Correspond

Sand As Medium & Sisyphus: News

Scott McClaine is shooting 4x5 slides of Ulysses and Telemachus.
Sonja Servomaa wrote a poem inspired by Ulysses. Thank you!
In his Art History PHD dissertation at Oxford, Nicholas Lambert researches computer art and in particular algoristic art and places them in the currents of contemporary art. He writes at length about my work in general and about Ulysses in particular. He grasps all the right concepts and ideas masterfully and his contribution will be a very important one. I hope to be authorized to post large excerpts of his work.
Sonja Servomaa's article "Sound of Stones" will soon be back on-line. I wish she would accept to write on Ulysses.
While Ulysses was installed at the Monlleo Gallery, I connected with UCSB Professor Paul Hansma, who among other things teaches Physics, invents.Atomic Force Microscopes, builds custom infrared cameras, is a talented photographer and artist, and -coming to the point, has his own, private zen garden in town.
I am waiting for the repair of Scott McClaine PhaseOne back and the delivery of the new Sigma/Foveon camera to undertake a full documenation of the sand pieces. ( I still have my 2001 series of 8x10" sheet films processed but mostly unproofed )
The Santa Barbara County Arts Commission purchased a series of six sand photographs for its permanent collection.
About thirty six sand photographs have been printed (using the Epson 2000 archival set); the images are 7.5-8.5x11 on 13x18.5 paper, in color. They are quite affordable and information is available on request
Thanks to reductions in its next Education Budget by the Arizona Legislature, the previous project will not happen.
In collaboration with Ken Korten ("Clouds" mobile) and Vicor DiNovi (art furniture), presentation for a permanent installation of a 60x60" digital sand garden.
An experimental, 12kx12k pixels image of Ulysses' sand has been shot using a very high resolution Phase One scanner and a view camera. The resulting image is stunning, and more will be done later in 2002. Thanks to Scott McLaine.
An Academic Institution in Oxford reviewed Ulysses very favorably. And the Digital Art Museum did the same.
A DVD is available, showing a slide show, several time animations and video clips of Ulysses, plus the Ulysses piece by Korean Television's "Munhwa Kihaing". The DVD is available now.
A Canadian "Economusee du Sable" bought two sand photographs for its permanent exhibit.
The show in Tempe ends October 12th but will be extended from November 5th to December 14th.
The InsideIT on-line magazine from ASU has published an article on Ulysses: "The Art of the Passing Moment" by Kolleen Roberts.
Ulysses has been installed on August 30th 2001 at the Computing Commons Gallery, Arizona State University in Tempe (Arizona) where it will remain till October 12th in a solo show "Traces on Sand and Paper".
A webcam is installed and Gallery lights are on from 10 to 4, Mon-Fri.
Statement for Ulysses (postscript).
Ulysses is invited by Barbara Eschbach at the Computing Commons Gallery, Arizona State University in Tempe (Arizona) , where it will be exhibited with a series of drawings on paper. Fall of 2001.
Telemaque will be exhibited at the "American Crafts Council Show" in San Francisco (California), August 2001.
Telemaque will be exhibited at the "Bellevue Museum Crafts Show" in Bellevue (Washington), July 2001.
Telemaque was exhibited at "Philadelphia Furniture and Furnishings", Philadelphia (Pennsylvania), April 2001.
Telemaque was exhibited at "The Art Furnishings Show", Pasadena (California), March 2001.
Sisyphus was exhibited at the El Camino College Art Gallery in Torrance (California), February 2001
November 27th, Télémaque returned from DesignArc and Ulysses are being fitted with new hardware, software, improved motion. They also look very different as dressed by Victor DiNovi.
August 27th, Telemaque will be part of the "On Lines" exhibit at DesignArc in Santa Barbara,.
July 3rd. With Victor DiNovi, a Santa Barbara Sculptor, we are embedding Telemaque in a beautiful piece of dark, shaped mahogany. And Ulysses is back in California from Kiasma, soon to be returned to my studio to record a series of videos.
May 28th 2000. Ulysses will soon return from the Kiasma show.
May 2nd 2000.Télémaque can now be hosted by an Irix or a GNU/Linux machine (including laptops), It can also run in standalone mode with a reduced but sufficient performance program. New tracings have been added, Siggraph publications kindly keep using Ulysses illustrations for Siggraph'2000 issues.
April 12th 2000. Télémaque in Palo Alto
Télémaque (Telemachus, son of Ulysses) was briefly exhibited in Palo Alto. Télémaque is now conveniently easy to use, and almost transportable. It has been invited and should be presented later this year in France, Japan and Southern California.
February 11th 2000. Ulysses at Kiasma
After a successful display in Monaco at Imagina 2000, Ulysses is now installed at Kiasma, Helsinki, in "Alien Intelligence" till the end of May. At Kiasma, Ulysses features a very interesting fiber optics lighting composed by Risto Linnapuomi and is maintained by Esa Niiniranta. A webcam has been installed (9am-5pm Tuesday and 10am-10pm Wednesday-Sunday, local Helsinki time).
January 4th 2000. Ulysses Appearance
Ulysses will appear in the "Munhwa Kihaing" (Cultural Agenda) television series featuring contemporary worldwide developments in Buddhism, produced by Song Won Dae of Korean Broadcast Systems.
