Here

Artist list developing on a new page (link to the left). Many additions and evolutions to come.

It is Mardi Gras in New Orleans— no sense in making sense. We still managed to work on our next fundraiser after the madness, at the Allways Lounge: raffle and dance party! Lineup still to come. We’ll get that flyer out; but for now there is no point. At all. Happy Mardi Gras!

Who’d a thunk?

The Cheap Art Auction surpassed all expectations and we raised over $4,000, auctioning off about 150 items! Automata now has a budget to work with!

The funds from this auction will go towards expenses here in New Orleans- costs of running the show, including rent for use of the Ironworks, as well as for individual grants to local & regional artists working on Automata projects. We do already have a list of artists we intend to give money to, but if you are a New Orleans or Louisiana artist in need of a little push on your project, please contact us at automata.nola@gmail.com.

There are many people to thank:
All the artists who donated work,
Everyone who showed up, stayed, and bid- we hope you enjoyed the evening.
Kourtney Keller, extraordinary bartender,
Mimi’s in the Marigny,
Everyone who got sucked into helping during the course of the auction- Tristan, Christine, Tallulah, Angela, and–
The glamorous Hannah Brown in heels,
The tireless piano player Tom,
Organizers James Goedert, Leslie Selting and Bob Snead,
John for the pizza! Many others!
Special thanks to Antenna Gallery and Press St. for the support!

Nobody took photos, that I’m aware of, so we’ll leave you with the image of a soap/wax tractor, which Thomas Little conceived as an item for the upcoming raffle/party fundraiser in March, sometime after Mardi Gras. Now that we have the locals covered, we’re working on bringing in Mark Koven and others from North Carolina, and Colin McIntyre and gang from Austin.

Cheap Art Auction fundraiser, Feb. 20th at Mimi’s

First fundraiser for Automata!
Upstairs at Mimi’s, corner of Franklin and Royal.
Preview: 6pm
Auction begins: 7pm
Paddles: $5
(buy-in and sign-in required to bid)
Auctioneer: Bob Snead
Showcase Glamour: Miss Hannah Brown
The Piano Player: Tom

Automata is an exhibition of kinetic and mechanical sculpture of all kinds. It will take place at the Ironworks warehouse at 612 Piety St., April 2-9, 2011.

We need to raise at least $10,000 for this year’s show to pay for:
- transport of heavy artwork from all over the U.S.
- individual grants to New Orleans and Louisiana artists for materials or something towards rent while they complete their work
- rent for the show location

The Cheap Art Auction is a LIVE AUCTION! Prices start at $5 or $10 unless otherwise specified by the artist. Money raised at this auction will go towards exhibition costs and to artists in New Orleans.

Preview some of the work on flickr.
Participating artists (more coming, list updated):

James Goedert
Bob Snead
Myrtle von Damitz lll
Thomas Little
Brad Benischek
Caesar Meadows
Christopher Deris
Harriet Burbeck
Kate McNee
R. Scott Moseley
Miss Pussycat
Skylar Fein
Mara Bentley
Michael Deas (commemorative Edgar Allen Poe stamp booklet, signed)
Kourtney Keller
Mystic Blue Signs, Vincent Mitchell
Marcus Brown- live sound drawings!
Lou Lou Maloney- Muses shoe!
Elyse Manning- Fancy Edibles!
Mo Lappin- Howl Pop Fashions
Calamity Fashions
Lefty Parker
Nina C. Nichols
Keene Kopper
Leslie Selting
Kenny Harrison
Kathleen Loe
Ryan Ballard
Alyssa Dennis
Eli Silverman
Boudreaux
Toby Franklin
Maggie Calmes
Hannah Chalew
Ben Fox McCord

If you are an artist who can donate work to the auction, or wish to support the show as a sponsor, please email Myrtle at automata.nola@gmail.com

Our fiscal sponsor is the Black Forest Fancies, a 501c3 arts non-profit. We will be able to provide you with an invoice so that your donation can be tax deductible where it applies.

See you at the auction!

Myrtle von Damitz lll
James Goedert
Bob Snead

artists

The work of Casey Curran ,who lives and works and shows in Seattle. I found out about his Ernst Haekel-inspired pieces through working on the Multispecies Salon 3: Swarm. Though we were not able to bring his work to New Orleans for the Swarm exhibit, I’m delighted we have another chance.

There are many artists, in New Orleans, Louisiana, and beyond, that I’d like to start off highlighting all at once. Let’s start here!

