomatic at 55 M Street for its 10th anniversary,” said Michael
Darby, principal of Monument Realty. “It is not only a great opportunity to promote the
neighborhood and attract new visitors but also to bring some very talented artists to the
Capitol Riverfront.”

Held regularly since 1999, Artomatic transforms an unfinished indoor space into an exciting
and diverse arts event that is free and open to the public. In addition to displays by hundreds
of artists, the event features free films, educational presentations and children’s activities, as
well as musical, dance, poetry, theater and other performances. Artomatic 2008, held in D.C.’s
NoMa neighborhood, attracted a record-breaking 52,500 visitors and 1,540 participating
artists.

The 2009 Artomatic event promises to be an equally appealing destination for D.C. area arts
fans as well as those looking for summer entertainment, said Artomatic President Veronica
Szalus.

“The D.C. area has a vibrant, energetic arts scene and we are excited to be able to showcase
that talent and share it with the community,” Szalus said.

Artomatic 2009 will be held May 29 to July 5. The event will be open Wednesdays and
Thursdays from noon to 10 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays from noon to 1 a.m., and Sundays
from noon to 10 p.m. Artomatic will be closed Mondays and Tuesdays. Admission to Artomatic
is always free for visitors.

Registration for participation in Artomatic will open in March and will be open to all artists —
including painters, photographers, sculptors, graphic designers, musicians, poets, actors and
dancers. Artomatic is an unjuried event, so all artists are welcome, from professionals to
beginners. Registration will be on a first-come, first-served basis and will end once space is
filled. To be notified of the date when registration will open or to stay up on other Artomatic
news, sign up to receive ArtoNews, the Artomatic newsletter, on the Artomatic Web site.
Artomatic is run entirely by participating volunteers, and new participants are sought yearround.
To volunteer and help make plans for Artomatic 2009, e-mail volunteer@artomatic.org.
“Artomatic 2009 will fulfill 10 years of commitment to the growth of our cultural community
and help fuel our creative economy,” said Artomatic Chair George C. Koch.

More details on the event will be available on the Artomatic Web site, www.artomatic.org, in
coming weeks.

###

About Artomatic: Artomatic is a creative community that collaborates to produce and
present a free arts spectacular. Participation is open to all, from recognized artists to
undiscovered talents, who work in a variety of arts forms. In partnership with the
development community, Artomatic transforms unused building space into a playground for
expression, serves as a catalyst for community growth in up-and-coming neighborhoods, and
helps to grow the creative economy. The nonprofit Artomatic organization is headed by a
volunteer Board of Directors and is funded in part by the D.C. Commission on the Arts and
Humanities, an agency supported by the National Endowment for the Arts. For more
information, visit www.artomatic.org

About the Capitol Riverfront BID: The Capitol Riverfront Business Improvement District
(BID) is dedicated to making the Capitol Riverfront neighborhood clean, safe, friendly and
vibrant; to creating the best quality of life in the neighborhood; and to attracting office
tenants, residents, retailers and visitors. For more information, visit www.capitolriverfront.org
About Monument Realty: Monument Realty is an award-winning full service real estate firm.
The firm’s diverse portfolio includes mixed use, office, residential and hotel properties.
Monument Realty has developed more than 5 million square feet of office space, nearly 5,000
residential units and three hotels valued at more than $5 billion. For more information, visit
www.monumentrealty.com.

So I’ve been making some new art lately that  I think pretty is cool. Back at Artomatic last year, I wrote code that generated a mosaic of one image out of another and make a 6′x6′ photo and wondered if the code was art, since the only thing it did was generate that one mosaic?

At that point, though, it was still static and the question was (to me) relatively easy to answer.

This time, I wanted something more dynamic and interactive. I wanted to further explore the question of whether  or not something that changes every time you see it and which depends on its environment is still “art”.  What I ended up doing is using Apple’s Quartz Composer – a visual media programming language – to create an  “audio visualizer” (sort of like you see in iTunes, Winamp, etc.).  What’s different about this piece, though is that combines live webcam input with live audio input into a pulsating, moving interpretation of the world around the piece.

In some ways, the work can be considered just a “tool”. But, on the other hand – and more importantly, I think – the fact that the ranges of color, proportion, size, placement, and dimension have all been pre-designed by the artist to work cohesively no matter what the environmental input moves it into the realm of “art”.

