Not many people are aware of what exactly Quality Assurance is, so let us offer some insight. Here at Ozobot, we want to make sure that we are giving our customers the best experience possible. In order to do this, we need to test everything multiple times before putting it out for the world to enjoy. This is where Stewart comes in. He heads up all of this testing, which is a lot more complicated than it seems, and also puts together our teams of engineers to make it all happen. 

As much as he enjoys his work here at Ozobot, he also very much loves music. In his perfect world, Stewart is playing with his bandmates in regular, weekly gigs in Los Angeles while simultaneously flexing his left brain muscles with QA. And that is exactly what he is doing! We sat down with him to dig deeper into his life story. 

What did you do before you worked at Ozobot?

The immediate precursor to Ozobot was, I was the QA lead for a company called PGI, which is a global video conferencing company. I was the lead of a team of about 16 QA Analysts. That job was basically 24 hours a day because we had people overseas as well. 

I also helped start a company called VoiceBank, which is the first entertainment company to actually put auditions online for producers to review and for voiceover. In the past, you would record your actors, put it in FedEx, and then the next day the producers would get the tape and have to go through it. 

We put most of the major talent agencies around the U.S. online and taught them hard-disk recording and we enabled them to upload their auditions right away to the site.

There was also acting, broadway, and I’ve had a band for the last 25 years that plays around LA.

What brought you to Ozobot? 

I have been friends with Nader (our CEO) for a while and he mentioned how Ozobot was really starting to ramp up and they needed to start looking into quality and testing and things like that. He asked me and I jumped ship from PGI like that! That’s how I came on board. I always loved what the company was doing, but I was perfectly happy doing what I was already doing. I was working remotely, from home, but what we are doing here is just so ridiculously cool and beneficial. 

How can you not enjoy being in technology when it benefits kids?!

What are some projects you are currently working on?

Currently, we are working on Ozobot Classroom—getting it tested and verified so that we can release it—as well as the multi-bot Classroom Kit which is really incredibly exciting. The amount of work that has been done on that, especially by Bob, enabling us to connect to multiple bots in one room and get that information back is a game-changer. Those are the two things that are the priority now.

We need to make sure that we have everything documented, so that’s what I am doing right now. I am writing test cases and acceptance criteria so that we can always go back and say “this is how it works now” and “this is what we have to test to make sure it works.”

Musically, we did a gig this Saturday for a birthday party and it was great. We’ve been playing every now and then. I have turned down gigs if it doesn’t work with my weekend schedule with family. But I miss playing with my crew. I miss jamming and jumping around and dancing with everybody. 

One of the things I want to start working on is a local gig in the LA area that we can play once a month and invite friends and co-workers to come down to party with us. Just people coming to have a good time, with no rules or pressure.

Tell us about your background in music! What are some current musical projects you are working on?

My grandfather was a violin maker from Scotland and he introduced me to music when I was very little. He made my first violin. I played for 14 years, partially because of my grandfather making it for me. 

The other big musical influence was on my mother’s side. My uncle Claude, back in the late ‘60’s early ‘70’s, was the bandleader for The Mighty Sparrow. The Sparrow was considered the greatest Calypsonian singer in the entire world. 

My uncle would give me his steel drum. Even when I was little, I would bang on the different notes on the steel drum and I think that’s what started my interest in music. 

I was also always blessed to be able to sing on key. First of all, I think everybody can sing and everybody SHOULD sing. I don’t care what you sound like, but of course we have a requirement that if you want to listen to someone, they have to sound a certain way. I have always had a good voice without having taken lessons. 

After I finished playing violin, I went to guitar without having taken lessons. So, I started playing guitar and singing.

What motivated you to be in QA and also practice the art of music? Did the education system nurture that interest, or did you have to take matters into your own hands?

I started off singing and acting while I was in school and I found that it wasn’t fulfilling me completely because I was only using the right side of my brain. There was still the intellectual side of me that wanted to sit down and think about things. Music is part of that, since music is very math-oriented but even then, it still wasn’t fulfilling me. 

That’s when I started to get into directing and voice-over directing which is what lead me on to VoiceBank. My buddy asked me if I could come over and help build that company. That’s when I began to see that the technical side of it was really cool. My interest in QA stemmed from that. 

Now, I can’t code. But part of my job is to build a team and be the manager and find the right people to say hey come on and do this and make sure it works. That is where my training for QA came from. 

With music, there is no better way to improve than by having a regular gig. For years, we played at Nick’s in Beverly Hills every week.

Did you think that you’d be able to pursue both career paths, or did you feel like you had to make a distinct choice?

I NEEDED to do both. I have enough friends who are musicians that are successful and still working on it to know that’s not the life that I want. If I am happy then I am driven to do what I want to do. What made me happy was the ability to sing in front of people every week. 

When people started asking me to do demos, I didn’t like that. Even though demos are a great way to expand your career, I had no interest in singing into a microphone. I wanted to connect with people. That’s what jazzed me. So, for me, it was really about keeping music where it is at so that it feeds me and I still love it and enjoy it for what it is, but make sure that the technical side was also satisfied.

I think, unlike our parents, who were brought up to just do one thing for their whole life, which worked back then, now millennials and those of us that identify as a millennial state of mind know that we are multi-faceted with many interests. So, we’re going to do a lot of things and we will balance it so we enjoy and are successful in all.

How important is collaboration to your work? Who have you collaborated with recently?

Part of the great thing about QA is that I collaborate with everyone. My personality is more of a collaborator. I am usually the person who encourages others to help develop, expand, and move ideas forward. I work with every department because everything that is done in the company flows through QA so that it can be presented to the customer. 

If I have a chance to help, that’s what I do. 

What is something you hope people take away from your music? 

Joy, happiness, and fun times. It doesn’t have to be life changing. I don’t need them to come and say “this was transformational, I’ve never looked at music this way.” I am cool with people just saying “wow we saw this band last night and they were great and we had a good time!” and if they don’t think about me for a week? Cool. If they want to see me again, I’m cool with that. 

Stewart embodies everything we stand for here at Ozobot. His excitement about making cool robots for kids and humbleness about his killer set of pipes (trust us, he’s fantastic!) inspires us all.

The post Music to Our Ears: An Interview With Singer And QA Director Stewart Wilson-Turner appeared first on Ozobot.

We are lucky to have someone like him on our team, and we are excited to share his story with all of you! Read on to discover how Lubeck is tackling both the starving artist myth and food insecurity with his boundary-crossing projects.

What did you do before you worked at Ozobot?

Before I worked at Ozobot, I was at Solar Story as an Engineer. Before that I was an Engineer at Agent Ace with PA & Adrienne (fellow Ozobot employees). I also worked at Explore.org as a Front End Engineer.

For me, Art and Engineering, there is no difference. It’s all the same thing. I have this problem that I need to solve and so I use whatever tool is available at whatever time to solve the issue.

What are some projects you are currently working on?

