Tag Archive for 'Eyebeam'

The Fabulous Story of the Jackpot!

jackson published on August 15, 2009 in build, food, superforest journal, technology and zeitgeist. 3 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , .

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Gooooooood Morning SuperForest!

I realized yesterday that I’d never done a video explaining the Jackpot, what it is, and how it works.
So here we go!

The Jackpot is a super-cheap, DIY, hydroponic, indoor garden.

For the full story of the Jackpot, read the following:

Here’s the first post about the Jackpot: Jackson’s Journal (5/14/09) – Hydrodynamics Can Be Vexatious. Here I outline the basic design of the device, and the three main components: the air lift/drip system, the reservoir, and the air pump.

Next, I worked to get the air lift working. Warning: In this video I am pretty tired and keep repeating the word “so”: Jackson’s Journal (5/16/09) – Drinking Straw Water Air Lift Success!
The air lift is a simple device for lifting water. Is is a tube that you pump air into. Submerge the tube in a column of water and the air bubbles will lift the water a good height. That means for very little energy you can move something very heavy straight up, which perfect for drip irrigation. And drip irrigation is perfect for the home gardening enthusiast.

Here’s a quick video of the Jackpot’s bones in action: Jackpot’s Bones

Then the esteemed SuperForester Spoon came to visit me in NY, and his visit totally inspired me to get the prototype done as quickly as possible. So James Michael Spoonhour went out one night to watch a sports thing, and I stayed home to finish the Jackpot, which I did, at like 2:30 AM: The Jackpot: It’s Alive!

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The next day I did a recap of the previous nights build session, with some making-of photos:  Jackson’s Journal (5/25/09) – Aloha, Mr. Spoonhour! Aloha, Mr. Jackpot!

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SuperForester Spoon left and SuperForester Julius arrived a few days later. Later that week, Julius and I walked the Jackpot over to Eyebeam gallery in Chelsea to show it to Britta and Rebecca from Windowfarms. This was karmically appropriate for a number of reasons, including the fact that the Jackpot had been inspired by an exhibit I’d seen at Eyebeam in 2007 called drinkpee, which Britta and Rebecca had created. Here’s Julius’ wonderful post: Working On Window Farms – The Movie

Helping Out The Window Farmers @Eyebeam from SuperForest on Vimeo.

Man, wasn’t that fun, Julius and James Michael? I had so much fun. Creative collaborating is the best.

Then things got really sexy when I gave a demo at Eyebeam to the Windowfarmers group! Britta and Rebecca then came out with their own amazing version of the Jackpot! Once again the idea improves and can be built upon.

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It all began with a fever dream and it ended in a massive idea-sharing group win.

Man, I love the internet and I’m so grateful for this existence.
Thank you to Spoon, Julius, Rebecca, and Britta for all your help and support.

All my best to each and everyone.

-Jackson

Jackson’s Journal (6/9/09) – Working on Window Farms!

jackson published on June 9, 2009 in food, superforest journal, technology and zeitgeist. 6 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , .

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Good Morning SuperForest!

Today was a very exciting day!
Last month, I posted about meeting Rebecca and Britta, the heads of the Window Farm project. Today, Julius and I walked the Jackpot through the pouring rain over to Eyebeam gallery, where Miss Rebecca and Miss Britta are setting up an exhibition of their hydroponic DIY food growing machines.

3611844202_30015c71e4_oWe made our own pants!

Once we got there, Julius and I got to show off the Jackpot, and then we were lucky enough to be able to help out by dipping old water bottles in paint to use as plant containers. The paint will protect the roots of the plants from sunlight, as sunlight makes plant roots turn into leaves.

3611844516_9fa12a9515_oJulius hard at work.

Now we’re back home for a brief rest before heading back over to Eyebeam for a meeting of the Window Farm pioneers group. The pioneers group are a gang of folks who are all independently working on their own Window Farm designs. By crowd-sourcing the prototype process and sharing our results, we will all be able to collectively create the cheapest, most efficient food system much quicker than if we all worked alone. Isn’t that wonderful!

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Imagine all of humanity collectively working on problem solving and idea-sharing and you have a basic idea if what SuperForest is aiming to achieve. Whether SuperForest aggregates other positivity/idea-sharing blogs, or is itself incorporated into a larger site, (or a combination of the two…) EVERYBODY WINS!

The end result of a group of people prototyping DIY food systems is a cheap, DIY food growing system for anyone who wants one. Booyah.

Now imagine if everything were handled this way? Imagine if every problem humanity faces were attacked by a collaborative group of humans.

In my opinion, the problems we face don’t stand a chance.

Now this is just a humble food-growing machine…

Imagine a hundred million humans all working on defusing racism, negativity, and intolerance.

A hundred million humans working out ways to best use the Earth’s resources. To provide and care for all humans.

A hundred million humans decoding the genome and finding new therapies and vaccines for every disease and affliction imaginable.

Imagine if everything we did, made, and knew, were re-examined and updated by everyone at once.

That is the present we are working to create. And it is happening.

