Automata now has its own url: AutomataNOLA.org

Look for posts coming very soon about the first Robot Parade hacker/maker meetup. It will be within the next 2 weeks. Start collecting you motors, buttons, gears, wheels, sprockets, and anything else you might want to put into a robot.

Also please vote on what the categories for the prizes should be: https://www.voteit.com/v/4JTT8dRv2JmduLR

With self-deprecating humour, Coleridge alluded to the impossibility of pinning down anything as elusive as a thought by calling his later notebooks ‘Fly-catchers’: the notebook pages function like fly paper, trapping the living thoughts or ‘winged words’ and preserving them for all time, but at the cost of that very living quality which made them worth preserving.  A variation on this title occurs in Notebook 56, which bears the title ‘Volatilia or Day-book for bird-liming Small Thoughts, impounding Stray Thoughts, and holding for trial doubtful Thoughts’

Please click here to view the working list of artists, and visit Barrister’s Gallery for more information in the coming weeks.

THE ROBOT PARADE!  Sponsored by Git Hub.

No longer just flying robots, but a slew of as many varieties a krewe can manage.

H. Cole Wiley is coordinating the parade, and hosting workshops in his upper 9th ward studio.  The parade is still projected for mid-November, likely in the St. Roch neighborhood, with several great neighborhood partnerships in the works.  If you would like to participate or get more information, please add your name and contact to our Robot Parade spreadsheet under the “I am interested” category, or via this blog.

Be sure to add our facebook page, Automata New Orleans, and twitter feed for more frequent news updates!

Automata remains a sponsor of the Robot Parade on November 18th (including the Krewe of Spy vs. Spy Flying Robots!).

The Models and Miniatures exhibit at Barrister’s Gallery is also transformed!  Several Automata artists will participate, but the focus of the exhibit has changed, and so has the name- it is now called Volatilia, and still runs from November 10 through December 3.

We will continue to post updates about all the exciting developments in the Robot Parade and the re-workings of the exhibit at Barrister’s Gallery.  If you have been working on a project for Automata 2012, please do contact us, as we are still working out the details.  Otherwise, we look forward to this year’s events and re-organizing for next year’s main exhibit!

In the interlude, some Oskar Schlemmer for everyone:
Das Triadische Ballet

Flight of all sorts is a decent theme to ponder.

In addition:  Automata’s machine show opening night at the Ironworks is Saturday, Nov. 17, and all participants are welcome to bring their flying robots to the exhibit for some flying demonstrations.  We will work to provide a map of areas in New Orleans where DIY flyers can roam freely.

Two great items of news:

H. Cole Wiley will head organization of the Flying Robot Parade.  Cole is a code-writer, sculptor, and inventor and has already been indispensible to the carrying-on of Automata- he will be one of the great forces behind the show this year.

& thanks to Cole, our first sponsor of Spy vs. Spy is GitHub!  A perfect match!

Details to come!

Cole will bring you further updates on the Flying Robot Parade and on activities and developments with Automata, and information on our sponsors and how to sign up or show up for Spy vs. Spy and surrounding activities.
A brief resume- he is about to finish his degree at LSU, Baton Rouge in Sculpture, with a minor in Digital Art and Computer Science, after which he will spend some time in New Orleans working on Automata and his other projects-  including Decode72 design solutions.  Look for one of his installations at the Ogden Museum later this year.
More news on the near horizon!

Your humble rouser of makers of machines of wonder wishes to convey the following:

The deadlines are meant only as sign-posts.  We are working with individual artists regarding any extra financial considerations and calculating the basic costs of running Automata this year, from our Ogden gala to the flying robot parade to the takeover of the Ironworks to the pitcher plant choir planned for Models and Miniatures…  You need only contact us to begin this discussion.  Otherwise, as usual, the curious are welcome to contact us for participation almost to the month of the show.

FLYING ROBOTS?  We are doing it for the children!  Krewe of Spy vs. Spy hereby declared a true phenomenon.  We will hold a picnic and parade, tentatively set for Sunday, Nov. 18.    Specific details should be nailed down later this spring.