I have a project that I have been working on for six months or so and it is an urban foraging app. The idea is that there is food growing in neighborhoods and you want to be able to find it and know where it is, right? I had a friend who said, “It would be really cool if, when I was skating down the street and saw an orange tree, I could plot it and then people would see it on a map.” So, I built an app around that to where you’d essentially login and plot where you are and add the plant and it automatically populates across the whole ecosystem. That is something that I have been interested in: being able to feed people regardless of where you are at in the world.

With the same tech that is used for the app, I am building a scavenger hunt game that is based on skateboarding. It’s like H.O.R.S.E—same kind of concept—except the idea is that at some spot somebody can designate it and say, “Ok, at this place you have to do this trick to get an S.” You can either go within a region or even worldwide.

At Ozobot, I am working on building out a WordPress CMS for Marketing right now so that they can update information from a WordPress editor and then be able to update the site accordingly. It signals and fuels the rest of our other initiatives across the ecosystem. 

Tell us about your art! How did you come up with these unique ideas?

For me, I have this conflict of “I’m an Engineer and I’m an Artist.” How do those two things go together, when traditionally you have to pick one or the other? Kind of like the organic lines with Geometry, that is kind of how I see the world. How do I make these two things that aren’t necessarily supposed to go together, end up working?

One thing that I want to do at some point in life is be an Agronomist. A lot of people are transitioning to plant based. If everyone today were to say, “Ok, I’m going to convert to a plant-based diet,” we don’t have the infrastructure to support that. So, that was another piece of me wanting to create some sort of platform or system that isn’t just finding your own food, but then take it a step further. From selling food to neighbors, to restaurants, to becoming certified organic. There are all these different layers that I see being utilized in that application.

At the end of the day, I want to make cool stuff, I want to change the world, and I want to make money. As long as what I do meets that criteria, game [on].

I can work anywhere that I want to, but I want to make sure I do something that adds value and not just say, “Hey, I’m getting my paycheck and onto the next thing.”

Being able to create opportunity (whether in art or engineering) and asking myself, “How can I use my skills to make someone else’s life better?”: that is the jist.

What motivated you to be an engineer who also practices art? Did the education system nurture that interest, or did you have to take matters into your own hands?

I have always been both. My mom was an artist and my dad was an engineer (before he became a pastor), so I can’t remember not being that way. But, when I was in high school I took every single ROP class. The graphic design stuff was really cool and interesting, but instead of sticking just into graphics, I went into programming. Programming just kind of always followed me wherever I have gone.

What I figured out was that I could make more money doing engineering, so that was a bigger piece of it. I have always done art, but I only recently learned that in order to be a great artist, you don’t have to suffer. I said, “Ok, I can be an artist and I can be an engineer and my engineering funds my art.” Once I realized I didn’t have to be a “starving artist” all bets were off. I don’t limit myself anymore. 

You get to have one conversation with your teenage self. What advice do you give him?

Double down on BOTH engineering and art. Don’t limit yourself to just one practice. To be successful as an artist and produce great work, you don’t have to suffer as much as it is personified. It doesn’t have to be that way.

How important is collaboration to your work? Who have you collaborated with recently?

I try to collaborate. I am a big proponent of community and collaboration. I mentor for NodeSchool, so stuff like that. I am always trying to figure out how I can give back. But, it is difficult. For whatever reason, to get people to collaborate is hard. Maybe I just haven’t talked to the right person yet.

Being here with Ozobot and the engineering/creative team, this is like my tribe now. A lot of us share those art/engineering similarities. 

What is something you hope people take away from your work? 

Things are constantly moving. That’s the whole idea of Eternal Transit, things are always moving and you are always going to be some pivot point. Sometimes you just need to change your perspective or look at something a little bit different. More of that and not just accepting what the masses or whoever deems as “should be this way”. It’s all perspective.

Eternal Transit is all of Lubeck’s work put together, from food and foraging apps to sticker bombings of sites and transit lines throughout Los Angeles county. As a proud Ozobot team member, Lubeck shares a commitment to 21^st century education and also puts his own spin on STEAM: Skateboarding, Tech, Engineering, Art, and Music. 
See more of what Nate Lubeck is up to, and keep tabs on his new projects by following him on Instagram: @eternal.transit.

The post Demystifying The ‘Starving Artist’: An Interview With Artist And Engineer Nate Lubeck appeared first on Ozobot.

Philipp’s artwork evolved over the years from paint to a different medium. He developed skills in various artistic disciplines, eventually combining them to create mesmerizing, visually enchanting pieces. We are huge fans of his work, which uses light installation, projection mapping artwork, motion design, and cinemagraph production.

“Being creative is a basic need in my life. Whether it‘s working with paint, camera or pencil; on a computer, wall or canvas, creating makes me happy. I like the variety that different mediums can offer, and use whatever serves the idea best.”

We were so excited to be able to ask Phillip a few questions about what inspired him to combine art and engineering!

Tell us about a project you’re excited about right now—yours or someone else’s.

So many exciting projects all over the world. From the development of digital museums to immersive interactive experiences and AR. A great time to be alive and witness this ongoing merging of arts and technology.

Particularly, I am excited about my recently released “Elements“ short film. This was on my bucket list for many years. An audiovisual journey exploring five elements: air, earth, water, fire, and ether. I recorded a lot of corresponding footage along a river such as water, leaves, rocks, people making fire, and so on. Transformed it digitally into mesmerizing animations and re-projected them back onto the same nature objects. Creating a mix of something real becoming virtual and than real again. A real virtuality.

What motivated you to be an artist who also practices engineering? Did the education system nurture that interest, or did you have to take matters into your own hands?

My father was an engineer and always brought some technical stuff home. At the same time, he was doing a lot of photography and watercolour painting. I guess this can be considered my basic inspiration.

I was mainly interested in analog painting and filming. My brother worked in the projection mapping industry and one day we did an experimental project together. This was the main trigger when I became aware of the possibilities. Since then, I keep integrating all sorts of modern technology into my artistic process. It offers so many new ways of expressions never been done before. More or less unknown territory if you want, and this is only the beginning.

The school system did not encourage this process at all. But I also grew up in a time without internet or any mobile devices.

How do you use technology in your work? How do you want to be using technology 10 years from now?

Technology is involved in the whole process of creation. For me, it’s important to start with hand-drawn sketches. It’s a fast way to explore different options. On the computer, I will work out the project and add all 3D, video, and animation content. In fact, a lot would not have been possible without fast computers, bright beamers, and VR equipment.

But, most of my work is a mix of digital and analogue techniques. For example, to bring a mural painting with the help of 3D projection mapping to life, the painting itself would be nice. A projection mapping likewise. But the combination creates a whole new experience. Currently, I am working on making things more interactive to give visitors the chance to engage themselves and become part of the art.

Hopefully in 10 years we will be able to control computers in a much faster and intuitive way. Maybe by language, thoughts, or with contact lenses. Today, it is still a pretty slow and very time consuming process.

