Alias

So I’ve been too busy doing actual work and generally trying to decompress my head to post about this, but I went to the goToAndSki flash platform conference in Switzerland last month, and it was pretty goddamn awesome.

I’m a bit down on conferences in general, to be honest – no disrespect to John Davy and co, but they tend to bum me out a bit these days, unless I’m actually presenting. I guess it’s too much of a busman’s holiday. At flash on the beach last year I basically just hid in my hotel room almost the entire time, but I think that’s more a problem with me than the conference itself. I just find it a bit hectic trying to network and be polite to so many people all at once, and I get a bit overwhelmed with the whole experience. I’m actually quite shy, you know.

Anyway, goToAndSki is totally different – the thing takes place in a tiny remote chalet in the Swiss Alps, and it’s much more cosy and personal. You spend the days skiing or snowboarding, and there are conferences in the evening. So it’s less hectic socially, and you have more time to get to know the other delegates, and the fact that it’s not 100% flash shop talk all the time means it feels almost like an actual holiday.

Almost.

I went with my awesome colleagues from Jade Hopper, and I think everybody had a good time. If you’re planning on going next year though, and you’re not a regular skiier, I’d recommend going a week or so earlier, so you can get your snow legs and familiarise yourself with the terrain and the general area. I spent a lot of the time running around trying to catch up with the main group (who were all from fairly nearby in Europe, and so were seemingly more experienced skiiers than me) so that was a bit rubbish – but TBH that’s only a minor gripe. The breathtaking beauty of the alps is sublime and awe-inspiring, and I left feeling rejuvenated and a lot healthier. The sessions were great, and the atmosphere and camaraderie was there, which I think is lacking from other, bigger conferences. Thanks to all the guys who put it together – I look forward to going again next year! I think it’s going to be in Norway?

Here’s some gorgeous snowboarding footage:

Ric Carvalho and I made this for Kinetica Art Fair 2010.

It’s an interactive urinal.

To my knowledge, it’s the first working urine-drive user interface to date. Thanks to Chris O’Shea for discovering prior art.

Check it out.

In November 2008, I worked with Moving Brands to create an animated brand mark for global media and marketing services company MindShare Worldwide.

The work involved creating various different animated versions of the brand mark created by Moving Brands, for deployment across various media. I also produced a screensaver which showcases the new branding.

In september 2009, Albion London approached me to create a series of generative artworks for their client, Atomico Ventures.

The brief was to create a generative system which would take data from a client project (such as company share price, number subscribers, temperature in office – anything they could think to provide, really) and create an artwork which would contain a visual representation of that data.

Working with their design team, I created four different pieces, which take arbitrary feed data and incorporate it into a moving artwork. Additionally, each user can select which data/artwork combination they see by using the control panel on the top right.