~e; EM mini-exhibit invite (minnesota.us)

[human being <human@electronetwork.org>]

  Hello Electronetwork-List,

  I am fortunate to be a participant in a larger exhibit
  curated by Steve Dietz entitled State of the Art, held
  at the Carleton College Art Gallery, opening Nov. 5th
  and closing Nov.19th, located in Northfield, Minnesota.
  (This is a good time for electromagnetic artifacts, too.)

  More information and directions can be found online at:
  http://www.carleton.edu/campus/gallery/schedule.html

  This has been an incredible experience in making an
  educational mini-exhibit on electromagnetism, and the
  process has taught me a lot, as has discussing the ideas
  with Steve Dietz who has helped advance my thinking
  and imagination beyond previous limitations. Hopefully
  the mini-exhibit makes it online when time is available.

  A few things stand out in this process, one is trying to
  find 'junk' or artifacts and places which keep and get
  rid of these pieces of our culture. Recycling is much
  more efficient than I previously thought, as it is near
  impossible to get close to the electronic bins of waste,
  which is good in a way, though difficult to find things.
  Places which were found included electronics surplus
  stores, and electronics recyclers where a wide variety
  of motors, router cables, mainframe harddrives, and
  other artifacts can be found. A branch of the antique/
  architectural surplus warehouses was a real find, as
  it had old streetlights on its sixth floor, the industrial
  equipment one sees on roadsides prior to upgrades.
  Many things are much larger when seen up close,
  like parking lot lighting systems when warehoused,
  and their lightbulbs, which are the size of televisions.

  Of the interesting things never seen before, up close,
  many vacuum tubes were donated, and also found an
  antique radio with bigger tubes without a case which
  has a stator/rotor capacitor for changing frequencies
  (basically what looks like a series of rounded metal
  plates that vary the amount they touch each other, to
  tune in specific frequencies). Have had a lot of fun
  going through old newspaper clippings and finding
  some great cartoons on electricity. At the last minute
  this weekend, after an early cache of actual system
  circuit boards for computers donated by a computer
  repair shop, a computer retailer donated two of their
  more sculptural system boards used for floor displays
  which are pink and orange circuit boards, which is a
  trend because computer cases are now being put on
  display, with their sides open, so the boards aesthetics.
  Also, a great donation was of an old hearing aid that
  will be part of a curio cabinet of diverse EM artifacts,
  such as silicon and one of those miniature radio cars,
  magnetic subway ticket, 1Mb RAM, LCD screen, etc.
  Children's books, documents, papers, postcards, postal
  stamps, an electroscope, lighting, and other things will
  also be seen in relation to one another.

  All content is assumed to be in the eye and mind of the
  beholder, and thus there is an attempt to approach this
  as a collection of electromagnetic artifacts. The 'art' of it
  could shift according to one's view of things. One goal
  is to share some of these extraordinary yet oftentimes
  mundane objects in a common EM context, so that by
  recontextualizing them, together, they might be seen in
  a different way than when separated. Or, disappeared.
  Also, it has long been believed that those doing works
  online and in electronic forms have a great opportunity
  to integrate works within traditional settings, as there is
  a shared context if it is approached that way, so this is
  a test of the hypothesis that institutions could support
  and share the works that are influencing culture today.

  And of great importance has been attempting to share
  these artifacts in an educational, hands-on display, in
  which people can pick up the pieces, investigate them,
  hopefully consider them or imagine what they may do.
  It is not a perfect approach, and surely a professional
  could do it with much more refinement, though this is
  like a real-life sketch of a mini-exhibit of the project:

	the electromagnetic assemblage
	http://www.electronetwork.org/assemblage/

  And so it will be a vital piece of showing this approach
  in action. Maybe it will be a quiet or spectacular failure,
  but have given this my all, so hope anyone nearby who
  has a chance will check it out. It is a giant experiment.
  Improvements and adaptations of the idea are welcome.

  Hope to meet some list members there if you can make it.

  Thanks, and especially to Steve Dietz for the generous
  opportunity to participate, and for his unique guidance.

  Brian

  brian thomas carroll: research-design-development
  architecture, education, electromagnetism
  http://www.electronetwork.org/bc/

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