But with that fast technological development I think it is equally necessary to keep up with the development of our conscious minds. Modern technology requires a lot of responsibility towards our planet and the survival of the human race.

You get to have one conversation with your teenage self. What advice do you give him?

Haha, yes that’s good. I guess I would say: there are no errors, only experiences and learnings. So don’t think too much, just do it.

How important is collaboration to your work? Who have you collaborated with recently?

Collaborations are very important for the artistic and self development. Bouncing ideas back and forth with someone else will grow a project very fast and raise its quality. It’s always inspiring to get insights into the ways of thinking from someone that is an expert in his/her field.

My most recent collaboration was with sound designer Philipp Kampmann. He developed the music for the “Elements“ short film.

See more of what Philipp is up to and stay up to-date-on new projects by following him on Instagram: @philippfrank_art.

The post Street Art Meets Audiovisual Installation: An Interview with Artist and Engineer Philipp Frank appeared first on Ozobot.

We have been inspired by Merrick’s talent, maturity, great attitude, and adoration of robots. It was a no brainer that we had to get to know him and introduce him to Evo. The pair hit it off instantly, as Merrick loves that Evo embodies two of his favorite things: drawing and robots.

So, we wanted to sit down with Evo’s newest friend to gain more insight on how it all started, who inspires him, and how he is handling social media stardom.

How did your obsession with robots come about?
When I was about two or three, I was at a local fire station open house. I saw this robot that was kind of roaming around and now when I think about it, it was controlled by someone by a walkie talkie or something that was connected to it. But my two- or three-year-old self just thought it was a walking, talking robot moving all by itself. I thought it was the coolest thing ever! So after that night, all I did was imitate robot arms and make the noise “eh eh eh” that’s when it kind of all started.

Tell us more about how you express that obsession through dance and art.
I have been drawing robots ever since I was in elementary school. I also have robot art in my room and I help my dad build robot props for a yearly haunted house that we do at our local elementary school. I’ve also learned how to solder and learn to build robots and that is probably one of my favorite things that I do during Halloween. I’ve also done some block programming and I started with Arduino to control the robots that we build together.

In terms of dance, whenever I hear a song, I almost use my body like it’s creating the song as it plays. So, when I start listening to a type of music, I start doing robot dancing. It has kind of evolved to, I guess you can say, being more types of robots.

Awesome! How old were you when you when you started dancing?
I started teaching myself to dance after seeing the Jabbawockeez on television. I think I was about eight years old. I was a huge fan of everything robots and I was intrigued that people could also dance like one. I would practice in my room just trying to get my roboting perfect and I kept watching this one tape of this Jabbawockeez performance over and over because they were doing this roboting in the beginning that I thought was so cool.

Then, I went onto Youtube and started watching some other dancers such as Poppin’ John, tWitch, Bluprint, Cyrus, and Jaja. Those are a lot of influencers. I watched their videos over and over.

Also, when I first started entering local freestyle battles, a lot of people I saw there were really influential. I would just watch them dance. My mom would sometimes take video and I would watch it over.

Do you have any tips for future creators out there?
I guess some of the advice that I have is to keep practicing and take feedback from other people. Don’t see it as hate, see it as constructive feedback. That’s one of the reasons I was able to improve. I like to make my style as cool and as much like a robot as possible. So, I was listening to other people’s feedback and trying to change my style according to their feedback. I also watch myself dancing, using a mirror or recording and watching it back. Then, I’d give myself feedback as I’m watching it and would try to do whatever I just did, but better.

You seem to manage the complicated choreography of social media very well. How do you deal with negative people or comments?
Going off what i just said, I kind of ignore the mean comments, but I really try to listen to everyone’s comments—whether it is negative feedback or positive feedback. That is, I think, the main thing when reading comments is just to ignore the toxic, mean ones but try to listen to … the constructive criticism.

What are some things that you love about your audience?
I think one of my favorite things about my online audience is that there are a lot of these younger kids, who probably wouldn’t be dancing, however they saw me dance and now they are trying to copy my performance and try to learn how to dance too. That is so awesome because when I first started dancing, there was no one online who was my age and did the same style as me. But now there are so many and that is probably one of the coolest things about my online audience and also, I think an even cooler thing is that when i first started dancing, there were pretty much no boys dancing at all in my classes and now when I go to my old classes it’s filled with a whole bunch of boys that say “Hey, I was inspired by you!” and that is the coolest thing.

So, do you know how to code?
Yeah! I started learning how to code when I was seven or eight years old. I first started on a program called HopScotch. Then I moved onto Scratch, which is blockly coding, similar to Evo [with OzoBlockly]. Now, I am trying to learn JavaScript and I have also been figuring out what to do with the OzoBlockly software. When I first saw it, I thought “Oh, this is pretty basic.” But then I started diving into the more complicated part of it and there’s actually a lot you can do!

How is coding with Evo different from other programming or robotics projects that you’ve done?
Well, the fact that you can code with Color Codes is really neat because it combines two of my favorite things: coding and drawing. And the ability to create huge drawings and have Evo dance on top of them according to where the lines are and what colors each one has, is SO cool. In fact, I’ve already started making a huge Evo track that looks like a huge robot head and it does circles around the eyes and does zigzags and goes through the antennae. That’s probably my favorite part about [Evo].

Okay, most important question of all: Unicorn or Racer Wearable Skin for Evo?
Unicorn all the way! Although, my brother kinda likes the racer but I totally disagree with him because the unicorn is magical and it has rainbows! And it’s just the best.

The post Dancing Into Our Hearts: Merrick Hanna Buddies Up To Evo appeared first on Ozobot.

Today’s artists also use the tools available to them, pushing boundaries and technology to share their visions with the world. While each creator produces unique works, all use STEAM in the process. Check out these 20 professionals who create impressive works with technology, science, math, and engineering, a few of whom we’ve had the pleasure of interviewing for our Artists & Engineers series.

Arthur Ganson

Arthur Ganson makes kinetic sculptures out of metal and other materials, while occasionally teaching a class on the mechanics of wire bending. His machines range in size and complexity, but the common thread between them all is technology. Ganson is currently working on a sculpture that follows the passage of time since the Big Bang—13.82 billion years.

Mitch Wenger

Mitch Wenger is an engineer/artist and an Ozobot employee! His most recent project was to create a man-made wave that is “the perfect barrel,” and runs 1,800 feet long — twice that of a natural wave. The wave was a year-long project and debuted at a surf competition. Along with Ozobot, Wenger has worked with companies like Universal Studios Hollywood where he used problem solving and mechanical skills to maintain and retrofit rides.

Bob Belt

Artist and engineer Bob Belt is one of ours too! Along with entering the technology field at an early age, Belt is an accomplished painter who has a passion for art and drawing. Belt always felt like he had to choose a career path: artist or engineer. Today, he explores artistic concepts in his spare time, making time to paint early in the morning, and also uses his love of art and creativity to make games and more in the Evo app.