In the meantime, if you have any questions and need to speak to us right away, you will find us here:

We might have a bbq in March, anyway…..

This all means that if you wish to be considered for any kind of grant- from travel expense to materials- we will need to know by February 18, as we must raise the bulk of our budget as early as possible.  We’re working with individuals now to create our projected money needs- we will try to stay flexible in the coming months, but it’s better to talk to us early.

Especially if you want to come to New Orleans – we’re coordinating travel groups for sharing road and shipping expenses.

We’re also working on accommodation  arrangements for visiting artists throughout the month of the show.

Money!  We will need it!  It’s a lot of fun raising it and giving it away!  We love handing money over to artists to help them with their projects!  Our priority again starts with grants for local artists and covering basic show expenses, like space rental, and moves out from there.  More on all that very soon.   Proposal deadline is still Sept. 1 but we have a lot of leeway in Automata for last minute projects- don’t hesitate to contact us.

Other news:  the 2012 Artists list is begun- please refer to the list of pages at the left of the home page.

Also, h/t Dug North:  this is Wunderland!

Saturday, November  3, 6-9pm we will hold our special Automata preview evening in the beautiful, chapel-like Patrick Taylor Library at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art.

We’ll feature the work of New Orleans and Southern artists to begin the month of Automata exhibitions, including Ben Reid‘s delightful clattering flying machines from North Carolina.

We are also very happy to announce that Simeon Coxe will return to New Orleans for Automata, and that Silver Apples will be the main feature of our evening at the Ogden.  Simeon will also bring new artwork to install at the show, which can be seen both at the Ogden and later in November, at the Ironworks.

Simeon Coxe, via the Beijing Global Times

Tickets for the event will be limited, as the legal capacity of the library is limited.    We will have advance tickets available.  Admission is set at $10- ($5- for Ogden members).

A huge thanks to the Ogden Museum for co-sponsoring this event!  The moment I laid eyes on the library I hoped to hold at least some aspect of Automata in it- the architecture is unique in New Orleans, and provides the most elegant and haunting setting for any kind of performance, let alone an arena for mechanical sculpture.   Many thanks to curator Bradley Sumrall for putting the seed in my head, and to the wonderful Ogden staff for being so supportive.   I’ve written about the Ogden below, if you don’t believe me.  This is a rare window of opportunity for a show like ours, as the Museum is working on the capital needed to finish restoring the Library and installing artwork from their permanent collection.   Anyone who feels strongly about not just preserving our past but making sure it is useful among the living and available to all, I encourage you to find out about the Patrick Taylor Library, and support its restoration in any way you can.  In the meantime- I feel positive that we will be able to raise the funds necessary- a place like this is open to shows like ours!

If you are a fan of the legendary Silver Apples, this evening in the library will be a special one.

Simeon was a big part of the spirit of Automata last year, and it means a lot that he will return- Silver Apples was our closing act in 2011 in that great show at the AllWays Lounge, and he brought a most pleasing plunger vs. fan saw installation on the last weekend, so it is fitting that he brings us back in style in 2012, and be a larger presence throughout the show, in between world tours to far flung fantastic lands.

Details on purchasing advance tickets or sponsoring this event coming soon.

View of Patrick Taylor Library, rotunda to stage, via WBGO on Flickr (click for more images)

The Call to Artists has been updated to reflect these announcements.  We have several exciting plans up our sleeves that we can’t announce just yet, so please stay tuned!

*updated 1/21/12* SATURDAY, NOV. 3:  Special preview evening in the Patrick Taylor Library at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, featuring Silver Apples.  (please see following entry for further details)

SATURDAY, NOV. 10: Models and Miniatures opens at Barrister’s Gallery (through Dec. 2).

SATURDAYS, NOV. 17 & 24: Automata at The Ironworks.

Deadlines for proposals and submissions (*UPDATED 1/12*):

General proposals, for any exhibit:  September 1.

Grants and travel funds will have to be worked out in advance of our fundraising efforts, as we need to make a budget projection.  Please contact us by Feb. 5 if you can only participate with financial help and seek it in partnership with our resources and efforts.  We are talking with artists and groups about budget concerns and making plans now.  We intend to apply for a kickstarter fundraising page by the end of February.  We encourage anyone out of state to contact us about coordinating travel expenses with others from your region.

