Antonio Roberts

Blog

Creative Code #1: Pure Data Patching Circle

On various dates in March and April 2015 I’ll be running a Pure Data Patch Circle as part of Birmingham Open Media’s Creative Code series.

pdpatchingcircle

A new ‘Patching Circle’ on creative code designed and run by artists, for artists. A Patching Circle is an informal gathering of anyone who is interested in patching languages such as Pure Data, Max/MSP, vvvv, and Quartz Composer.

As well as covering the basics of Pure Data, we’ll also offer peer-to-peer support for more experienced users and help with specific projects.

Artist Antonio Roberts leads the Creative Code #1 series on Pure Data. Absolute beginners and experienced patchers are welcome. The event is free and open to everyone – work on personal or professional projects, school work, or just patch quietly to yourself in a room full of other people patching patches and helping other people patch.

The patching circle is free and runs from 18:00-21:00 on the following dates:

There might also be pizza!

Public Domain Day 2015 - The death of the Authors, 1943

On 7th February I’ll be back in Brussels for a performance at Public Domain Day

The Public Domain Day is celebrating works of art which enter into the public domain because their copyrights have expired. These works can be freely enjoyed, used, changed, republished by everybody. Worldwide, this The Public Domain Day is celebrated on the first of January, and this year we celebrate, with a slight delay, the works of authors and artists who died in 1944. In Brussels, the Public Domain Day is celebrated by a yearly event that is organised by Constant, CRIDS (Centre de Recherche Informatique et Droit, FUNDP Namur), Cinema Nova and the Royal Library of Belgium.

The afternoon takes place at the Royal Library and is dedicated to Antoine de Saint-Exupery, the writer of Le Petit Prince. He is a special case because he ’died for the fatherland’ and that delivered him a copyright extension of 30 years according to the French law. In Belgium as in the rest of the world, his work is free of rights since 1th January 2015.

The evening programme takes place at Cinema Nova.

For this performance myself, Michael Murtaugh, Anne Laforet, Gijs De Heij, and An Mertens will be performing in the Botopera.

botopera

Fats Waller, Nicolas Tesla, Beatrix Potter, Sergei Rachmaninov and Henri La Fontaine are some of the many artists who have left this world during the second world war. These authors will be reanimated in the form of a “chatbot”: a small software program that automatically intervenes in a chat conversation pretending to be human. The bots, the public, the printers and the projected images work together in this interactive performance.

With : BotsWaller, NICKola tesla, Beatrix Plotter, Rachmanibot, henrIRC lafontaine & their plotter

It’s all free and starts from about 20:00

Rebellion #10 - 19th February

On 19th February I’ll be in Shrewsbury to give a talk at Shropgeek.

shropgeekcatfood

With re:LOADED – the developer unconference, just around the corner we’re changing the focus of our first Rebellion of 2015 away from specific web design and development topics and spending a little more time on business and creative disciplines instead.

We’ve invited three awesome speakers with a web or creative background to come and share their experiences, ideas, and in one case even test some samples (now you can’t normally say that about web design talks!).

And as well as all of this creative goodness that will inspire you to do even more awesome stuff there will also be time for you to share any news or announcements you may have with the ShropGeek community. What more could you want?

This promises to be a truly fantastic evening so why not come along and join us, listen to some inspiring talks, spark your creativity and chat with like-minded people over a beer or maybe even a cocktail or two.

I’ll be giving a talk about my experiences of being an artist that uses open source software to make weird (glitch) art.

Hacking creative practices

The Adobe Creative Suite, Final Cut Pro, Pro Tools and various other so-called Industry Standard software packages are presented as the tools for creative people to use to express themselves and produce art. These tools have their benefits, but filtering the creative process through these rigid programs and methods can be uninspiring for the artists and can produce samey results. In this presetntation I will talk about how I and others hack this creative process by building my own tools, misusing software, and generally operating in a way that’s contrary to what is considered normal.

Get your tickets now!

CopyrightX

From 26th January till 30th April I’m going to be taking part in the online sections of CopyrightX.

copyrightx

CopyrightX is a twelve-week networked course, offered from January to May each year under the auspices of Harvard Law School, the HarvardX distance-learning initiative, and the Berkman Center for Internet and Society. The course explores the current law of copyright; the impact of that law on art, entertainment, and industry; and the ongoing debates concerning how the law should be reformed. Through a combination of recorded lectures, assigned readings, weekly seminars, live interactive webcasts, and online discussions, participants in the course examine and assess the ways in which the copyright system seeks to stimulate and regulate creative expression.

I’m really happy to have been accepted onto this course. By taking the course I want to increase my understanding of copyright law - UK and US law - and how it affects the way artists create and share their work. I hope all that I learn will feed into my general artistic practice and my residency at the University of Birmingham.

Although the places on the course have now all been allocated, the lectures, reading materials, maps, and recordings that have been developed for the course are available for use by anyone and are licenced under a Creative Commons Licence.