Laetitia Sonami

Laetitia Sonami is a sound artist and performer. She uses technology in her art to focus on participation and presence and guide audiences on a journey through her music. Right now, she’s working with AI sensors that pick up sounds. Sonami has worked with AI before, but this was before technology made it faster and more efficient. Throughout her artistic career, technology has always been part of her creative process.    

Chico MacMurtrie

Contemporary artist Chico MacMurtrie’s projects include amorphic robot works and even a robotic church. He uses robotics and metal work to comment on society and review who we are as humans. One of his most recent works is called “Border Crosses,” which uses lightweight robotic sculptures to show how a mix of physics and creative technology could make it easy to cross over a wall.

Ivan Iler

Ivan Iler works with many mediums, but specializes in metal fabrication. In particular, he is interested in creating public art and sculptures that can outlast him and the people who currently enjoy it. One of the series of metalworks that Iler is working on is Kinetic Art, Automata and Machines, where he uses metal around machinery to create movement and life in the material. During the day, Iler works as a motorcycle engineer and fabricator in St. Johns, Michigan.

Rejane Cantoni and Leonardo Crescenti

These two artists form a partnership called Cantoni Crescenti and create visual, audio, and tactile journeys that make it easy for people to explore virtual concepts. They take technological concepts that are abstract and challenging for people to understand, and create an artistic representation to share the emotional magnitude beyond them. Both Cantoni and Crescenti are based in São Paulo, Brazil. You can see on their website how their work plays off of the sun, water, soil, mirrors, tunnels, and floors.    

Rosa Menkman

Rosa Menkman believes there is beauty and insight in the world of technical glitches, compressions, feedback, and other forms of noise. She calls these concepts “noise artifacts,” and uses them to develop her art. Her website immediately overwhelms the eyes and her art shows technological glitches that are often covered up and hidden. Developers strive to create tools that never fail and are perfect — Menkman highlights the reality and finds beauty in mistakes rarely shown.

Spidertag

Since 2008, Spidertag has worked as a street artist who uses geometry and minimalism in both city streets and rural spaces. Most recently, he has worked with light cables to create his art. The result is neon-glowing art that immediately attracts attention and curious eyes. He uses his art to challenge how we look at a space and what we see in open voids.

Philipp Frank

Philipp Frank is a graffiti artist who uses his art to create captivating outdoor exhibits that play with light, color, and angles. Audiences experiencing Frank’s art need to view the work from multiple angles at multiple places in time, as they will see something else and feel something new each time. Frank uses digital and analog materials, creating “videomurals” which combine his paintings with video artwork.

Chris Landreth

When he was young, Chris Landreth was found to have mixed brain dominance, meaning both the creative and technical sides of his brain are equally strong. He used the technical side of his brain to earn a Master’s degree in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics from the University of Illinois, and his knowledge of computer development to create art through animation. He loves telling stories with new technology and has developed a course on facial animation which he teaches across the country.  

Rogan Brown

Rogan Brown uses paper to play on themes related to nature and organic growth. His creations are incredibly detailed and seemingly complex.

“By mixing science and art, observation and imagination, I hope to find a bridge between the two, mimicking the breathtaking detail and complexity that exists at every level of scale in nature,” he writes.

Brown’s pieces often take several months to create, with hundreds of sheets of paper and precision cuts made with a scalpel knife.    

Jen Stark

Jen Stark’s website is full of technicolor images twisting and turning in geometric shapes. She creates 3D sculptures with explosions of color, and the energy from her creations seems to be endless and sometimes unable to contain itself. Stark also creates 2D images and animations, constantly playing with geometry and its relation to color. Her pieces are visual systems that simulate plant growth, fractals, topographies, and other STEAM concepts.   

Susan Aldworth

Susan Aldworth is a London-based artist known for her printmaking techniques and approach to abstract thought. She has a philosophy degree from Nottingham University and uses concepts related to humanity and the mind in her art. One of her recent pieces explores the experience of sleep, as humans move from “consciousness to oblivion” each night.

Marco Donnarumma

Currently working in Berlin, Germany, Marco Donnarumma works with biotechnology, artificial intelligence, and other modern concepts to explore the human body. In particular he focuses on sound, which he uses to entertain and awe audiences. His work reflects how we approach our bodies, interact with them, and base our identity around them. He lectures around the world, giving workshops such as AI Ethics & Prosthetics, in which he examines the enormous potential of AI to change the human bodily experience.

Adam Ferriss

Adam Ferriss is an illustrator and developer in Los Angeles. He creates art using code and his artwork has surprising levels of depth and multiple layers. Some of his clients include The New York Times, Time Magazine, The New Yorker, and Google. You can review his art to see how he tackles the political climate with digital visual cues.  

Julian Voss-Andreae

Julian Voss-Andreae started out as a painter, and also studied physics, mathematics, and philosophy. He even went on to pursue graduate research in quantum physics and today channels his love of science through art. His is best known for his sculpture “Quantum Man II” which is made of steel that seems to disappear when viewed from different angles. His work can also be found at Georgia Tech in Atlanta and Portland Community College.   

Fabian Oefner

The works of Fabian Oefner are immediately striking. He plays with various materials to create visual expressions of natural sciences and abstract concepts.

According to his biography, Oefner’s “art forms encourage us to conceptualize in new ways, and to accept that art and science do not exist on opposite ends of the academic spectrum but rather inform each other in tangible ways.”

From black and white to stunning contrasting colors, Oefner adds visual representation and emotion to scientific concepts.

Klari Reis

Klari Reis is a mixed media artist known for her work in Petri dishes. Her goal is to explore the line between technological and natural, using various pigments and textures to capture concepts in the discs she works with. Reis collaborates with local biomedical companies in San Francisco and uses their research and ideas to inspire her artwork. Her petri dishes are created with different artistic materials, that all interact with each other in different ways.    

Mark Brazier-Jones

Sculptor Mark Brazier-Jones creates functional art including chairs, light fixtures, and tables. However, these pieces likely aren’t anything you have ever seen before. His work can be found in London’s Victoria and Albert Museum and at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York. Brazier-Jones creates art to explore what humans find appealing and what makes them desire an object, idea, or person.    

Featured image: Arthur Ganson, Machine with 11 Scraps of Paper. Image credit: Copyright 2016. Chehalis Hegner. All rights reserved.
Other images: Ozobot, janifest/©123RF Stock Photo, qimono, Free-Photos

The post 20 Artists/Engineers Using Science and Tech to Create Modern Masterpieces appeared first on Ozobot.

At just 15 years old, Bob Belt responded to a newspaper ad that would jump-start his career. The ad was for a company called Micrograms Software and they were seeking skilled programmers to join their team. Out of 100 applicants, Belt was one of the six that were hired.

