March 1, 2011 – Show & Tell

We have some exciting news and the BTC Fab Lab is a great place to tell you about it. Rumors are flying about a Maker Faire for Kansas City so we hope to announce a “Roadmap to a Maker Faire” along with our “Maker Summer” plans and activities.

New Show & Tell location:

• Where: Metropolitan Community College, Business & Technology Campus - Fab Lab.
• 1775 Universal Avenue, Kansas City, MO 64120
• Room TC 200, Enter through the South entrance.
• When Tuesday, March 1, 2011
• Time: 6:00 to 9:00 pm.
• Live webcast event.

This month we have Julia Cole and Leigh Rosser giving a presentation about their kinetic art installations around Kansas City. They are a collaborative team that makes ecologically and community-oriented art for public spaces. They will present a selection of their interactive sculptures, show details of the fabrication process and electronics, and answer questions. They like the fact that their interactive work involves the viewer in creating an experience. Their work usually involves sensors of one kind or another, microprocessors, and some form of output – including digital media, relays or motors. They also do a great deal of their own fabrication using a CNC router and other standard workshop equipment.

As always you will have an opportunity to bring some of your own projects to share with the group. We also will have an opportunity to learn more about the BTC Fab Lab and get a tour of the facilities. Hope to see you there.

 --- About Our Speakers ---

Julia Cole is an interdisciplinary artist, educator and community strategist. Her first career was as a biologist, which brought her to America from England. She then went on to earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the San Francisco Art Institute, and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Washington in Seattle. She has made many interactive art works, often including sound and video components. Julia chaired the Interdisciplinary Arts department at the Kansas City Art Institute for six years, and now works part-time with the Charlotte Street Foundation, coordinating a funding opportunity for interdisciplinary art practices called Rocket Grants (http://rocketgrants.wordpress.com).

Leigh Rosser works as an exhibit designer with Eisterhold Associates. His training is in architecture, but soon after graduation he got caught up in the digital boom in San Francisco. He has worked with animation, interface design, and 3-D modeling and design. Leigh had some background in electrical engineering, but has learned most of the things he knows about programming and interactive technology by tinkering. He has an intuitive understanding of how things work and is now pursuing these interests by combining electronic control with mechanical structures, mostly through his public art work with Julia.