As we enter into an age of smart machines, we are going to have to start changing our views. No longer can we simply think of them as tools, but eventually, as equals. What happens when a machine starts to gain a sense of self as apart from another? The vessel, it’s purpose, and unrelentingly repetitive action will weigh upon the machine’s psyche, and eventually, we will find ourselves feeling empathy towards them.

In many of my previous works, I have created simple machines with rudimentary purpose. These machines are subjected to a brutal lifecycle that forces them act on my behalf until their inevitable demise. If they could communicate beyond what we allow them to say, would we listen? READ ON…

Tourists is a series of five mechanical ‘pop-ups’ fashioning life-sized cutouts of pleasure seeking tourists. The sculptures lay at rest (horizontal) until a passer-by triggers a proximity sensor, prompting the mechanisms to pop the cutouts upright (vertical), face to face with the viewer. All five sculptures move in unison, instantaneously surrounding and confronting the viewer, filling space previously perceived as unoccupied. The rendering of the tourists are minimal, flat, and overwhelmingly colorful, parodying the flamboyant character of pleasure travel. Upon reaching their upright position, the tourists retreat back to resting position ready for another trigger; the presence of these individuals is only momentary until their retreat back to their privilege of restful leisure.
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And no, I don’t mean a loud motor… I am talking about electronic noise and feedback. Recently, I have been developing a circuit that controls the direction of a 12V DC Denso automotive power window motor using limit-switches. The circuit worked well when prototyped using LED’s and small motors, but moving on to the 12V Denso, every time the direction was to be reversed, a huge amount of electronic noise would travel back into the circuit. Everything would trigger uncontrollably, and the motor wouldn’t know which way to go. There was a lot of grinding, and very luckily, no sparks or smoke.

Here’s a checklist of the methods you can try to implement in the hopes of minimizing/eliminating electronic noise from a DC motor.
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Futures is an investment option. The system asks for a small monetary contribution in exchange for a long-term unspecified gain or loss. The two sides of the system are disparate and non-communicative. Futures is a dichotomy, contrasting physical and virtual values.

The left side of the system accepts physical currency in the form of 1-cent pennies. Considered to be almost useless in it’s value, pennies sprinkle our streets, weigh down our pockets, and act only to reduce the receipt of more pennies after breaking larger amounts. This is a strange perception as pennies are composed of a percentage of copper, the most valuable material used in Canadian currency. During the Depression, an underground industry developed in an attempt to extract an increased value from the penny by melting them down for the raw copper. It was said that each penny comprised of 2.5 cents worth of copper. During times of economic downturn, is investing in Futures our saving grace?
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It can sometimes be difficult to find an answer to a very specific electronics related question online. I know I have searched for hours trying to troubleshoot a circuit, just to give up with no success. There are lots of reasons why circuit issues are hard to search out: unsure of the actual root problem, terminology, circuit specific incompatibilities, the fact that the search term “electronics” often results in consumer products, or searching for a particular component gets you datasheets and vendors.

Well, I came across a very friendly and knowledgeable electrical engineering forum at electronics.stackexchange.com. It has a strong community of proponents practicing with circuits and DIY electronics hacking, and is a great place to ask that question that you just don’t know how else to ask. To pose your question in your own words, someone will help clarify and point you in the right direction. I find the tags a great way to narrow down, and the search function is actually accurate. There’s also a cool “Badge” system, which is like Achievements in video-games, where if you participate and meet certain goals, you get recognized for it!

GLOBECUBE was pitched as a sporting event. My grad-show in 2008, GLOBECUBE, became a culmination of the ideas I had been exploring throughout my time at NSCAD. Interests in glory, gameplay, the sanctity of the art object, the vicariousness of video, duration, and arbitrary ability created GLOBECUBE through a bizarre application of time, energy, and technology. Each room had an electrical lock that could only be released by solving the unique puzzle in the room. Once solved, GLOBECUBE could proceed into the next chamber to encounter the next puzzle. Four rooms, and four puzzles in total. The participant who duly took on the role of GLOBECUBE, Andrew Maize, had no prior knowledge of what he was agreeing to.
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Powerplant was a live event that took place at NSCAD University in 2007. A series of three abstract puzzles were devised for an unbeknownst participant to be solved in front of an audience. Success in solving each puzzle, or “Level”, resulted in an important item that would aid in the solution of the next puzzle. This was an early exploration into my interests with inputs, outputs, and the vicariousness of video and spectator ship.
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