Gapers Block has ceased publication.

Gapers Block published from April 22, 2003 to Jan. 1, 2016. The site will remain up in archive form. Please visit Third Coast Review, a new site by several GB alumni.
 Thank you for your readership and contributions. 

TODAY

Friday, March 29

Gapers Block
Search

Gapers Block on Facebook Gapers Block on Flickr Gapers Block on Twitter The Gapers Block Tumblr


A/C
« Pictures Speak Louder than Words What Happened with Letterman Happens Here Too »

Art Sat Oct 10 2009

Binary and the Wetware Machine

I got to see the opening night of Binary, a show curated by Lauren and Francesco Levato, over at The Near Northwest Arts Council. The art show was nothing to rave about and I won't be doing that here although you can check it out through November 7, 2009. On the other hand the "Wetware Render Machine" was a hit with everyone.

This project, if you want to call it that, was an effort to create collaboratively. It unfortunately included all this writing about CGI computers, sampling and on off binary gibberish. The thing that actually took place at St Paul's Cultural Center they called "Wetware Render Machine," this was a live model session with artists, writers, students, parents, and all sort of people drawing and interacting in an open creative and active environment.

Lauren Levato actively invited people to draw, and create their own work on paper that was provided, or contribute to a number of works that were already started or even considered finished. This particular evenings event was not about one person effectively seeing through an idea or vision, although some may have seen it that way, but it was about a collective vision. That's what all the computer sampling talk was about, and although it makes sense, it made understanding the process difficult, and these days I would rather see art simplified than made overly complex. The Wetware Render Machine was as simple as it sounds complex and if you didn't get a chance to experience it, you have until the 7th of November to see the remnants of a great night of active, interactive and expressive art making.

I would like to add that there may have been a pay off for all the CGI talk that I was not there for but regardless I had a great time and bravo to both Lauren and Francesco.

 
GB store

Lauren Levato / October 26, 2009 11:05 PM

Martin,
Was good to see you at the event. Did you participate? Sorry if the concept of a render machine went over your head, fits in with the CAM 2.0 theme. But beyond that what the exhibit web site and literature explains is that the Wetware Render Machine is a metaphor for human interaction. The very word "Wetare" is a cyber-punk term for human processes. Starting to make sense now?
And what actually started out as something complex in theory did, as you said, get tossed by the wayside when everyone jumped in. That's the point of doing something live - you don't know what you are going to get. It was great fun, and potentially a little absurdist, but why not have a little absurd fun, mmm? Or being able to let go of grand ideas. It's a radical idea, something perhaps to consider with that portrait project of yours. But I digress.
If you are still unconvinced you have another chance for round two because the first go round was so successful. In fact we are turning this one into a book - Oct. 30, 2009 7 - 11 p.m. at St. Paul's Cultural Center, Exquisite: A Series of Corpses. Join us again, won't you?
Lauren Levato

GB store

Architecture Tue Nov 03 2015

Paul Goldberger Describes the "Pragmatism and Poetry" of Frank Gehry's Architecture in His New Book

By Nancy Bishop

Architecture critic Paul Goldberger talks about Frank Gehry's life and work in a new book.
Read this feature »

Steve at the Movies Fri Jan 01 2016

Best Feature Films & Documentaries of 2015

By Steve Prokopy

Read this column »

Blogroll

ACRE
An Angry White Guy
Antena
AREA Chicago
ArchitectureChicago Plus
Arts Engagement Exchange
The Art Letter
Art or Idiocy?
Art Slant Chicago
Art Talk Chicago
Bad at Sports
Bite and Smile
Brian Dickie of COT
Bridgeport International
Carrie Secrist Gallery
Chainsaw Calligraphy
Chicago Art Blog
Chicago Art Department
Chicago Art Examiner
Chicago Art Journal
Chicago Artists Resource
Chicago Art Map
Chicago Art Review
Chicago Classical Music
Chicago Comedy Examiner
Chicago Cultural Center
Chicago Daily Views
Chicago Film Examiner
Chicago Film Archives
Chicago Gallery News
Chicago Uncommon
Collaboraction
Contemporary Art Space
Co-op Image Group
Co-Prosperity Sphere
Chicago Urban Art Society
Creative Control
Defibrillator
Devening Projects
Digressions
DIY Film
ebersmoore
The Exhibition Agency
The Flatiron Project
F newsmagazine
The Gallery Crawl...
Galerie F
The Gaudy God
Happy Dog Gallery
HollywoodChicago
Homeroom Chicago
I, Homunculus
Hyde Park Artcenter Blog
InCUBATE
Joyce Owens: Artist on Art
J-Pointe
Julius Caesar
Kasia Kay Gallery
Kavi Gupta Gallery
Rob Kozlowski
Lookingglass Theatre Blog
Lumpen Blog
Marquee
Mess Hall
N'DIGO
Neoteric Art
NewcityArt
NewcityFilm
NewcityStage
Not If But When
Noun and Verb
On Film
On the Make
Onstage
Peanut Gallery
Peregrine Program
Performink
The Poor Choices Show
Pop Up Art Loop
The Post Family
The Recycled Film
Reversible Eye
Rhona Hoffman Gallery
Roots & Culture Gallery
SAIC Blog
The Seen
Sharkforum
Sisterman Vintage
Site of Big Shoulders
Sixty Inches From Center
Soleil's To-Do's
Sometimes Store
Steppenwolf.blog
Stop Go Stop
Storefront Rebellion
TOC Blog
Theater for the Future
Theatre in Chicago
The Franklin
The Mission
The Theater Loop
Thomas Robertello Gallery
threewalls
Time Tells Tony Wight Gallery
Uncommon Photographers
The Unscene Chicago
The Visualist
Vocalo
Western Exhibitions
What's Going On?
What to Wear During an Orange Alert?
You, Me, Them, Everybody
Zg Gallery

GB store

 

Events


A/C on Flickr

Join the A/C Flickr Pool.



About A/C

A/C is the arts and culture section of Gapers Block, covering the many forms of expression on display in Chicago. More...
Please see our submission guidelines.

Editor: Nancy Bishop, nancy@gapersblock.com
A/C staff inbox: ac@gapersblock.com

Archives

 

A/C Flickr Pool
 Subscribe in a reader.

GB store

GB Store

GB Buttons $1.50

GB T-Shirt $12

I ✶ Chi T-Shirts $15