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Greg Pond Teaches 3D Printing Workshops at Fort Houston this Sunday 10-06-2013

 Fort Houston  No Responses »
Oct 012013
 
Fort Houston's swanky Replicator 2 3D printer

Fort Houston’s swanky Replicator 2 3D printer

The Wedgewood/Houston makerspace and community workshop Fort Houston recently acquired a Makerbot Replicator 2 3D printer. That’s perfect timing for Greg Pond’s 3D printing workshops Sunday, October 6th at 10 a.m. and 5 p.m.

Space is limited, so reserve your spot soon! From the Fort Houston site:

3D Modeling and Printing Class

  • Price: $130.00
  • Date/Time: October 6, 2013,  10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

For more information on the instructor, please visit http://gregpond.net/.

This class will provide the foundations for using SketchUp CAD software to generate 3D models that can be printed on a Makerbot 3D printer. We will begin by learning to design 3D models in SketchUp, providing an overview of the basic tools, best practices for design and how to install program extensions called plugins. The second half of the class will focus on techniques for drawing models in SketchUp that can be output as physical plastic model. We will work through a series of exercises that will yield 3D prints for you to keep.

Materials and Costs associated with putting on the class:

Participants need to bring their own laptops with SketchUp installed.

Beginner level course, no experience necessary.

3D Modeling and Printing Open Lab

  • Price: $30.00
  • Date/Time: October 6th, 5:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

This session is open to anyone who has some basic experience making 3D models in any CAD software who wants to learn how to or refine their models for export and 3D printing. We will share projects, ideas and questions as well as work on individual projects. Participants should bring their own laptop computer with the CAD software of choice. This session is designed for those who have a working knowledge of their CAD software such as SketchUp, Rhino, SolidWorks, or Meshlab and want assistance with designing and refining objects for 3D printing. We will print objects from participants or demonstration models during this session.

Friday at Zeitgeist: Secret Keeper (Mary Halvorson / Stephan Crump) Indeterminacies, Greg Pond Art Exhibition Opening 05-10-2013

 Concerts, Visual Arts, Wedgewood/Houston  No Responses »
May 072013
 


Photograph by Gus Powell


The Chestnut/Houston/4th-Avenue art triangle I like to call “NoHo” is the place to be this Friday. In my last blog post, I told you about Robbie Hunsinger’s reactive sound sculpture opening at Seed Space. That exhibit is open from 6pm to 8, but you should plan to arrive right at 6.

That will give you enough time to head over to Zeitgeist Gallery at 7pm to catch NYC avant jazz guitarist Mary Halvorson‘s new band Secret Keeper (with double-bassist Stephan Crump). I’ve been to nearly all of the Indeterminacies programs, and this one has me the most excited.  Rodger Coleman writes on his blog NuVoid,

I was recently asked to curate the May 2013 “Indeterminacies” event at Zeitgeist Gallery. At first, I wasn’t sure what to do but after some thought, I decided to really go for it: Why not bring Mary Halvorson to Nashville? Well, as it turns out her new band, Secret Keeper, a duo with bassist, Stephan Crump, will be touring the states in support of their upcoming CD on Intakt, Super Eight. Fortuitously enough, we have them confirmed for Friday May 10! … The New Yorker has labeled Mary Halvorson “the current it girl of avant jazz guitar” while The New York Times just decreed Nashville “the nation’s ‘it’ city.”  I suppose this is just a confluence of events. Whatever, it is going to be awesome!

Nashville writer, artist, and overall cool person Veronica Kavass will moderate. More info on the Facebook event page.

Friday night at Zeitgeist also marks the opening of Greg Pond‘s new art exhibition. Greg is an installation artist, hacker, 3D printing pioneer, filmmaker, musician and Associate Professor of Art at University of the South in Sewanee. He most recently created, along with Benton Bainbridge, the interactive installations at the Ballet Mécanique show at Blair School of Music. I’ve certainly gushed about him in the past.