December 20th 1999. Ulysses Travels
Ulysses will be presented by Imagina 2000 in Monaco for "Village de l'Innovation", juried by Gilbert Dutertre, Pr. Koichi Omura, Philippe Quéau and Gerfreid Stocker.
December 12th 1999. Ulysses Travels
Ulysses will be visiting at Kiasma, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki, Finland for "Alien Intelligence" curated by Erkki Huhtamo.
November 15th 1999. Ulysses Article
By Ms. Machiko Kusahara, a Japanese media art critic, in "InterCommunication," a Japanese quarterly magazine of art & technology.
October 31st 1999. Santa Monica College Art Gallery
Ulysses was presented during the opening talks on November 6th at the Santa Monica College Art Gallery where Sisyphus will be displayed for a month.
October 15th, 1999. Ulysses Articles
"Tricycle: The Buddhist Review" has published a portfolio of Ulysses sand tracings with a text on time and impermanence. In France, the "Canal Plus" network linked to Ulysses.
October 14th, 1999. Ulysses Tracings
A short edition of "Ellipse with tangents and two stones" has been printed on Osho paper; the print will join the Siggraph Traveling Art Show in Santa Monica.
New successful experiments in preserving the traced sand are under way.
September 28th, 1999. Ulysses Article
"The Mathematica Journal" Volume VII Issue 3 features Ulysses in its on-line version, and the print version will be out soon.
September 5th, 1999. New Sand Etchings
A new generation of sand etchings, from Ulysses' webcam recordings and from photographs, is now available: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12).
August 18th, 1999. Webcam up
Sand progress in the studio is sporadically recorded in day time by an intermittent webcam (currently off).
August 12th, 1999. Siggraph'99 report
Ulysses was stunningly well received by the Siggraph'99 Art Gallery audience who greeted the work with curiosity, interest, humor and smiles.
The work was made possible by Animatics, ExperTelligence and SGI support and contributions; David Bothman and Edmund Kong helped with sound technical advice.
August 8th, 1999. Ulysses' success at Siggraph'99 Art Gallery opening!
Some live comments: "Ulysses is the best of the Art Show!"
"This is so brilliant, it's driving me mad!"
"When I first walked by, nothing was moving, and I thought: what's the point of it?"
"I am a Buddhist, and this is so Zen!"
"The most important piece of the show!"
"Would you not have liked to have thought of that!"
"It is so useless on purpose!"
"How does it work? -Hmmm, must be some gravitational device!"
... while Sisyphus pursues its well tempered track.
July 14th, 1999. New Sand Piece under works!
Jean-Pierre Hebert's Ulysses nears completion, with a mission to be at times interactive, at times meditative.
June 3rd, 1999. XLSisyphus installed!
XLSisyphus has been installed at the Science Museum of Minnesota in St.Paul, marking the end of the Ho collaboration: (1), (2), (3), (4), (5).
June 1st, 1999. Construction of XLSisyphus near completion!
The six feet wide Sisyphus is almost ready for installation at the Science Museum of Minnesota in St.Paul later this week:
Steppers inside and sand previews 1, 2.
April 15-21st, 1999. Construction of XLSisyphus has started.
First images of the next Sisyphus (for the Science Museum of Minnesota in St.Paul): kinetics, controls, electronics, structure, first sand, improved theta control, second sand.
April 3rd, 1999. First look at Sand & Harry Soot.
Stephanie Strickland invites all to read her poem "The Ballad of Sand and Harry Soot" for the illustration of which Sisyphus is pleased to have contributed a few sand etchings.
March 22nd, 1999. Sisyphus at Siggraph'99.
Sisyphus (and maybe more than one) will be exhibited this summer at the Siggraph'99 Art Gallery.
February 22nd, 1999. Sisyphus at Forecast.
A large Sisyphus will be on display this summer at the Science Museum of Minnesota in the Forecast program.
February 15th, 1999. Sisyphus submissions.
Ho has filed submissions to several major events. Jean-Pierre Hébert released a seven minutes video tape about Sisyphus.
Copies of this tape are available at cost (us$5) from <hebert@kitp.ucsb.edu>.
January 10th, 1999. Sisyphus in the limelight.
Some new dramatic animated images of Sisyphus in low lights.
December 30th, 1998. Sisyphus documentation.
Some new striking still and animated images of Sisyphus travail.
December 10th, 1998. A Sisyphus collaboration.
Invited artist Roman Verostko played his St.Thomas mural motif as a rhythmic stroke in the sand.
Discovery an early analog sand machine by Osmo Valtonen (Circulograph, 1983).
November 15th, 1998. The Sisyphus site.
The Sisyphus site has been released.
November 14th, 1998. The Sisyphus pamphlet.
The Sisyphus pamphlet has been released. Happy Few will receive it as an elegant japanese flutter book. The Pamphlet is available as a postscript file (14Mb) under the GPL.
October/November, 1998. Preserving Sisyphus etchings.
Preserving Sisyphus fragile etchings is actively researched. This is an empirical, delicate process which must not disturb the sand.
July/August, 1998. Hello World!
Sisyphus is presented at UCLA's AAAL and at UCB's Art-Math'98 conferences.
July 13th, 1998. Second Sisyphus built.
May 6th, 1998. First Sisyphus built.
April 20th, 1998. Sisyphus proof of concept.
April 18th, 1998. First concept of a new medium by Jean-Pierre Hébert: sand as a computer controlled, animated drawing surface --a controlled magnet, a tool, and sand.