MODELS AND MINIATURES

“A large figure seemed to me false and a small one equally unbearable, and then often they became so tiny that with one touch of my knife they disappeared into dust. But head and figures seemed to me to have a bit of truth only when small.”
-Giacometti

Call for project proposals:
Models and Miniatures centers around the maquettes and miniatures of mechanical sculpture and tiny universes- this is an experimental garden focusing on distortions of perspective, biological material, and the proving ground for the future of Automata in general, in the intersections of science and art. The heart of this exhibition will be the pillars of traditional mechanical and kinetic sculpture in model and miniature form; all other proposals should touch on bio-art and the use of art in science and vice-versa, towards the creation of this garden/universe of miniatures. Barrister’s Gallery is a traditional gallery- the indoors is climate-controlled and we will be making use of the courtyard and grotto for outdoor projects. Project proposals do NOT have to be miniature in a literal sense. The overall effect of a garden means that though each project or work of art will stand on its own, the display will not be traditional, and it will be the decision of the curator how the work will be integrated into the overall exhibition, while maintaining the integrity of each work and artists’ intent.

AUTOMATA at the IRONWORKS – our 3rd year:

Call to artists for the 3rd annual Automata exhibition, once again at the Ironworks warehouse at 612 Piety St. in New Orleans! Bring In the Machines.
Mechanical and kinetic sculpture, indoors and outdoors, from traditional automata to the digital and biological and all creaking and clanking and beeping and atomic things in between. This year, proposals for Rube Goldberg machines are highly encouraged.

We’re happy to say that the Ironworks warehouse is becoming more and more weatherproof, and there is ample indoor and outdoor exhibition space for projects of all sizes and capabilities. There are many architectural elements to the building and grounds that can be taken advantage of.

Depending on our fundraising capabilities and success in coordinating with out of state artists, the goal once again is to arrange for consolidated transport from several regions. If you would like to come to New Orleans to be part of Automata, we will do our best to arrange for free or cheap and comfortable accommodations, and to work out the logistics of transporting your work safely here and back. We will need your participation in fundraising efforts to make this possible!

We will hold a fundraising series this spring, first to secure costs of the show. Our main goal once again is to provide grants to artists for materials and projects, as well as to import artists and work from outside New Orleans. Our priority is with local and regional artists, but we’re looking forward to bringing back artists from Alabama, N. Carolina and Texas as well as artists we’ve had our eyes on from points far north, northeast, and west!  Look for our now annual Cheap Art Auction and BBQ Raffle in the next few months! Automata and Models and Miniatures are open to international artists, but our ability to help ease the costs of participation is very limited- this should not dissuade you or anyone else from contacting us:  automata.nola@gmail.com or in the comments below.

This life is a fine life!

Ratty Scurvics, solo piano at the Ogden for A Technological Terrarium closing party, 9/12/11

(This is sooner than you’d think, as several Automata artists are adjusting their spectacles in preparation for an after school class partnership between the Ogden and Warren Easton High’s STEM Academy. We had a great time last week meeting with the STEM students as they toured A Technological Terrarium and look forward to the start of our educational adventure.)

Congratulations to the artists and thanks to Sue Strachan and reporter Chriss Knight of ABC 26 WGNO New Orleans for putting us on television– that was great early (early early early early early) morning surrealism.

Chriss Knight reports on David Sullivan's "Identity Theft"

Our record of Technological Terrarium is posted on flickr: CLICK FOR LINK

Any further documentation please let us know! Thanks again, everyone- artists and Ogden. Lots more to come.

However, a piece of news OR TWO: the Models and Miniatures aspect of Automata has a home. Barrister’s Gallery, November 2012.

inside outside upside down

& a brief note before futher elaboration:
Technological Terrarium at the Ogden Museum
closing reception: Monday, Sept. 12, 6-8pm
with Ratty Scurvics and his Invisible Trio!
free! cash bar!