Greg writes,

I have a solo show of sculpture, images generated from software, and sound for the first exhibition at the new home of the Zeitgeist Gallery. It will be on view from May 10 to June 8. The reception for the exhibition will be June 1. On the evening of May 10 there will be an Indeterminacies performance in the gallery. I will be on hand during this event.

stumpERupts3Squaresled2photo (9)ih-11-4d-Press

Greg also recently completed a multi-year documentary project about contemporary life in Kingston 12, Jamaica called Born in Trench Town. Greg will screen the documentary at some point during the exhibition’s run. I’ll let you know the screening date as soon as it’s announced. Based on the trailer below, it looks like a must-see!

Oh, by the way, all of these Friday events are FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC!


Born In Trench Town Trailer from Greg Pond on Vimeo.

Secret Keeper (Mary Halvorson / Stephan Crump) Indeterminacies / Greg Pond Art Exhibition Opening
Friday, May 10th, 7pm, free
Zeitgeist Gallery (new location)
516 Hagan Street
Nashville, Tennessee 37203

VORTEX Percussion Performs George Antheil’s “Ballet mécanique” feat. 8 Robotic Pianos! April 7th at Blair School of Music

 Concerts, Visual Arts  No Responses »
Mar 232013
 

Blair Vortex VORTEX and the Bad Boy! George Antheil's restored Ballet mécanique

I’m going to call it. The April 7th Blair School of Music event VORTEX and the Bad Boy! will be the most ambitious, satisfying, and important Nashville event of 2013. People will talk about it for years. Those who miss it will regret it for years.

How can I be so sure about that?

Well, for starters:

  • Blair Percussion VORTEX director Michael Holland organized last year’s John Cage Centennial, the most important event of 2012.  This lobby musicircus featured over 75 performers, and that was just the pre-show!
  • The April 7th event centers around the groundbreaking 1924 experimental film and musical composition Ballet Mécanique, directed by Fernand Léger and Dudley Murphy and scored by George Antheil.
  • The film will be projected with LIVE orchestration, featuring 8 PLAYER PIANOS, 13 live musicians, xylophones, bass drums, electric bells, airplane propellers, and more!
  • This is the original restored orchestration and film in its southeaster US premiere, only the 6th US production featuring the original orchestration with the film.
  • The daylong symposium features a myriad of events, including a Q&A with Paul Lehrman who used robotics and MIDI processing to make the original Ballet mécanique playable again; an Antheil documentary; a presentation by MuTant project director Arshia Cont on how computers have learned to play along with human musicians; and a lecture by Rice University Art History professor Gordon Hughes, author of “The Painter’s Revenge: Fernand Léger For and Against Cinema.”
  • A invading army of robots will take over the Blair campus, presented by the Middle Tennessee Robotic Art Society.
  • The lobby features an interactive movie installation by Greg Pond and Benton C. Bainbridge, featuring custom-designed 3D printed parts.
  • The lobby also features interactive audio compositions by Liz Clayton Scofield.
  • The concert program features 6 additional compositions including works by Brian Blume, Henry Cowell, Nigel Westlake, John Cage and Lou Harrison, and Felix Mendelssohn.
  • Mendelssohn’s Saltarello-Presto will be played by 8 robotically controlled pianos, arranged by Paul Lehrman.
  • Brian Blume’s Strands of Time [video] and Nigel Westlake’s Moving Air [video] combine live percussionists with prerecorded soundscapes.
  • The entire event is FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC!

I STRONGLY suggest you come early to secure your seat. With the success of last year’s John Cage Centennial and the enormous buzz around VORTEX and the Bad Boy, Ingram Hall may reach capacity well before showtime.

You can find out more on the Vanderbilt Blair School of Music website.