We are finally able to start the fundraising planning in urgency. A combination of previous obligations, holidays, and local tumult has delayed it all. We plan a three-fold strategy: kickstarter, local patrons, and corporate sponsorship. This year I’ll need to raise about 12-15 grand to pull off what I see is the next step.

The first Automata was run on a shoestring and a delayed month’s rent and the interest from out of state was surprising, let alone the crowds, people of all ages and walks of life who thoroughly enjoyed the magic. It’s apparent that without funding to bring in artists who work in kinetics, robotics, and beyond, that we could run the show as it stood last year– but that’s not the point. There’s a universe of ingenious inventors who are looking not just for places to show off, like at Burning Man or MIT, but for arenas to share ideas in. Louisiana is full of garage tinkerers and inventors, like everywhere else; our schools don’t teach trades any more- the knowledge and tradition is passed down from generation to generation.

This arena is something as a painter I have trouble summarizing and certainly can’t speak the language of; there are inventors and kinetic sculptors who are sponsored by institutions whose skills and ideas are integrated into industry– like biotech and biomedical and the infinite applications of robotics, and their ideas with backing bring more and more access to new materials and the finest of traditional materials; there are also those who work in trades who work with whatever they have, to create things of wonder for people they know. There are gearheads, train freaks, machinists, woodworkers, cam-grinders, magnetics attache’s, whimsy-makers, glossy-eyed programmers, people who like to blow things up… all of this makes Automata, and how it should be year after year. It’s a trade show, a theater show, and an art show.

I was inspired to pull together the first Automata by the work of the infinite cam-maker,Taylor Lee Shepherd and like-minded friends in New Orleans, whose work is not very well documented. We all found a great universe in Automata. I can see a lot in store for New Orleans beyond this show, whether we can raise money to bring in out of state artists or not this year. Please stay tuned for videos of last year’s show, and promotions to help us raise enough funds to bring in work like Casey Curran’s and others, from Massachusetts, the Bay Area, Austin, and Asheville. More artist highlights, too.

Visit videos of Casey Curran’s work on vimeo:
Blind Spot and more.

Festina Lente

One more week till the opening of Multispecies Salon 3: Swarm here in New Orleans. The anchor site of this show, The Ironworks, is the location for Automata.

One more week and you’ll hear a lot more from me.

Please keep sending kinetics artists this way, and get ready to roll.

Call to Artists!

AUTOMATA
kinetics, robotics, new media, bio art

Call to artists- please forward and post.

Outside New Orleans– deadline for submissions:  February 18, 2011
Inside Louisiana: contact by Feb. 18.

The Old Ironworks warehouse, 612 Piety St.
New Orleans, Louisiana

April 2-9, 2011
Open Saturdays, 5-10pm
with special appearance by The Engine on a given Sunday,
and by appointment

Companion exhibit:  Models and Miniatures
(location TBA)
kinetic models and studies, miniatures, cabinets, and dioramas

This is our second exhibition of kinetic sculpture in New Orleans.  It is open to any and all artists working in kinetics, robotics, programming, models, machinery, and bio art.  Submissions for the companion exhibition, Models and Miniatures, is open to anyone working in the above arenas as well as miniatures, cabinets, or dioramas.

SUBMISSIONS:

Images of sample work or proposed work for Automata or Models & Miniatures, with brief description and contact information.

Please send submissions to:
Myrtle von Damitz lll
automata.nola@gmail.com

or leave a comment on the blog.

Images of Ironworks on Flickr.

This is an early notice— I am working on funding sources, including Kickstarter.  If you are able to assist in volunteering or in funding sources, including grant opportunities and private sponsorship, please let me know.  Our fiscal sponsor for any donation is The Black Forest Fancies, a 501C3 non profit based in New Orleans.  I would like to provide for shipping of work from outside New Orleans for the show as much as possible, as well as assist artists and tradesmen in New Orleans with materials.  I’m happy to help arrange for host lodging for any artist who can make the trip to New Orleans for the show with their work.  If anyone is willing to drive to New Orleans with work from any region in the U.S., please send me a note.

Link to the  review by Doug MacCash in the Times-Picayune of the first Automata at the Candle Factory in May, 2010.

Myrtle von Damitz lll

Automata

Here I’ll highlight kinetics, new media, and bio artists in New Orleans, around the U.S. and the world, and update developments on Automata, the annual kinetics sculpture show in New Orleans.

The next Automata is April 2-16, 2011 at the Old Ironworks, a warehouse at 612 Piety St. in the Bywater.   Kawliga Studios at 3331 St. Claude Ave will host a companion exhibition of kinetic models and studies, and miniatures.