In this post, I hope use the piece in a way that will give you an example of what it would look like as part of a real live installation and to help explain the ins and outs of my process.

THE BASICS

An easy example of where this would do really well is at a music concert. The artist would point the camera at the band or the audience, and, as it plays, the piece would morph and transform the camera input in time to the music and a projector would display the resulting visuals onto a screen next to the band (or even onto the band itself).  This is just one suggestion, though.  Interesting static displays could also be recorded based on live input to be replayed later. It’s this latter idea that you’ll see represented below (though you might notice my macbook chugging a little bit on the visuals…slightly offbeat. Thats a slow hardware issue ):

In that clip, I pointed the webcam at myself and a variety of props (masks, dolls, cats, the laptop, etc) as music plays from the laptop speakers. There was a projector connected to the laptop displaying the resulting transformations onto a screen in real time. A video camera was set up to record the projection as it happened.  My setup isn’t much, but it can be confusing, so take a look below. My laptop with the piece on it, webcam connected to the laptop, projector projecting the piece as it happens, and video camera recording the projection:

TUTORIAL/EXPLANATION

As I said earlier, I used Quartz Composer – a free programming language from Apple upon which a lot of Mac OSX depends. Some non-technical artists might be a little bit leery of the term “programming language”, but Quartz is almost designed for artists. It’s drag and drop. Imagine if you could arrange lego’s to make your computer do stuff. Red lego’s did one type of thing, blue did another, green did a third. That’s basically Quartz. There are preset “patches” that do various things: Get input, transform media, output media somehow, etc. You pick your block and it appears on screen. If you want to put webcam input on a sphere, you would: Put a sphere block on the screen, put a video block on the screen, and drag a line from the video to the sphere. It’s as easy as that.  First, I’d suggest you take a look at this short introduction by Apple here:

http://developer.apple.com/graphicsimaging/quartz/quartzcomposer.html

Then take a look at the following clip and I’ll walk you through how it works at a hight level:

The code for this is fairly straightforward:

In the box labeled “1″ on the left, I’ve inserted a “patch” that collects data from a webcam and makes it available to the rest of the “Composition” (as Quartz Programs are called).  On the right side of that patch, you can see a circle labeled “Image”. That means that the patch will send whatever video it gets from the webcam to any other patch that can receive images. (Circles on the right side indicate things that the patch can SEND to others. Circles on the left indicate information that the patch can RECEIVE from others.)

The patch labeled “3″, next to the video patch, is designed to resize any images it receives. I have a slow macbook, but my webcam is high definition so I need to make the resolution of the webcam lower (the pictures smaller) so my laptop can better handle it. It receives the video input from the video patch, resizes it, and then makes the newly resized video available to any patch that needs it.  (You can set the resize values through other patches by connecting them to the “Resize Pixels Wide” and “Resize Pixels High” circles, but in this case they are static – 640×480. To set static values, just double-click the circle you want to set and type in the value you want it to have.)

In the patch labeled “4″, we do something similar, but this time I have it change the contrast of the video feed. I didn’t really need to, but I wanted to see how it looked. The Color Control patch then makes the newly contrasted image available to any other patch that needs it.

On the far right, the webcam output is finally displayed via patch “8″. Here I used a patch that draws a sphere on the screen and textured the sphere (covered the sphere with an image) with the webcam feed after it has been resized and contrast added.

So now we have a sphere with the webcam video on it, but it’s not doing anything “in time” with the music being played.

What I decided to do was to change the diameter of the sphere based on the music as well as the color tint of the sphere.

If you look at patch “2″ on the left, you’ll notice 14 circles on the right side of it. These represent different (frequency) bands of the music coming in from the microphone. This would be the same type of thing if you were to be using an equalizer on your stereo (It’s actually split into 16 bands in Quartz, I just only use 14).  Each of those circles has a constantly changing value (from 0.0000 – 1.0000) based on the microphone input. Music with lots of bass, for example, would have a lot of high numbers in the first few bands and low numbers in the last few bands).  We use these bands to change the sphere diameter and color.

