StreetBrite fulfulled it's mandate to be fully interactive. The piece used black light within the board, which lit up the reactive baloons inside repurposed water bottles. The piece seemed to function as a magnet, as everyone who walked by had to at least come up and touch it. Even the after dinner crowd, dressed in high heels and suits were not immune.

the second IllumiNITE was the most successful one yet! Many people enjoyed the balmy evening to take in the light creations. street brite is a piece by Chris and Bobby of g2. [ CLOSE ]

Olivia, Heather, Carly from g2 along with Amy Wowk are building mygloo, a translucent mylar shell. The piece is “Inspired by an origami folding technique”. The “varying layers of mylar create levels of opacity that, when lit, highlight and create a glowing surface that piques the interst of passers-by”. Look for their piece under the spruce tree on feb 16 and 17.

illumiNITE is in its second year as an urban event that enlivens an underused pocket park on 104st and just north of Jasper Ave. It is put on by Edmonton on the Edge.This year the event is running for two days, and has both a judged portion, and people’s choice awards. [ CLOSE ]

Bobby and Chris of g2 are building nostalgia in the form of a giant lite brite. They are expecting that its fun and interactivity will contribute to the atmosphere of illumiNITE 2013.

illumiNITE is in its second year as an urban event that enlivens an underused pocket park on 104st and just north of Jasper Ave. This year it is running for two days, and has both a judged portion, and people’s choice awards. [ CLOSE ]

Last week, with the support of g2, I had a chance to exhibit one of our light installation pieces in Ottawa for winterlude - these are the details:

URban DiffUser. Version 2.

The project utilizes 450 repurposed florescent light diffusers and 240 LED 1w lights with a sound reactive controlling system. It is deployed in Ottawa in the Marion Dewar plaza for the illumiNation portion of the winterlude festival, and is one of 7 pieces done by artists from across Canada.

Working with Urban visuals (uvilab.com), we built on a system we deployed last year from the IllumiNite competition. (http://www.flickr.com/photos/75612718@N05/sets/72157629616241403/). That piece was the first use of the system of wrapping and stacking the individual lenses, and simply used big wall washer LED lights to give it life. That piece won the 2012 illumiNITE, with the praise of “sexy” from one of the judges, city councilor Jane Batty.

This years’ piece also uses commercial light diffusers from florescent lights – in this case mostly from an old Zellers. The material picks up light extremely well, but also happens to be quite fragile. This has proved to be a challenge to work with outside in the various weather conditions. In fact, immediately prior to winterlude, the temperature went from -15°c to +14°c and back down again over the span of 3 days. Despite this, the temperature change wasn’t the problem; it was the windstorm that accompanied the shift. The piece collapsed due to high winds, and ~10% of the pieces were damaged. This necessitated a return trip to Ottawa (from Montreal). After setting it back up again, in less ambitious form, and much better anchored, the piece came alive in time for the winterlude opening the following day.

The lighting system is constructed using 2 separate arduino boards, built into separate weatherproof enclosures. These take input from a small microphone, and push data down the string of 120 1w LEDs. The LEDs are capable of a wide spectrum of color (full RGB). Louder sounds make brighter light, and a change of color, which slides down the string to the end.

Overall, the project is a success, despite the collapse. The light system works tremendously well, and it reacts to sound generated by people, music and vehicles. After its 3 week run, the piece will be disassembled and shipped back to Edmonton.
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M.A.D.E. in Edmonton will kick off Edmonton Design Exposed (EDE) with an opening reception showcasing a retrospective exhibit of the last decade of M.A.D.E. events at the Art Gallery of Alberta on October 14 2010. They will be exhibiting all things M.A.D.E., including an expansive display of the past film screenings, exhibitions, symposiums, street furniture competitions, and, of course, lectures. Join MADE as they reminisce about how this volunteer group has evolved since its inception, and how Edmonton has evolved and changed simultaneously. [ CLOSE ]

Congratulations to our Row4Kids team, G2^3, who managed to raise a grand total of $6235.00 for the Stollery Children’s Hospital Foundation! After 8 weeks of training and fundraising, we gave the other boats a run for their money on race day, which took place at Telford Lake in Leduc, Alberta, on Sept. 11. Though the weather was a little chilly, we had a great time and managed to hold our own against the more experienced crews. Thank you to everyone on the team for all your hard work, and to everyone that contributed to our fundraising efforts. See you again next year!
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Don't be daunted by the length of the video or the long introductions - the meat of the presentation is very good. I can only imagine (with glee) the day when we are talking about similar numbers for cyclists in Canadian cities. It also hit home the importance out of creating 'events' for urban initiatives such as active transportation - it is a truly effective way to get the media involved which in turn draws the politicians. [ CLOSE ]

Green Communities Canada announced today the national expansion of a project that makes it safer for students to use active transportation methods like walking and cycling to travel to and from school. Funding of $2.1 million from the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer and the Public Health Agency of Canada will enable School Travel Planning (STP) to reach 120 schools, resulting in healthier, happier students and reducing the incidence of chronic disease.


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