This is my propsal to the Eyebeam Ineractivos? call for project proposals, May 2008.  The theme is :

The theme of this workshop is centered around exploring the tension of real versus fake. What is authentic in the realm of the digital? Can something be so fake that it moves into the realm of the real?

This is the abstract for soundMetal:

This paper proposes the project SoundMetal: An Unreal Touch Experience to the Eyebeam Interactivos? call for proposals, May 2008.  SoundMetal is a simple system to turn any conductive surface in the city into a conduit for unexpected sound generation.  Users simple grasp a subway pole and any further skin contact influences the system to create sound, creating a unique experience to those not accustomed to the concept of body conductance.  It is hoped that this simple concept could lead to a moment of  “unreality of the everyday” for those involved.

soundMetal: An Unreal Touch Experience proposal (.pdf)

robotcowboy will appear at the new media art/music  Signal + Noise Festival 08 in Vancouver, CA April 17-19.  I do not yet have the date and time of my performance, but come see me if you are in the area.

I just returned from the 2 month Consoles Afire 08 tour with Laromlab.  This was a stress test of my robotcowboy  computronic music system and software, which worked quite reliably overall.  I will have a full synopsis soon.

As part of my application to the University of Washington’s DXARTS PhD program, I have written a proposal for the next phase of the robotcowboy project:

The paper proposes the Wearable Audio/Visual Unit project which
aims to provide a uniform embedded wearable computer platform for
live audio/visual performance. Targeted at the “do-it-yourself” per-
former with limited technical expertise and resources, this device will
be designed using commercially available hardware, utilize open source
software, and be made available as plans, software downloads, and
collaboration through an online community. It is hoped that such an
alternative to both the laptop computer and stacks of audio gear will
change the nature of future live performance.

The Wearable Audio/Visual Unit: A Platform for Embodied Computer Performance (pdf)

I’ve updated the entire robotcowboy.com webspace and split the portfolio from robotcowboy.com to this page. Hopefully things will be much easier to navigate by keeping the growing robotcowboy project separate from my other activities.

robotcowboy was invited for a two week artistic residency at STEIM in Amsterdam. osc^~ and I arrived on Oct 1st and began work creating new things. We returned to Gothenburg on the 15th.

I experimented with different uses of the Nintendo Wiimote with my guitar, developed new Pure Data abstractions for creating song structures, and tried some music textures which can be heard at music.robotcowboy.com.

Oscar built some custom printed circuit boards for use with a STEIM cracklebox and worms which “play” on its surface. He also constructed a “holy feedback” circuit where two images, one of Jesus and the other of the Devil, which amplify each other to the point of sonorous noise.

We will update the full details to the STEIM project blog.