Blair Percussion VORTEX presents the Southeastern U.S. premiere of George Antheil’s restored Ballet mécanique
Sunday, April 7
Blair School of Music (across from the intersection of 25th and Blakemore/Wedgewood, Nashville, TN)
1:30-5 p.m., Ballet mécanique mini-symposium, Choral Hall
6:45 p.m., Robotics, Music, New Media Art, Ingram Lobby
8 p.m., VORTEX concert, Ingram Hall

Greg Pond Teaches 3D Printing and Arduino Workshops at Fort Houston in March

 Brick Factory, Fort Houston  2 Responses »
Feb 202013
 

Greg Pond Fort Houston Classes
Greg Pond — installation artist, hacker, filmmaker, musician and Associate Professor of Art at University of the South in Sewanee — will be conducting four maker workshops at the newly-minted Fort Houston in March. Fort Houston is the brand new creative space and community workshop at 500 Houston Street in Nashville, a joint project by the entities formerly known as Brick Factory and Zombieshop.

The new facility is located directly behind Chestnut Studios and a stone’s throw from the new Zeitgeist Gallery location (opening sometime in the next few months). Noa Noa house/Theatre Intangible headquarters is a short walk away. The neighborhood, which also houses Infinity Cat Records, United Records Pressing, and the new Cotten Music Center, is shaping up to be Nashville’s own little SoHo (which, fittingly, is short for SOuth of HOuston Street). Since our action is mostly north of Houston, we may have to go with NoHo.

Greg Pond’s classes will be among the first taught at the new facility. His classes are of special interest to those in the experimental music and maker communities because they highlight two of the most important technologies to impact art in the 10s: open source electronics prototyping and 3D printing. If you’re a new media or experimental artist who has never tinkered with an Arduino or printed your own designs in a 3D printer, take these classes!

Here are the class details. Learn more and buy tickets at FortHouston.com.

3D Modeling & Printing

Price: $120.00
Date: March 17, 2013, 10am to 4pm

This class will provide the foundations for using SketchUp CAD software to generate 3D models that can be printed on a Makerbot 3D printer. We will begin by learning to design 3D models in SketchUp, providing an overview of the basic tools, best practices for design and how to install program extensions called plugins. The second half of the class will focus on techniques for drawing models in SketchUp that can be output as physical plastic model. We will work through a series of exercises that will yield 3D prints for you to keep.

Beginner level course, no experience necessary

3D Printing Open Lab

Price: $30.00
Date: March 17, 2013, 5pm to 8pm

This session is open to anyone who has some basic experience making 3D models in any CAD software who wants to learn how to or refine their models for export and 3D printing. We will share projects, ideas and questions as well as work on individual projects. Participants should bring their own laptop computer with the CAD software of choice. This session is designed for those who have at least a basic working knowledge of their CAD software such as SketchUp, Rhino, SolidWorks, or Meshlab and want assistance with designing and refining objects for 3D printing. We will print objects from participants or demonstration models during this session.

Introduction to Arduino

Price: $120.00
Date: March 23, 2013, 10am to 4pm

In Introduction to Arduino, students will explore using Arduino, an open-source micro-controller that allows the user to create interactive machines, otherwise known as physical computing. Students will leave this class with a better understanding of Arduino and a set of tools and parts that can be used for any future projects. No prior experience is necessary for this class. All participants are required to bring their own laptop with the free Arduino software installed and ready to use.

NOTE: Registration will close 1 week prior to this class to make sure all materials are ordered and arrive on time. This does not apply to Arduino Lab or 3D Modeling & Printing.

Arduino Lab

Price: $30.00,
Date: March 23, 2013, 5pm to 8pm

For those of you wishing to take the next step your projects, this Arduino Lab session is the perfect opportunity to share/develop your concepts within a group. This class is for those individuals looking to expand their knowledge of Arduino. Learn to connect Arduino to Processing or Pure Data. Those who enroll will get to experiment with some equipment during the session (extra sensors, motor shields, etc.) and all participants will be happy to know this class is BYOB. If there is a specific topic or project you would like to learn more about during this session, it is a good idea to contact Greg Pond (gregpond@gmail.com) in advance in order to get the most out the lab session.