[sdiy] video synth, Dan Sandin, criticalartware, [FRAY], Chicago...

[jonCates]

hi

i am jonCates + i have just joined sdiy but i am looking fwd to  
participating more

about the recent hyperthread on Dan Sandin, the Sandin Image  
Processor, video synthesizers, Chicago, etc...

in 1969 Phil Morton began teaching @ the School of the Art Institute  
of Chicago. One year later, in 1970, Phil Morton established the  
Video Area. the Video Area later become the Video Department + is now  
part of the Department of Film Video and New Media (the dept i teach  
in + develop the New Media path of). Morton was a dynamic +  
charismatic artist who inspired his students to work enthusiastically  
with radical content, taught rigorous technical information +  
playfully developed convivial tools + conversational systems. i find  
his playful, experimental + innovative work to be inspirational + his  
strategies for bringing both analog + digital computing systems into  
the media arts curriculum foundational to the initial development of  
the Video Area + now the New Media path.

Dan Sandin, who co-founded the Electronic Visualization Lab @ the  
University of Illinois Chicago, was also teaching + working with the  
new media of video as an art form in the late 1960’s + early 1970’s.  
between 1970 + 1973, Dan Sandin developed the Sandin Image Processor,  
a patch-programmable analog computer optimized for video processing +  
synthesis. when Sandin completed the I.P. in 1973, Phil Morton (who  
shared studio space in the same building as Sandin) sought to copy  
the [device/system] + they began to work together to create the  
schematic plans which they later called the "Distribution Religion".  
after completion of the Distribution Religion, Sandin open sourced  
the system, giving the plans to the emerging community +  
incorporating any [additions/modifications] into further releases.  
Phil Morton + Dan Sandin collaborated for mini years, initially  
creating the first copy of the Sandin Image Processor + the  
Distribution Religion + then mini realtime audio-video performance  
environments that utilized the Sandin Image Processor as well as  
other systems.

criticalartware, a collaborative project that i am a founder +  
core.developer of, has recently released an interview w/Dan Sandin  
online along w/our digital conversion of the Distribution Religion  
into a single PDF file + a web-based version (ported over to PDF +  
HTML by criticalartware core.developer jon.satrom). criticalartware  
will screen our interview with Dan Sandin @ BUSKER (1087 N HERMITAGE  
AVE CHICAGO IL 60622) on FRIDAY 2006.03.10 @ 8 PM. this screening of  
criticalartware's interview with Dan Sandin will be followed by a  
demonstration of + introduction to BLIT:SCREEN. BLIT:SCREEN is a new  
decentralized media distribution system developed by jake elliott, a  
criticalartware core developer. BLIT:SCREEN, a decentralized file  
sharing system running on criticalartware, facilitates physical  
exchange of shared cultural resources between internationally based  
groups, collaboratives + individuals. here is the online info about  
criticalartware where you can download the Sandin interview as well  
as interviews w/other artists such as Sherry Miller Hocking, Peter  
Luining, Kate Horsfield + low-fi:

http://criticalartware.net

also, i am organizing a program in the this semester called [FRAY]  
that consists of a three-part mini-series, conference + a cluster of  
projects tracing the intersecting hyperthreads of time, screen + code- 
based experimental media art hosted by the School of the Art  
Institute of Chicago's Department of Film, Video, and New Media (the  
dept i teach in). nfo on [FRAY] is here:

http://fvnm.info/fray

Dan Sandin will be participating in + presenting his work as a part  
of [FRAY] on THURSDAY 2006.03.09. this event will take place @ The  
Gene Siskel Film Center:

http://www.siskelfilmcenter.org

@ 6PM THURSDAY 2006.03.09. Dan Sandin will be present to discuss his  
work + will screen rare tapes from his earliest days with video +  
examples of his most recent work with Virtual Reality systems. this  
event is as a part of the Film, Video and New Media dept's  
Conversations At The Edge screening program:

http://fvnm.info/cate.html

if anyOne onList is in Chicago + are interested you should check  
these events out + say hello

[talk/type] soon

// jonCates
# http://fvnm.info
# http://r4wb1t5.org
# http://criticalartware.net
# http://systemsapproach.net

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [sdiy] Video Synthesizer
Date: Thu, 2 Mar 2006 10:55:56 -0500
From: Metzger, Michael A <MAMETZGER at partners.org>
To: <synth-diy at dropmix.xs4all.nl>

One of the guys over on the eyecandy list http://groups.yahoo.com/ 
group/eyecandy
has gotten interested in making a Sandin Image Processor. He spoke  
with Don Day
at CCA who has built an IP before and is willing to help design  
modern modules.
If you don't want to join that list (its for VJ's & video artists)  
I'll post
updates here til things get moving. I'm sure it will be a while  
before anything
happens.

BTW, scans of the original package of schematics & instructions can  
be found
here http://vasulka.net.zkm.de/archive/Artists6/Sandin/Feb28,1976.pdf  
There are
other things of interest to video synth people on that site, too.
And here's a short demo by Sandin himself
http://www.vj-hamburg.com/sifu/Sandin-IP.mov

Mike