Little did he know, this would be his big break into the world of programming. At Micrograms, Belt learned to program games for the Apple II E and C and the Commodore 64. After finishing college and creating games for other companies such as Atari, 7 Studios and Zya, Belt is now the Senior Software Engineer here at Ozobot!

Not only is he an expert engineer (and one of Evo’s handlers!), he is also a skilled painter. Growing up, Belt excelled in his art classes and developed a passion for drawing. He actually ended up majoring in Art during his college career, realizing that painting (instead of drawing) was what really appealed to him. Then, he put his artwork on the back burner so that he could make a name for himself as an engineer, thinking he needed to choose one over the other.

We sat down to talk with him about his road to success, his paintings, and how he carves out extra time for his creative practice.

What motivated you to be an engineer who also practices art? Did the education system nurture that interest, or did you have to take matters into your own hands?
They were pushing [programming] hard in the schools. There were definitely computers in the schools, so I did get support there. I am mostly self-taught when it comes to programming, because I was just ahead of having a real computer class in school. My counselors in high school would tell me, “You should go into engineering because you are great at math and you like science and programming.” But, at the same time, I had art teachers who said I needed to pursue art so it was this back and forth thing.

Did you think, back then, that you’d be able to pursue both career paths, or did you feel like you had to make a distinct choice?
I think I have always felt like I had to choose. This is the first time in my life where I really feel like I could do both. It has taken a long time to finally realize that. In the past, I basically only painted when I wasn’t programming. There was a time where I was unemployed for a year or so and I did a lot of painting during that time. But then as soon as I got a job again, I kind of stopped painting.

This time around, I really want to make both of them happen. I think part of it is, now I am further along in my life and I don’t feel as pressured to try to make other things happen as much. Now, I am going to start painting again in addition to doing everything else.

What do you like about working with Evo?
The one thing I really like about [Evo] is that it’s a physical thing. I’ve spent so much time programming code that only affects a screen and it’s all invisible and it’s not really something you can pick up and touch. With the bot, we are actually making an app that allows you to control and play games with the bot. Also, getting back to a more education-based company. It’s not just about entertainment; it’s about educating.

Tell us about your paintings! How did you get started as an artist and how do you make time for your creative practice?
I didn’t discover that I liked painting until my early 20s. Before that, I liked to draw. Painting just clicked with me and I really liked it. I like making the big shapes of color and arranging the shapes of color and still trying to get an image out. Those are the things that are appealing to me with painting.

I come into the office a little bit later and work later. So, a lot of my painting time is right when I wake up in the morning. I get up, sometimes as early as six, and that is when my best painting is done: when my mind is fresh, before I am thinking about anything else.

How do you want others to feel when they see your paintings?
To be inspired and to stimulate your mind. To realize that you are looking at something that you have seen before, just haven’t seen presented in that way. Maybe give people the idea that there is more than one way to see something. There are multiple points of view in everything.

You get to have one conversation with your teenage self. What advice do you give him?
“Don’t think that you are not already capable.” As important as school and learning is, that just makes you better. You can start whenever you want to start. Don’t think that you have to wait until you can take a class, or wait until you have this certain teacher, or wait until you get to college. You can do it now.

Especially with the internet, you can learn anything you want to learn, whenever you want to learn it. Definitely do not wait.

How important is collaboration in your work? Who have you collaborated with recently?
It is crucial. There are too many different pieces involved to think that you can do a fantastic job all by yourself. You could do a good job as one person, but you would have to learn so many different fields.

Right now, [with Evo], I work with a designer who designs the layout [of the app], a designer who designs the game play, and artists who create the graphics. Even though I paint, my artwork isn’t near the kind of artwork that is necessary for the game. There are just so many different crucial roles that for one person to do all of them, it would take so long and it wouldn’t be as good because they wouldn’t be experts at those fields.

I wouldn’t want to discourage someone from trying to do something like that on their own, but it is definitely better to collaborate with people who have strengths in those areas.

Belt is currently hard at work with new additions to our Evo app that we can’t wait to share with you! To check out more of Bob’s paintings, follow him on Instagram @beltfineart.

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The New York Times and Smithsonian have covered Ganson’s inventions. These creations, rather than serving purely practical purposes, are driven by his desire to “make you think about things.” Here at Ozobot, we also want to motivate kids (and adults!) to create things that even they may not understand yet. We wanted to pick Ganson’s brain on what motivated him to become an artist and engineer, how technology is an important part of his career, and what projects he is currently excited about.

Tell us about a project you’re excited about right now—yours or someone else’s.
I’m excited about many things right now. Most immediately, I’m just about completed with a piece called “Beholding the Big Bang” in which a motor drives a series of gears which reduce the motor speed such that the final gear will take 13.82 billion years to rotate once. This is one of the estimates for the age of the Universe since the big bang. The final gear will, in practice, never turn, so it is firmly embedded in a block of concrete!

This presses the point visually. The motor is present time with all that is going on. The concrete is stillness—perhaps the imaginary moment before everything happened. I’m also collaborating with my wife, Chehalis [Hegner], and son, Cat, on a piece which is based somewhat on the 12 stations of the Cross in the Catholic faith. Besides all of that, I’ve got about a zillion other invention and sculpture ideas. And besides all of that, I’m deeply invested in learning to speak with my 5 string electric violin—which I built and am continually developing.  

What motivated you to be an artist who also practices engineering? Did the education system nurture that interest, or did you have to take matters into your own hands?
My motivation to use engineering evolved because I’ve always been primarily interested in movement. When I started to make sculpture I naturally moved away from static work to kinetic work.  To make something move one must address engineering concerns. I have never formally studied engineering. I’ve always learned by doing—making things and then assessing the result. My school supported my early explorations into wire engineering because I was pretty serious about it all.

How do you use technology in your work? How do you want to be using technology 10 years from now?
There is technology on every level with everything that I have ever done. Beginning with wire, I have developed tools and techniques specific to that material—and it continues to evolve.  

Besides that, I build machines with “real” parts (i.e. gears from catalogues, motors, etc.).  Recently, I have begun to learn 3D modeling (specifically I’m using Autodesk’s Fusion 360). This is allowing me to design in new and very interesting ways. I have many ideas for pieces which will be 3D printed or machined with CAD tools.  

It’s also now possible to expand the workshop to literally the world! All of these things will be ongoing for at least the next 50 years (I’m 62 now). The power of designing with a computer and all related capacities (CAD tools and communication) is staggering.

You get to have one conversation with your teenage self. What advice do you give him?

Interesting question. I would tell that 16 year old that he does not have to be anything particular for anyone else, and that even though nobody has ever inquired about what was going on inside, his internal truths are valid and real. I would also tell him that it is not only okay, but important for him to take care of his own needs!

How important is collaboration to your work? Who have you collaborated with recently?
As I mentioned above, I am currently working on an extensive collaboration with my wife and son. Chehalis is primarily a photographer and my son Cat is a filmmaker/writer/model/all around creative soul. The process of working together is rich and expansive because the work touches every aspect of who we are. The overview is that we will make 14 machine/photographs, all linked and powered by a viewer. We’re at the beginning of the project and it may take a few years to complete.

