http://www.harvestworks.org/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=14&Itemid=26
CLASSES: Oct 8 through

Introduction to MAX/MSP
A: Thursdays, Oct 11, 18, 25 And Nov 1 - 6:30-9:30pm
B: Tuesdays, Nov 27, Dec 4, 11, 18
Matthew Ostrowski

Intermediate MAX/MSP for Dj/Vjs
Tuesdays, Nov 6, 13, 20 - 6:30-9:30pm
Matthew Ostrowski
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http://lemurplex.org/classes.html
CLASSES BEGIN: September 15 through October 3 , 2007
LEMURplex, 461 3rd Avenue between 9th and 10th Streets
718-576-1066

The Mechanics of Robotics: Using Motors, Solenoids, and Other Devices in Kinetic and Robotic Art
Sat-Sun, Sept 15-16, 12:00-4:30 pm
Instructor: Douglas Repetto

Make Your Own Audio/Video Synth: Start Circuit Bending from Scratch
Sat-Sun, Sept 22-23, 12:00-4:30 pm
Instructors: Edward Bear
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http://eyebeam.org/production/production.php?page=aircall
DEADLINE: September 17 2007

Eyebeam is soliciting applications for it’s artists in residence program.
Research themes for 2008 include:

• Energy, Technology and Sustainability
• Urban research, urban interventions and media in public space

We’re trying to produce a version of Brighton Beach Memoirs, cast with robots, but we need the author’s permission, brokered by Samuel French. We’re still waiting for that permission. If we don’t get it, what can we do?

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http://www.ontological.com/
PERFORMANCE: Aug 29 to Sept 1 2007 8PM $12/$15
Ontological Theater 131 E. 10th Street @ 2nd Ave

iph.then
a theatre / opera / media myth
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So what role can a robot play on stage, in a narrative production? We’re attempting to cast robots as humans in Brighton Beach Memoirs. What other possibilities are there?

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We’re trying to produce a very human, naturalistic play … Brighton Beach Memoirs, by Neil Simon. So how naturalistic (humanoid) should the robots be?

Here’s one perspective: it’s a slippery slope to try to imitate a separate and distinct reality. Once you begin to imitate, what’s being judged is the quality of the imitation, not the inherent power of your artistic choices.
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http://www.tranzducer.com
PERFORMANCE: Aug 31 2007 8PM $5

Tranzducer.008 presents what they call “three of the most talented and
accomplished individuals ever to grace the LEMURplex stage.”

Stephen Lehman, Downbeat magazine’s two-time “Rising Star” pick on alto saxophone, will be debuting new work for computer and sax.

Leon Gruenbaum, inventor of the Samchillian Tip Tip Tip Cheeepeeeee, will be presenting his new project “Genes and Machines.”
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The stage directions for Brighton Beach Memoirs describe the hero, Eugene, as wearing Keds.

It turns out they have a long and distinguished history, and using Keds in our robotic production would help to ground it in a particular time, place, and ambience.

But what model did Eugene actually wear? And how will they look on our robotic performers, only 24″ tall, and mostly with wheels rather than feet?
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Posting a casting notice for a robotic performance of Brighton Beach Memoirs in BackStage still seems like a big hurdle for our project. Or perhaps more like throwing down the gauntlet.
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Digital Performance Institute Artist Residency Program
New Extended Deadline: September 4th.
New Residency Benefit: $1000 project stipend.

DPI has secured funding for the 2007-08 year and is now able to offer a $1000 stipend for as an additional benefit to resident artists. Because of this change and the Labor Day weekend we are also extending the application deadline until September 4th.
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Food for Thought…

We’ve been going back and forth about doing BBM with robots. It’s raises all sorts of questions. Here are a few of the musings between a playwright and a dramaturg (we’re the human version of these, by the way, also the producers)

* * * *

Hey …

A bunch of interesting questions about the Bright Beach Memoirs workshop. If you know the answers, much obliged! If not, no problem, I will research:
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Concrete Temple Theatre presented The Bird Machine June 2007 at Access Theatre, New York City. This production was developed with equipment provided by GSRT’s Digital Performance Institute. www.ConcreteTempleTheatre.com
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I tried out the Samuel French script on a couple of the robots around the office, and it certainly made a difference.

That official-traditional format seemed to make them into performers, just by its presence.

We need to figure out how the auditions should be structured.
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We visited Samuel French yesterday, which is on the second floor of a building on 25th Street between Broadway and 6th Avenue, right around the corder from GertStein / Learning Worlds. It’s a proud company, founded in 1830.

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http://moma.org/exhibitions/2007/automatic_update/index.html
EXHIBIT: June 27 - Sept 3 2007

The description of the site states:

Now that “new media” excitement has waned, an exhibition that illuminates the period is timely. Automatic Update is the first reassessment of its kind, reflecting the artists’ ambivalence to art, revealed through the ludicrous, comical, and absurd use of the latest technologies.
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We’re running into a dramatic snag on the Robostage production of Brighton Beach Memoirs. It turns out that Samuel French (or more precisely, the author’s representatives) control how and who and when the play can be produced, particularly in New York and LA.
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Is it difficult to cast robots in a show? Universal Robots by 31Down, supported by Digital Performance Institute, held auditions. But we’d like to go all the way … post a casting notice in Backstage, etc. Below is a quick rewrite of the Backstage sample casting notice, illustrating the interesting challenges in translating conventional concepts of a performer / performance to digitally autonomous equivalents.
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A next step being planned for the Robostage residency is to experiment with a scene from Neil Simon’s Brighton Beach Memoirs, using robotic performers and a projected stage.

The idea is to cast and produce it in a traditional fashion, and see where that leads. Will Variety take the casting notice? What will Actor’s Equity think? Will Samuel French license the script? If there is still a “traditional” theater community, will they notice the experiment?
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http://www.galapagosartspace.com/vertex.html
http://www.vertexlist.net/
PERFORMANCES: August 12th 2007 7:30PM
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http://www.bellyofthebest.com/
PERFORMANCE: August 15-17 7PM $15
@ Ohio Theatre ICE Factory
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This evocative piece is a staged song cycle with video. It explores what it means to “wake up to a world turned unfamiliar by the looming presence of war”.
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