Talkin’ Tinkering with the Masters of Automata

The Exploratorium Tinkering Studio invites all of you to join a Google Hangout this Friday, November 21st from 9am to 10:30am (Pacific time) to talk about one of their true specialties—Automata!—with some of their favorite masters of this art/technology.

Joining the Tinkering Studio team will be a star-studded group:

• Artist Keith Newstead (whose pieces are at the top of this post)
• Gautham and Vanya from Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology
• Monika and Allan from Lawrence Hall of Science
• Brooke from Oakland’s International High School

While this will be tailored mostly for those who are teaching others to make automata, anyone and everyone is welcome. Karen from the Tinkering Studio writes:

We’re huge fans of automata here in the Tinkering Studio and think we could dedicate several hangouts to this topic alone, since it’s such rich territory for exploration. It’s one of those activities we think holds tremendous potential for making and tinkering, but isn’t the easiest one to facilitate in an open and “tinkerable” way — that’s why we think it’s worth thinking more about.

You’ll hear from an interesting mix of people, who will share their experiences working with automata in different contexts and thinking about the educational implications. We have a rough outline of what we’ll cover below, but it’s likely to change based on where collective interest takes us.

This hangout will be useful to both education and exhibit folks and those with an interest in arts education in general (think STEAM).

On the agenda:

• Material possibilities / wire, cardboard, trash, flotsam, food
• The importance of examples – figuring out what the right selection is
• Automata Workbench: An interactive exhibit prototype
• Trying to move it away from being step-by-step
• Mini-revelations related to construction
• Transition from intensive workshop to doing it on the floor
• Automata artists
• Training someone else to facilitate the activity
• The tradeoffs in terms of creativity
• Automata as part of arts education
• Incorporating circuitry and linkages

Participate

This promises to be a visual delight. Join live or if you have to miss it, watch the recorded archive.

To be able to ask questions live, use the Google+ event page. You’ll need a Google+ account to participate.

Or view the hangout via YouTube, but viewers won’t be able to ask questions of the presenters.