Many years ago, I collaborated with a movement/theatre group to create a play, Shadow of a Doubt, in which there were both actors and giant machines on stage. I was also one of the actors. When collaborations work they can be very rewarding. In general however I do most of my work in solitude!
Arthur Ganson received his BFA degree at the University of New Hampshire in 1978. Besides making and exhibiting sculpture, he occasionally teaches classes in mechanics and wire bending. For the past 18 years he has been the ringleader of the MIT Museum’s Friday After Thanksgiving Chain Reaction, a community event in which families and students of all ages assemble a giant chain reaction. He is also the inventor of the children’s toy Toobers and Zots.

Featured image: Arthur Ganson, Machine with 11 Scraps of Paper. Image credit: Copyright 2016. Chehalis Hegner. All rights reserved.

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Mitch Wenger is an engineer with a mission: to create things from scratch. With decades of experience in product development, both in the U.S. and abroad, he has successfully launched numerous products. Wenger’s impressive skill set has been sought out by multiple well-known companies, such as Universal Studios Hollywood, where he was responsible for sustaining all the rides as Senior Mechanical Engineer. He even got to work on some visual effects for the new Fast & Furious component of their studio backlot tour.

Most recently, Wenger lead up the engineering team at Kelly Slater Wave Co (KSWaveCo) to create a perfect wave that surfers only dreamt about before. The wave is said to have the perfect barrel and is 1,800 feet long, twice the length of a typical wave you’d see at the beach.

Wenger has also been recruited by yours truly, Ozobot! Mitch is a Mechanical Engineer and is helping us out on some exciting Evo projects. We were thrilled when he agreed to sit down and talk with us about his experience and his advice for kids who may be interested in a similar career path.

Tell us about the Kelly Slater Wave project.
It’s basically a long lake and they move a boat hold down to generate a wave. When I started with Kelly Slater, they had just finished a prototype that only went one-way and it took a long time to reset. The idea with the next phase was to generate waves more quickly and send the boat hold in both directions.

There were some complicated mechanical assemblies associated with getting things reversed. My title was Lead Engineer, so basically the entire engineering effort was filtered up to me. In addition, I did a lot of mechanical engineering work guiding some of our consultants. It was basically a year-long project that we 97% finished for a [surf] competition that was being held that September.

We ran it from September through December and then drained the lake. We tore up some concrete and re-did some things and re-engineered some stuff. The project took about nine continuous months of construction to complete the first version (before I was there). The second version took us about six months.

How did you get involved in that project? Did you have connections to the surf industry?
I worked with my boss from Kelly Slater Wave Company in the past at Universal Studios Hollywood.

I was an engineer for Universal Studios Hollywood and when we both left, he had been consulting for Kelly Slater. When they figured they needed my skill set, he called me up and it just so happened that I was ready for the opportunity.

What motivated you to be an engineer who also practices art? Did the education system nurture that interest, or did you have to take matters into your own hands?

As a child, I had always expressed interest in painting and drawing. My mom got me started with lessons and made sure that I was taking art classes in school, more so than football or baseball. I did music and art. As a kid, I would always get things that were broken that I could take apart and just figure out. When I got older, I figured out how to fix them and put them together. At some point I realized that’s what mechanical engineers do for a living.

I just knew that’s what I wanted to do. What they teach you in engineering school is how to create something from nothing and the ways to get it right. I kind of want to be able to do that, to create something from scratch.

I was [part of] one of the last years where we learned to draft manually. Computers were becoming introduced into the college marketplace, so that drawing skill came in real handy. I understood perspectives and views which made it pretty straightforward and easy. I just never really questioned whether or not I wanted to be an engineer.

How do you use technology in your work? How do you want to be using technology 10 years from now?
For me, the technology boils down to 3D computer design tools. Right now, it has taken us from the drawing board and having to match up drawings to make sure things fit, to be able to see it in three-dimensional space. 3D CAD work has made a quantum leap in how easy it is to do it right the first time. In the old days, we wouldn’t find problems until we were on the assembly line, and after the tools were built and made and the parts were purchased. That can be kind of expensive.

The next generation is finding its way into an industry, still in its infancy, called Oculus Rift. It takes what I am doing from a screen and puts it in front of my face, so I can spin it and turn it and it will allow closer collaboration between those responsible for the input of what the product will be, and those responsible for making sure that it is done right. So, I can take someone who may not know anything about the CAD software and I can put this thing on them and see what they are seeing and put it in three-dimensional space and get over it or under it. It can go from being a screen to being something you can almost touch.

You get to have one conversation with your teenage self. What advice do you give him?
Grow up. I was fantastically undisciplined all the way through, and after, college. I had a full four-year scholarship through the Air Force and I was too undisciplined to stay with the ROTC program. I dropped out of the Air Force program to focus on becoming an engineer. So, I’d say to take [high school and college] a little more seriously.

Is there anything else that you wanted to add about being an engineer?
I firmly believe that if you enjoy what you do for a living, you’ll never work a day in your life. I really enjoy what I do and I get excited about it. If somebody out there were to ask me “how do I know I want to be an engineer?” I’d say, let’s look at what you do on your own time for fun and go from there. There are a lot of kids who are getting into coding right now in a big way, and that is going to lead to a generation of programmers who have decades of experience before they even get to school. That’ll give them a serious leg up from where we started.

It’s going to be amazing to see what those kids can accomplish and where the tools they’ll use are going to go. The potential for radical change in that world is significant, based on what we are doing now.

Mitch Wenger received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Virginia Tech University. In addition to engineering, he has gained experience in such diverse fields as sales, marketing, manufacturing, engineering leadership, and organizational development. His most exciting project right now? Ozobot, of course, where we’re happy to have him helping us inspire more young artists/engineers in the making!

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Perhaps the best-known example of this is Sonami’s lady’s glove, an elbow-length instrument fitted with sensors that responds to slight movements of her hand and body. Projects like this prompted The New York Times to describe her as “a human antenna searching the air for sounds, like a dancer focused on her hands, or like a deity summoning earth-shaking rumbles with a brusque gesture.”

We were lucky enough to get an interview with Sonami, to pick her brain about how she got where she is today, what she hopes the future will look like for tech, and advice she would give her teenaged-self.

Tell us about a project you’re excited about right now—yours or someone else’s.

I am excited right now about the instrument that I built, which is called the Spring Spyre. It’s using neural networks, so Artificial Intelligence (A.I.), and a software [called Wekinator] designed by Rebecca Fiebrink. I’m just trying to keep on working on it and understand how to best use it.