I chose to use a midrange frequency band to control the size of the sphere because that’s constantly changing, no matter whether the music is bass heavy or tinny.  You can see a line going from the 6th circle down in patch “2″ drawn to the “Initial Value” circle of patch “5″.  Patch “5″ is a math patch to perform simple arithmetic operations on values it gets and output the results. All I’m going here is making sure my sphere doesn’t get smaller than a certain size.  Since the audio splitter is sending me values from 0.000 – 1.000, I could conceivably have a diameter of 0. So, I use the math patch to add enough to that value that my sphere will always take up about a 25th of the screen, at its smallest.  Patch “5″ then sends that value to the diameter input of the sphere patch (#8) we discussed earlier.

It’s these kinds of small decisions that, when compounded on one another, add up to visualizations with specific aesthetic feelings and contribute to the ultimate success or failure of the piece.

Another aspect of controlling the feel of your piece is color.  In patch 6, you see three values from the audio splitter go in, but only one come out.  The three values I used as the initial seeds for “Red”, “Green”, and “Blue” values.  Patch “6″ takes those values and converts them into an RGB color value.  However, notice that patch “6″ has three “Color” circles on the right, but only one gets used? That’s because I designed that patch to take in one set of Red, Green, and Blue values based on the music, but mix those values into three -different- colors. So as the music changes, those three colors all change in sync and at the same time and by roughly the same amount, but they’re still different colors. That lets me ad

d variety to the piece and allows me, as the artist, to kind of create a dynamic “palette” to chose from that will always be different, but still keep constant color relationships. This contributes to a cohesive and consistent feel to the piece.  A detailed explanation of how I do that is out of the scope of this post, but you can see the code below and take some guesses if you like:

And that’s pretty much that. We have a sphere that displays webcam input and which changes size and color according to the music playing nearby. But that’s really not all that interesting is it? What if we added a few more spheres? What if we used all three of the colors from patch “6″? What if those spheres all moved in time to DIFFERENT bands of the music?

The code might look something like this:

And the resulting output looks something like this:

Yeah I know the visuals are sortof silly and the song cheesy, but the music’s beat is easy to see and there just isnt that much in my apartment to put on webcam that I havent already.

Also, take a look at 55 seconds through about 1:05. The visualization goes a bit crazy. See the white box on top? You cant see in the video but that box lets me enter input parameters on the fly to affect how the visualization responds. This is the VJ aspect.  For these visualizations, Ive only enabled 2: How fast/big the visual components get and how fast/slow they get small.  In that 10 second segment, Im jacking them up a lot.

What about the original video? What does that code look like? See below.  It’s a litle bit more complicated, but essentially the same thing.  Instead of 16 spheres, I use a rotating 3D cube and a particle fountain (squares spurt out of a specific location like out of a fountain).  In addition to just color and size, the music playing nearby also affects location, rotation, minimum size, speed of the particles, and a number of other visual elements:

At some point (as soon as I figure out the Cocoa), Ill upload the visualizer here as a Mac OSX application for download.

SUMMARY

So, what do you think? Is this art? If not, what is it? Just something that looks cool? In my mind, artistic vision and aesthetics are a huge component of making “multimedia” “new technology” art, no matter how big a component the technology is.  Without some sort of understanding of what you are visually trying to communicate, it’s only by chance that you’ll end up with something that looks good.  But, even beyond that, I found that I had to think pretty far ahead and understand my medium in order to create something that would look consistent AND visually pleasing no matter what environment it was in and no matter what it was reacting to. It was like writing the rules to create an infinite number of abstract paintings that would always look like they were yours.

Also, figuring out what to put in the webcam view when and at what distance is an important part. When Im paying attention (as in the first video), it adds a whole new dimension. When I dont care and point it at anything (as in the demo videos), the whole thing becomes a bit more throwaway.

These were my final selections:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sintixerr/sets/72157608876695189/

Paivi put up some of her BritishInk pics from Artomatic (hers was more last minute than mine since her original venue, Bar Pilar, fell through. Too bad!)

ABOUT:
—
PixTour: a project of FotoWeek DC 2008
Travel the city to check out PIX TOUR.

PixTour, a project of FotoWeek DC 2008, is showing the work of
area photographers at 40 bars, clubs, restaurants, theaters, and
shops around DC. Artist and Place meet and invite you.

PixTour brings art to the people who are out and about.
Take a walk, have a drink and a meal, and see the art of photography in Dupont, Adams Morgan, Columbia Heights, 14th Street, Anacostia and More. PixTour is an informal showing of photography on local walls and windows.

Curators: Molly Ruppert, Heather Goss, Beth Baldwin

PixTour was created as a project for Fotoweek DC 2008 by Molly Ruppert molly@warehousetheater.com and Warehouse.

