We see with our eyes without seeing all. Our eyes see from what we call violet to what we call red. Beyond that is a large range of infrared and a range of ultraviolet. Some other beasts see those "colors". And we can build cameras from exotic materials on the periodic table to see those "colors".
It is sad, but it is common for some of the most fascinating technology is developed for the military. If you want to see the future pipeline, look up Arpa. And while Portland's technology development is less dominated by the war-making machinery industry than elsewhere, we have one of the major infrared camera makers in the world here. These cameras "see" heat, literally in the "dark". They do have more positive applications in medicine and in finding thermal leaks in buildings. www.youtube.com/watch?v=31O43iZaUY0. Tonight they are dedicated to art.
It is a reunion project by friends noted for their erotic art film, The Operation. Jacob Pander and Marne Lucas present Incident Energy tonight, a multichannel video contrasting the heat signatures of bodies and our industrial world. Jim McGinn, Portland modern dancer, and collaborator in the footage, will perform live for the opening at 8.
Incident Energy opening at Disjecta, in the shadow of Paul Bunyan www.disjecta.org 8371 N. Interstate Map 6PM-9 Free
Gaming is a fascinating world. Unfortunately I don't have the time or patience to enter. But there is innovation in the space, and some of it is interesting. In particular we need more engaging women and girls. Eventually game technology will become ubiquitous as the gateway, the experience interface, to simulation. Early work was done by a friend at Atari Labs and PARC. Since, we have environments like OpenSim, a build your own world toolkit.
From time to time a game developer will open a new twisty path in game design. That's the case with Jonathan Blow @Jonathan_Blow, who developed Braid as a counterpoint to mainstream gameplay. He is developing a new game The Witness. He is continuously active in game criticism, experimental gaming workshops and has founded a game development venture fund.
This morning he speaks in Portland. The event is fully subscribed. Tickets are no longer available for his talk, but the video will soon be available on the Creative Mornings website. Sponsored by Portland Creative Mornings @Portland_CM at the Hollywood Theater www.hollywoodtheatre.org 4122 NE Sandy Boulevard Doors 8:30AM, talk 9. Free
CV Modulator is a class of functions in electronic music synthesis. The basic idea is to use one musical signal to control another. With those elements, you can build a more complex sound. Tonight is CVModulation experiment and performance night in Portland. In this case, people will be doing it with analog hardware modules, often in the Eurorack format. Tonight will be a demo and give-away by 4ms Company and a live performance Marcus Fischer & Jatun accompanied by video synths. If you are interested in electronic music, or just curious, this is a gentle introduction. At Control Voltage www.controlvoltage.net 3742 NE Mississippi 7PM Free