It is based on A.I. but it’s very simple, using sensor signal pickup mics. I did some A.I. work in the 90’s, but at the time the computers were too slow so it was not very attractive at the time for me. Then, I was introduced to this woman researcher at Princeton and she introduced this software that she had been using. At the time, I was so impressed by how easy it was to use that I decided to build a whole new instrument based on her software.

What motivated you to be an artist who also practices engineering? Did the education system nurture that interest, or did you have to take matters into your own hands?

I think the in community at the time, in California (we’re talking about the early 80’s), there was this very amazing curiosity about how to use technology. It’s interesting, because in France there is a division between artists and engineers. The division of artists and engineers is very interesting because, in Europe at least, when the artist has an idea she gets an engineer to do it. So, the feedback between engineering and artistic creativity is not as dynamic as in the U.S., I think.

Meanwhile, here there is a tradition of DIY that has moved into the digital realms. At first, I would think of something and ask [an engineer], “Could you build this for me?” and they’d look at me like I was from another planet. They’d say, “No, you can build it yourself.” I’m like, “Build it myself?? I can’t do that!” I think that eventually it became clear that was the only way.

The community is what really allowed me to just go for it because there were other people doing it. Not that many women, but other people in general. There was this idea of, “Just do anything you want and break it and burn it if you need to, but just do it.”

How do you use technology in your work? How do you want to be using technology 10 years from now?

It’s part of the creative process. It’s a continuous feedback loop between building something, seeing what it can do, adapting my ideas to it, changing this thing that I made so that it adapts also to the ideas I was thinking of. I cannot dissociate technology from my creativity. “What can I do and what can I do with it?” is at the root of what i do.

To tell you the truth, I am hoping I will not use technology [in the future]. I think that it’s a very ambivalent position where part of me goes, “I don’t want to deal with technology.” That would mean we would build things that allow people to use things really quickly, but I don’t believe the industry can give us tools that are very creative, because I have seen how (through the years) the industry has been reducing/streamlining the uses of musical instruments. So, now you design an instrument to DO something and just THAT.

It’s difficult because if you make something easy, you also have the tendency sometimes to reduce its possibilities or its applications. If you make something complex, you might have a lot of choices, but then people get tired and go, “Gosh, I don’t want to have to go through all these different things to figure it out.”

With kids, making it simple but making it do something that has many different levels of adaptation is best. You can see it with those early technologies; people did amazing things with them because they found ways to hack. I think it’s nice to always have a back door to let people discover.

You get to have one conversation with your teenage self. What advice do you give her?

Keep breaking things! I did a workshop a couple of years ago with a lot of kids and I was telling the kids how they should take apart things to look at what’s inside. The parents would come up and say, “You don’t realize how expensive those things are! You can’t tell our kids to break things. This is terrible.” But don’t be scared to always look at how things are made and just don’t take everything at face value.

I think breaking technology is essential.

How important is collaboration to your work? Who have you collaborated with recently?

At the beginning, it would be that other people would know the software better than me. Right now, the most important collaboration that I have is with this engineer/artist Rebecca Fiebrink, who designed this software [that I use]. She adapted some of her ideas based on how I was using it.

Pretty much all of the artists that I know have some kind of building system in place, but now I think it is beginning to get so complex (especially with A.I.) to have someone I can collaborate with who really understands A.I. and is willing to have me use it in a way that it was not supposed to be used.

I collaborate with other artists for performance, too. Mainly other musicians and digital artists.

Laetitia Sonami lives in Oakland, California. She is a guest professor in the Music department at Mills College and the Milton Avery MFA program at Bard College. Her awards include the Alpert Award in the Arts (2002), FOundation for Contemporary Performance Arts Award (2000), the Civitella Ranieri Fellowship (2000), and more. To learn more about Laetitia’s instruments and performances, visit her website here.

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Today’s artists are reaching for 3D printers, drones, and VR headsets in the same way they reach for paint brushes or clay. Technology is helping artists realizes their creations and express their ideas in ways that weren’t previously possible.

Check out these 23 amazing artists, art pieces, and exhibitions to learn how people are using technology to explore the creative world.

3D Printing

Ioan Florea’s Ford Torino

With 3D printing, Ioan Florea sculpted a Ford Torino replica whose intricate designs make the car stunning to look at. Every angle has something new, so you can pour over the car for hours and feel like you haven’t seen everything. While car lovers will certainly appreciate the creation, this isn’t meant to be a recreation of the 1971 model. The car, made of liquid metal, reflects the artist’s personal designs and handiwork as a tribute to personalization in the digital age.

The Statue of Zeus at Olympia

The Gate Museum in Atlanta is using known historical records and 3D printing technology to recreate The Statue of Zeus at Olympia, the seventh wonder of the ancient world. The goal of this creation is just as much a political protest against cultural terrorism as it is art. The original stood for almost 800 years before it was destroyed, in the same way that many ancient relics in the Middle East are being destroyed by ISIS today. The museum is taking an ancient subject and giving it a modern spin as a plea against “art as collateral damage” during wartime.

She Who Sees the Unknown

Morehshin Allahyari recently exhibited 3D-printed Middle Eastern goddesses in She Who Sees the Unknown at the TRANSFER Gallery in Brooklyn.

Instead of using 3D printing technology to create new manufactured pieces, Allahyari is using it to bring back something old in the form of forgotten goddesses, or jinns, from Middle Eastern mythology, Julia at 3Ders.org writes. Allahyari pulls from her Iranian heritage and her own gender to create commentary on the balance (and sometimes imbalance) between East and West or male and female.  

Anya Gallaccio at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego

Anya Gallaccio is known for working with materials such as flowers, sugar, and ice that will quickly decay. For a 2015 installation at the Museum of Contemporary Art in San Diego, Gallaccio worked with students who used a 3D printer that produces clay to replicate the Devil’s Tower, a national monument in Wyoming. She wanted to compare the immediacy of 3D printing with the “slow build” of geological formations that take centuries to form.

Virtual Reality

The Art of Dying by Dream Logic

The Dream Logic community of “artists, technologists, designers, experimenters, and entrepreneurs” produces virtual and augmented reality art shows that center around a specific theme.

Last October, they launched their first show, The Art of Dying, and asked more than 500 participants and two dozen artists to reimagine what it means to be mortal. Their goal was to encourage participants to question what it means to die and how society treats death.

Björk Digital

The eponymous Björk Digital is a traveling exhibition that started in Montreal, then moved to the Icelandic musician’s hometown of Reykjavik before returning to the United States. It uses virtual reality plus Björk’s own music to creating an engaging, personalized experience to connect with the art without distractions.

“Participants are led in groups of 25 to a series of rooms equipped with virtual reality headsets and headphones, which you strap on before sitting on stools that spin,” Jim Farber writes at Conde Nast Traveler. “The new piece erases any sense of the building, the audience, or even yourself. Should you gaze down at your hands or legs, you won’t see your body but, instead, the bottom of the piece’s primeval cave setting.”