VENUES:
—

DC9                                            1940 9th St NW
Nellie’s Sports Bar                  900 U St NW
Vegetate                                    1414 9th St NW
Velvet Lounge                           915 U St NW
Dos Gringos                            3116 Mt Pleasant St NW
Gala Theatre                            3333 14th St NW
Red Rocks Pizza                     1036 Park Rd NW
Room 11                                   3234 11th St NW
Sticky Fingers Bakery             1370 Park Rd NW
Wonderland                             1101 Kenyon St NW
Asylum                                       2471 18th St NW
Bedrock Billiards                     1841 Columbia Rd NW
Bossa Bistro Lounge              2463 18th St NW
Chief Ike’s Mambo Room      1725 Columbia Rd NW
Idle Times Book Store            2467 18th St NW
Tryst                                           2459 18th St NW
Caramel                                    1603 U St NW
Lee’s Flowers and Cards      1026 U St NW
Mocha Hut                                 1301 U St NW
Polly’s Cafe                               1342 U St NW
Solly’s u street tavern              1942 11th St NW
Vinoteca                                    1940 11th St NW
Cafe Tropé                                2100 P St NW
DC Café                                     2035 P St NW
Soho Tea and Coffee              2150 P St NW
Stars Bistro                               2120 P St NW
Tangysweet Yougurt  Bar      2029 P St NW
Garden District                         1801 14th St NW
Playbill Café                             1409 14th St NW
Timothy Paul Bedding            1529A 14th St NW
Universal Gear                        1529B  14th St NW
ARCH Training Center            1231 & 1227 Good Hope Rd SE
Baked and Wired                     1052 Thomas Jefferson St NW
Big Bear Café                           1700 First St NW
Mocha Ground                          4706 14th St NW
Warehouse                               1021 7th Street NW

ARTISTS
—

Giamoco Abrusci
Ken Ashton
James Calder
Daniel Cima
Jason Colston
Brett Davis
Thomas Drymon
Elsie Dwyer
Josh Gibson
Steve Goldenberg
Jason Gottlieb
Kyle Gustafson
Justin Harris
Linda Hesh
Justin Hoffmann
Seth  Kaplan
Angela Kayklers
Angela Kleis
Brian Knights
Marie Kwak
Bridget Sue Lambert
Pamela Leahigh
Jeffrey Lear
Martin Locraft
Dale Lowery
Cesar Lujan
Pat Padua
Linda Plaisted
Mark Planisek
Michael Platt
Drew Porterfield
Katy Ray
Bruce Robey
Lisa Rosenstein
Julie Seiwell
Kerri Sheehan
Myrna Smernoff
Matthew Smith
Parikha Solanki Mehta
Paivi Solonan
Michael Starghill
Linda Strating
Sanjay Suchak
Ira Tattelman
Raul Valda
John Thurman
Jack Whitsitt
Pete Van Vleet
Amber Wiley
Ken Wyner

I’m going to be showing some data visualizations at the My Space on 7th art show in Washington, DC starting Friday, July 11 at the Touchstone Gallery! Everyone should come out. I took a look at the space and there’s some interesting work hanging already. (And I have to thank Paige, here, who unintentionally helped me decide what to show…but more on that in a later post.)

Oh. And there will be wine tasting opening night.

There will be three old, but reworked images and one new one created just for this show.  Only one has ever been printed before and they all look pretty fantastic.

The new one consists of two superimposed graphs (a paraplot and a scatterplot) of illegitimate traffic going to/from “jackwhitsitt.com” (that would be, uh, most of it).

The three older ones are:

Destination Port Traffic Volume (global sample)

(Test Data from custom developed SEM correlation  modules)

(Pcap data from 10,000 spam emails)

I haven’t blogged in a couple of weeks and didn’t think this is what I’d be writing about first, but so-be-it!

I filmed and edited this video of Artomatic’s “Art in Fashion” show last Saturday. It was a lot of fun – a good cap to the party-in-the-rain capital pride parade (which isn’t my thing, but Paivi and I went because that sort of event is always done with good humour and fun). 

The voice Ive mixed in to the song (obnoxiously at first – dont worry, after the first minute or so it quiets down) is of Andrea Collins shouting “Don’t you think the hotter the better??” (It was funny to me at the time)

Enjoy.