All around us, the seedlings and shoots of the new millennium are poking their heads above ground, and soon all of humanity will be able to join hands at the table of abundance and give thanks for the generosity of the natural world and the boundless nature of human creativity.

The TV news is wrong. The entire news media is wrong. If you’re only looking at the back end of the horse, you’ll miss seeing where it’s galloping.

Everything is going to be just fine.

Let’s take a nice deep breath, roll up our sleeves, and get to work. The present needs us.

Love to all,

-Jackson

p.s. Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!

Eyebeam: Holiday Hackshop!

niki published on December 2, 2008 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

“Eyebeam is an art and technology center that provides a fertile context and state-of-the-art tools for digital research and experimentation. It is a lively incubator of creativity and thought, where artists and technologists actively engage with culture, addressing the issues and concerns of our time. Eyebeam challenges convention, celebrates the hack, educates the next generation, encourages collaboration, freely offers its contributions to the community, and invites the public to share in a spirit of openness: open source, open content and open distribution.”

Eyebeam is located just a few blocks away from our studio and always has amazing exhibits and parties going on. 
For the holidays, they are doing a program called “Holiday Hackshop”. 

Here are the details:

“If you haven’t yet experienced everyone’s favorite holiday gift-making event, here’s the scoop: For one day, and one day only, Eyebeam becomes an all-ages, multi-workshop electronic craft-making fair, with entertainment, decorations and plenty of holiday spirit.

The majority of the workshops are artist-led, with small fees for material costs, and you’ll leave with gifts that will far surpass lopsided clay mugs of years past!

All in all: A fun, thrifty, edutainment alternative to the trance-and occasionally rage-inducing department-store crawl.

Workshops:

Extreme Weather Snowglobes made of recycled materials
Led by resident Andrea Polli and collaborators Heidi Neilsen and Chuck Varga
Fee: $5/For all ages
1 – 5PM (Jump in any time; information sessions at 1PM, 2PM, 3PM, 4PM)

Bright Bike!
Led by senior fellow Michael Mandiberg
Just in time for the holidays: an opportunity to wrap up your bike with retro-reflective material to make biking NYC far safer.
Fee for materials: Whole bike: $30; material to wrap selected parts of bike: $10
You must bring your own bike to participate!
Recommended for ages 12 years and older.

Session 1: 1 – 3PM: (can accommodate 15 bikes)
Session 2: 3:30 – 5:30PM: (can accommodate 15 bikes)
5:30 – 6PM: Bike Ride/parade with workshop participants to document the effectiveness of the Bright Bike wrapping!

Frankenstein your iPod!
Led by resident Hans-Christoph Steiner and Chris “the Widget” DiMauro
Turn you iPod (or one of the stash we’ll have on hand) into something you never imagined possible.
Fee: Free (We recommend you bring your own iPod, though we will have some on hand.) Recommended for ages 12 years and older, unless accompanied by an adult.

Session 1: 1 – 3PM: Frankensteining 101: Hacking your iPod
Session 2: 4 – 6PM: Install iPodLinux for making music with PD or Rockbox for playing Doon on your iPod video (can accommodate 10).

We’ll have a stash of old iPods on-hand for harvesting parts, but those interested are advised to bring their trusty iPods with the battery, software or hardware failures.

Bend it, Shake it Workshop
Led by resident Christina Kral with collaborators Jamie O’Shea, Drayton Hiers and Dan Ribaudo
In this two-part workshop we invite you to hack and bend discarded plastic, battery-run toys to turn them into a potpourri of instruments. As the “Petit Finale”, we’ll be play a score with the hacked instruments inside the Video Womb, a video installation/experience by Christina Kral, Drayton Hiers and Dan Ribaudo.
Fee: $5 Recommended for all ages, those under 12 years must be accompanied by an adult.

1 – 5PM: Workshop
5PM: performance in the video womb

Want to see what we mean? Bend it, Shake it: http://vimeo.com/2269185
Video Womb: http: //vimeo.com/2250069

Demonstration: A Reenactment of The Battle of the Pyramids
Led by resident Adrianne Wortzell
Come witness the assembly of Resident Adrianne Wortzell’s latest project, A Reenactment of The Battle of the Pyramids. Wortzell and her team of interns and volunteers will hack 30+ “Talking Elmo” toys to allow them to move in unison. The team will be hacking away-assembly-line style, but on-hand to discuss the project and answer any questions.

Fee: Free, all ages welcome
1 – 5PM

For more: http://www.adriannewortzel.com/battle”

EVENT/WHAT: (Free workshops/Christmas party): Eyebeam’s beloved, annual Holiday Hackshop!
DATE: Sat., Dec. 13, 1PM – 5PM workshops | 6PM: Holiday party (think spiked eggnog, cider and holiday treats!)
LOCATION: 540 W. 21st St., NYC
COST: Free to visit; minor materials costs for select workshops

If you are in NYC on December 13th–check this out! 

It sounds like a lot of fun and really neat to be led through these workshops by local artists. I’m sure you can also get great ideas for hacking your own holiday gifts! 

Have fun!
Niki