Gretchen Andrew’s Alternate Reality

Gretchen Andrew is one of the pioneers of virtual reality and art, and created Alternate Reality, touted as the world’s first virtual reality art show. Only one piece was actually hung on the wall, though; the rest were exhibited through a VR replica of the space.

Andrews studied Information Systems at Boston College and then worked in Google’s internal products department, Liz Ohanesian writes at LA Weekly. She wants to use her knowledge of technology to continue exploring the artistic world.

Space Between the Skies

Hosted by apexart, an educational non-profit visual arts space in New York, Space Between the Skies offered three VR installations that challenged the art consumption experience. Curator and artist Christopher Manzione only hung one piece on the wall for a group viewing experience, but everything else was individualized. Instead of viewing the art as a third party, the viewer became a part of the art and engaged with it.

DiMoDA Exhibit at the RISD Museum

The Digital Museum of Digital Art is an ongoing interactive collection and exhibition by two artists: William Robertson and Alfredo Salazar-Caro. For a 2017 installation at the RISD Museum in Providence, Rhode Island, the exhibition was broken into four different rooms, where visitors could engage with the work of four virtual reality artists by wearing headsets. Museum goers without headsets on could still experience the art, as the headsets’ displays were shown on televisions along the walls.

Drone Technology

Once Is Nothing: A Drone Art Exhibition

Hosted by InterAccess, an art gallery in Toronto, Once Is Nothing: A Drone Art Exhibition questioned how drones will change how we think about borders, surveillance, and even personal identity. In its debut in the spring of 2016, artist Laura Millard filmed her piece with drones floating just above the ground at ankle level instead of soaring high up, as we typically imagine them.

Real and Implied

The Prichard Art Gallery in Moscow, Idaho, recently hosted a series that evaluated how we use violence and technology to solve conflict. For example, one room of the Real and Implied exhibition had 15 toy cap guns hooked up to a computer. Whenever the United States carried out a drone strike, a cap gwent off, and information about the strike was printed from the computer.

The exhibition also featured a looping video called 24 Drones in which the devices descended around three dancing women — almost like Space Invaders.

Da Vinci and the Drone

What would Leonardo da Vinci think about drones delivering pizza or T-shirts from Amazon? What would he think about people using them as weapons? These are the questions Vesna Kittelson explored in her Da Vinci and the Drone exhibit at the Form + Content Gallery in Minneapolis, which ran through June 2016.

Kittelson focused on the tension between da Vinci’s designs and modern drone use.

Dispatches

Thirty-four contemporary artists and photojournalists contributed to Dispatches, an exhibition at the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The exhibition was broken into five thematic zones, including the Post 9-11 world, the 2016 elections, and borders/migrations. Photographer Tomas van Houtryve also led a discussion in November about his two pieces, which discussed migrant movements and ecological changes facing America.

First Person View

Drone technology is changing how we see the world and what our human limits in filming are. The Knockdown Center in Queens explored those themes in 2015 with its exhibition First Person View. The show was originally conceived as an obstacle course, where visitors would complete eight challenges — each getting harder than the last — as their drones moved through the space.

Robotics

AUTOPORTRAIT

Some say that the hottest new artist in Brooklyn is ADA0002, a car manufacturing robot that left corporate America to pursue its dream of being an artist.

“AUTOPORTRAIT” was formed as a partnership with Cadillac and Visionaire. Visitors can have their portraits done by the machine and watch the artistic process in action. The actual drawing experience by the robot is just as much art as the finished portrait itself.

Rayguns, Robots, Drones

The Sun Valley Center for the Arts in Ketchum, Idaho, hosted an exhibition called Rayguns, Robots, Drones in January that featured artists from all over the world to discuss what technology means for society through the depiction of robots and drones.

The curators then took the art a step further and invited local high school robotics teams to show off their creations, followed by discussions about drones for rescue purposes by the local fire department. This showed how art and technology affect the entire community and can bring multiple groups of people together.

Robots Building Robots

Amanda Donnan curated works by artists around the world and commissioned a performative response by Meghan Trainor for the Robots Building Robots exhibition at Seattle University’s College of Arts and Sciences.

The exhibition was inspired by the concept of “lights out production,” where robot-run factories run through the night and don’t even need lights because there are no humans that need to see. “Robots were designed to run without humans, yet even with the lights on, they often ended up painting themselves,” says Tyler Coburn, one of the artists featured.

AARON

We tend to think of robotics as a new form of art expression, but Harold Cohen has been testing this concept for 40 years. Cohen developed AARON in 1973, and the robot has continued to advance its painting skills (with actual paint and brushes) as its founder taught it more complex techniques. AARON even has an “imagination” built with AI that lets it paint an object without a reference.

Sculpture Factory

Artist Quayola uses industrial robots to replicate classic sculptures in what he calls “unfinished objects.” Recently, the artist turned his medium from a modern form of sculpture into performance art, in which the robot becomes the apprentice and recreates one of Michelangelo’s sculptures over eight weeks.

Quayola prefers to leave his sculptures unfinished to highlight the idea that an object has its creation (or destiny) within it, and it’s only a matter of finding the right way to draw it out.

Multimedia

Neurosociety

Hosted by the Pace Art + Technology Gallery in Menlo Park, California, Neurosociety was a 2016–2017 art installation by ex-Talking Heads singer David Byrne and technologist Mala Gaonkar. The show combined the work of 15 cognitive neuroscience labs to create a four-room journey into how humans connect with each other.

“Appropriately enough for the Talking Heads singer, it’s a serious mind trip: you’ll do everything from predicting real elections to seeing yourself represented in a doll’s body,” Jon Fingas wrote at Engadget. “Your choices will even contribute to research data for the labs in question.”

Jordan Wolfson’s Robots

Jordan Wolfson turned heads with his robot sculpture (Female figure) in 2014, and his 2016 installation at New York’s David Zwirner Gallery was equally as evocative. Partially an extension to his last piece, the robot was controlled by a series of pulleys like a puppet and played on themes of collapse and destruction.

“Even in miniature, it was clear the installation — part mixed-media sculpture, part choreographed performance, part massive whirring machine there to activate it all — would be something to behold when it debuted,” Nate Freeman wrote at ArtNews.

Pipilotti Rist: Pixel Forest

From 11:57 to midnight every night in January 2017, Pipilotti Rist’s Open My Glade was visible in Times Square as part of the Midnight Moment by Times Square Arts. In her collection, Rist created a series of photos that focused on the struggle of women in media.

Rist stood out by turning the glass ceiling metaphor into a literal glass barrier. In many of the images, Rist was shown pressed up against glass as if she was barely able to fit and dying to break through. Her work definitely captured the attention of passers-by in Times Square.

Petra Cortright

Petra Cortright is bringing Impressionist ideals to the modern age. Cortright pulls digital imagery and then manipulates and prints it on various surfaces until she is happy with the product. She even wears gamer glasses when she works so she can focus. Several of her YouTube videos that explain her process have become art pieces themselves.  

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