For those of you in Oregon, here’s a dork-tastic event on December 7th:
DorkbotPDX brings you Collin Oldham, Shelly Farnham and Steve Davee
Come join us for an evening of geek meets art. The fine folks at AboutUs will be hosting us for this event, which takes place December 7th at 6PM. AboutUs is located at 107 SE Washington St, Suite 520. Feel free to bring snacks and drinks to share. Please spread the word!
Collin Oldham: The RT (radio trowel) and The Cellomobo
Collin spent the 2005-2006 academic year at Stanford’s Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA) where began to develop the electronic musical instruments he is presenting today.
The RT (radio trowel) uses a capacitive sensor array based on Max Mathew’s radio baton to detect the position of the trowel on the playing surface. The trowel’s movements control sound synthesis parameters, including filters which process live sound from a contact mic attached to the trowel.
The cellomobo is a computer music instrument that attempts to model the behavior of a bowed string. It gives haptic feedback to the bow at audio rate to simulate the stick-slip action of a bowed string. This feedback stream finds it way back into the audio stream, creating a unique hybrid of digital and analog synthesis.
Collin Oldham is a cellist who has performed around the world with such varied and luminous artists as Placido Domingo, Kiri Te Kanawa, Rosemary Clooney and Aretha Franklin. He’s active as a session player, and has recorded with the Decemberists, Richmond Fontaine, and Elliott Smith, among many others.
Shelly Farnham: Dorkbot Dorkbot Dorkbot + Seattle
I am that rare combination of geek, artist, and scientist and when I first met Dorkbot Seattle I felt like I’d *finally* found my people — where technology is artistic medium, science is art, and geeking out is just a whole lot of fun. My one complaint was that Seattle Dorkbots were not collaborating enough, and when I took over as Seattle’s “Dork Overlord” it was my main mission — to cultivate the creative geek community.
In this talk, I will review the best of Dorkbot Seattle’s art, geekery, and science, and discuss how we have worked to increase cross-disciplinary collaboration through our meetings, workshops, and art shows.
Shelly Farnham received her Ph.D. in Social Psychology at UW in 1999, after which she worked at Microsoft Research for seven years studying community technology. A few years ago she quit to join the start up world, and is now co-founder of Pathable (professional networking for events). In her “spare” time she paints, does collaborative installations, and instigates people to have more fun creating stuff.
Steve Davee: Not to kill a thought: The impact of language on curiosity, creativity and scientific inquiry.
This talk explores how easy it is, even with the best of intentions, to stifle creative thought and true learning when it comes to working with children in the areas of science, math and engineering. We will investigate examples of simple but powerful changes in language, with the intention of provoking the best of creative potential and shared inquiry.
Steve Davee is a math and science teacher at Opal Charter School and a Media Specialist for the Center for Children’s Learning at the Portland Children’s Museum. He is a recovering Biochemist with a background in physics and over 20 years of volunteer and work experience in education.
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