Projects/WDKA+MICA

Unravel the Code V - Unravel Radio Marathon

When you hear the word radio, one might think nostalgically about AM and FM, car tunes, or talk shows. With over a hundred years of human radio transmission behind us, what then is radio's contemporary relevance? We have the internet right?

Radio is, however, much broader than a commercial broadcast. It is an essential infrastructure in our lives, and one that is fundamental to many technologies we depend on. At any given moment the air is filled with signals -- from cell phone packets to a bus driver walkie-talkie chatter, airplane tracking and bluetooth mouse movements, from satellites beaming down to the beep of wireless keys, the hum of electrical devices and much much more. All these technologies, and even ones which are part of 'the internet', such as Wi-Fi, 3G, 4G, microwave towers...are radio based. In short, any electrical device which lacks wires and still works (hence: wireless), works via radio. If that is not enough relevance, it is also good to note that radio itself is a natural phenomenon that older than mankind. Its strongest broadcasters are the stars. And it is deeply physical.

For Unravel The Code 2k16 we will take this expanded understanding of radio as our topic and departure point as Digital Craftsmen. We will dream up devices that make these radio systems more present and visible. We will open them up to critical inquire. We will tune in to poetical intervention and aesthetic experience. We will recount obscure histories as well as meticulously construct new narratives that lie in the grey zone between craft and the electromagnetic spectrum.

Pre-Marathon Meeting

In a 5 min Skype session, introduce the Unravel the Code / Digital Craft programme (what are the themes/style/skills of the course) and share a memorable photograph of your past that fits under the title “ the moment I knew what I wanted to do”. The purpose of this pre-meeting is to have the first exchange to be on a peer to peer basis and break the ice before the marathon begins.

Student Pairings

1. Tila Assgari, tassgari@mica.edu & Stijn van Aardenne, 0883885@hr.nl
2. Trisha Cheeney, tcheeney@mica.edu & Arthur Boer, 0882827@hr.nl
3. Kaitlyn Conte, kconte@mica.edu & Meike Brand, 0883201@hr.nl
4. Kristin Holifield, kholifield@mica.edu & Koen van Geel, 0883030@hr.nl
5. Bianca Jackson, bjackson01@mica.edu & Stan Haanappel, 0877946@hr.nl
6. Esther Kim, ekim05@mica.edu & Judith van der Heiden, 0864247@hr.nl
7. Erin Kirchner, ekirchner@mica.edu & Kars van den Heuvel, 0884318@hr.nl
8. Dan Langston, dlangston@mica.edu & Pascalle de Jager, 0884310@hr.nl
9. Priya Pappu, ppappu@mica.edu & Nora Mabrouki, 0877573@hr.nl
10. Seul Rhee, srhee01@mica.edu & Lars Noback, 0884935@hr.nl
11. Kate Smith-Morse, ksmithmorse@mica.edu & Rens van Pinxteren, 0876181@hr.nl
12. William Solomon, wsolomon@mica.edu & Emma Rijk, 0880827@hr.nl
13. Christina Stone, cstone@mica.edu & Boris Smeenk, 0884964@hr.nl
14. Brooke Thyng, bthyng@mica.edu & Marjolein Stassen, 0879333@hr.nl

15. Alan Grover, awgrover@msen.com, technical assistant volunteer 16. Kim Loper, kloper@mica.edu, GTI (Teacher assistant) 17. Ryan Hoover, rhoover@mica.edu, instructor 18. Margaret MacDonald, mmacdonald@mica.edu, (curatorial assistant) 19. Annet Couwenberg, acouwenb@mica.edu, instructor

MICA Presentations

On Wednesday afternoon all students will have 3 minutes to share their interests and approach to their practice. Considering collaboration can continue well beyond the project week it could be interesting to see on what basis can students connect. Please prepare a short 5 slide presentation on the following format and have it ready as a pdf.

• Slide 1: A memorable photograph of your past.

(That fits under the title “ the moment I knew what I wanted to do”)

• Slide 2: What do you make?

(Tell us in one image and one slide about creative background)

• Slide 3: What is your topic of interest?

(Explain a past/current Q9 project topic or what you wish to research in Q10)

• Slide 4: What is your medium?

(Explain what materials and tools you wish to use)

Side 5: What is your question?

Schedule (subject to change)

Wednesday October 14 – Sharing Interests / Sharing Approaches

Monday 24/10	Interaction Station (2nd Floor Wijnhaven)
12:00-12:30	Welcoming students, brief discussion on course approaches, gathering presentations
12:30 – 13:30	MICA presentations
13:30 – 13:45	Coffee Break
13:45 – 14:45	WDKA presentations
15:00 – 17:00	Mini Rotterdam Excursion
17:00 – 17:45	Core Memory Marathon Briefing
18:15 – 19:00	Documenting the wiki Roel Roscam Abbing Postponed till 11:30 Thursday
18:00	Dinner in the Willem
After Hours....	Drinks?

Thursday October 15 – Core Memory Marathon

Thursday 15/10	Interaction Station (2nd Floor Wijnhaven)
9:30 – 10:00	Recapping workshop challenge / division into groups - The Drivers – Building driving hardware - The Etchers & Weavers – Etching bead and sensing sheilds/Weaving magnetic cores -The Dreamers – Exploring the artistic applications of core memory
10:00 – 18:00	Soldering, Etching, Weaving, Sketching Marathon
19:00-19:30	Regrouping, bringing parts together and making/writing the memory
19:30-20:00	Moment of truth – reading the memory

Workshop Reading Material / Resources

Media:Byte-1976-07.pdf Byte Magazine article on Ferrite Core Memory and adding currents
Media:Corememoryshield_report.pdf Report on the Core Memory Arduino shield we will try to build
The core memory shield website
The WDKA GitHub with all files and arduino code
Illustrator layout