MTA.me features a musical rendition of the New York City subway map.   It may not show you which train you need to board but it provides a unique view (sound?) of the data.  As you load the page, the system begins by drawing any trains that left a minute before you arrive.  It then progresses rapidly through a 24 hour cycle, drawing new train lines and playing a note whenever lines cross.  The viewer is free to collaborate with the system music by clicking and dragging through existing lines to play additional notes.  The sound each line makes varies, depending on the length of the line.

It’s similar to the laser harp, only more digital and dynamic.

In art school, we often looked at images of artwork in books or copies displayed on the screen from a projector.  These often left me wanting.  The images were poorly reproduced; often they were in black and white or blurry.  Rarely, did they accurately or even remote convey the original art piece in any appreciable detail.  I felt that what was needed was a giant database of art works that were digitally copied in high resolution, enabling instructors and students access to these images and giving them the ability to zoom in and out and get a true sense of the details: the size, the paint strokes, etc.

Leave it to Google.

The Google Art Project enables the online viewer to not only view individual art pieces on the screen but gives them the opportunity to zoom in, viewing the intricate details, the brushstrokes, the crackling, the nuances of an artist’s work.  In addition to viewing the artwork itself, Google has also implemented a ‘street-view’ of several art museums so ‘visitors’ can tour the museums from the comfort of their own home.  While nothing can compare to experience of viewing an artwork in person (I never knew Van Eyck’s paintings were so small), the street view can help give a sense of the scale of the artwork and experience how it is displayed at the museum and its relation to art displayed around it.

This is a good start but has room to grow.  I’d like to be able to click on the artwork from the ‘street-view’ and then be able to explore the artwork, read the informational plaque, and maybe even impulsively buy a poster of it from the gift shop.  It could link to books on Amazon or to a local library search about the artwork.  It could include a way to find essays or blog posts that talk about the piece or a way to find other works by the same author, in similar styles or related in other ways.

What about three-dimensional art, such as sculptures.  A painting is two-dimensional and is more reasonable to experience from a two-dimensional computer screen, but how do we experience a three dimensional object?  Will there be 3D renderings in the future?  Complete with graphical skins that accurately convey the texture and blemishes of stone, bronze, or otherwise?  Will we need 3D glasses to fully experience a sculpture or do we need to wait until virtual reality is a reality?

Time will tell.

With the amazingly realistic effects computers contribute to movies and animation nowadays, it’s refreshing to see something lowtech but still well done.  I found a video today by musician Jeremy Messersmith and artist Eric Power called Tatooine whose subject should be self-explanatory.  It’s cute, it still tells the story, and it’s so …not 3D at all.  It features paper cut animation and you should watch.

I often hear voice over snippets in music.  Snippets from movies, other songs, or telephone conversations.

I stumbled across One Hello World today and am very intrigued by this new take on voice recordings in music.  Rather than just playing a voice snippet as background fodder, One Hello World does something different, the music is not only inspired by the voice and the message, but it is the focal point of the song.

The site describes itself as simply a ‘collection of voicemail set to music.’  You call a number, leave a voicemail, and the artist writes some music to play in the background.

But it’s more than that.  Listening to the samples, callers have left messages revealing very personal, intimate details of their lives, almost like confessions.  They’re messages to themselves or to other people in their lives.  Yet, they’ve called an anonymous number, knowing that the result will be a very public display of their very private thoughts.

The music created fits perfectly.  Since most of the messages are sad in nature, the songs skewed that way but there are exceptions.  In addition to writing a ‘soundtrack to your thoughts,’ the artist also included a short response, showing concern for the subjects.  It’s a natural reaction, as in creating something inspired by their emotions, the artist has developed a connection to them.  Just like a friend who lends an ear.

Leave a message.

This has nothing to do with art, digital or otherwise, but does involve the internet. 🙂

I recently purchased a 2006 pink Genuine Buddy Scooter. This color combination is no longer being made and I wanted to ensure that I got a color matched topcase. Luckily, I was able to find one at Scooter West.

Unbeknownst to me, but beknownst to others, these things DO NOT come with instructions. I was able to find a forum-based general walkthrough at Modern Buddy but figured that picture-based instructions may help someone, somewhere. These instructions may very well be incorrect, but hey, I used up all the provided components and the top case seems attached well enough.  NOTE:  You must already have a rear rack installed on your buddy.

Components

Your top case kit should’ve contained
1 top case
1 large, black plate
2 long brass brackets
4 long bolts
4 short bolts
4 nuts
4 flat washers
4 dished washers
2 keys
a foamy insert liner thingy (not pictured)

If you’re missing any of these…um..good luck.

Additional Tools

A 10mm socket wrench.

Instructions

Step 1. Install the large, black plate to your rear rack using the two long brass brackets, the 4 long bolts, flat washers and nuts.  The wider end of the black plate should face the front of the scooter and laid down on the rear rack so that the lipped edges face down onto the rear rack.   The bolts should be inserted from the top of the black plate, through a washer, through the rear rack, brass brackets and nut, in that order.  The rear brackets should be positioned so the bolts are on the outside of the center bar on the rear rack and so the black plate is flush with the back bar of the rear rack.  Tighten the bolts so that there is no wiggle room – everything should be solid.

Step 2. Attach the top case through the black plate with the 4 short bolts and 4 dished washers.  My topcase fit the best use the the 4 rear-most holes in each of the four pairs of holes on either side of black plate.

Step 3. Insert the foamy insert liner thingy into the top case and optionally lock the case and take a picture.

Here’s a picture of Arcee with her rear rack, top case, windshield, extended mirrors and side crash bars.