Shared adventure of making a creative tool – Part 2
osmo/za, Ljubljana
09 September – 04 October 2021
Final part of Artist in residence with Vaclav Peloušek: how to turn your DIY idea into a finished product!
In the course of a 2 months-long residency at osmo/za, artist and synth developer Václav Peloušek will work closely with the local community while facilitating the process of developing a creative tool – from ideation to the final product. The aim of the residency is to actively involve a group of participants in a comprehensive, bottom-up process of tool development, which will not only enrich the artistic practice, but also sustain the community by using the product as a potential source of its income.
The first part of the residency (May/June) consisted of an intensive development process, in which participants formed an initial idea and in a community spirit brought to life a multi-sensorial sound synthesizer called OctoSens. Having four analog and two digital inputs for external sensors, as well as two touchpads, the OctoSens offers eight different ways of altering the desired parameters of sound. A built-in microphone, two tactile sensors and a digital synthesizer integrated in the microcontroller enable us to use OctoSens on its own even without external sensors and other instruments. You can simply connect the OctoSens to a speaker and start creating.
Participants already tested the first prototype at PIFcamp, which brings us to the final part of the residency. During the whole month of September Václav will help bring the community closer to its goal – making OctoSens an innovative and competitive product on the quickly evolving market of electronic instruments. This means focusing on software development, testing and documentation.
The goal of this project is not solely the process of product development and sale, but it is foremost an effort of creating a community that brings together different generations, providing an interdisciplinary environment that offers an invaluable exchange of knowledge between professional engineers, artists, students of different fields and audio-electronics enthusiasts.
TIMELINE
PART 1 – May/June 2021
tool ideation, interface design, prototyping, drawing schematics, making and ordering circuit boards, making bills of materials, writing Arduino library, prototyping
PART ½ – PIFcamp 2021
prototyping/testing/revisions, development of a creative application/performance
PART 2 – September 2021
Testing final prototypes, DIY kit making, documentation, designing a workshop format and product presentation development of a creative application/performance
WANT TO PARTICIPATE?
We will continue with the project on September 9th at 5pm, @ osmo/za, Ljubljana.
Apply here: https://forms.gle/JPZTFk4LvDUmoMeZ9
More info: delavnice@projekt-atol.si
Follow the Discord channel: https://discord.gg/qCQ4G3Kp
Colophon
Production: Zavod Projekt Atol & konS Platform.
Project konS ≡ Platform for Contemporary Investigative Art is a project chosen on the public call for the selection of the operations “Network of Investigative Art and Culture Centres”. The investment is co-financed by the Republic of Slovenia and by the European Regional Development Fund of the European Union.
Bio
Václav Peloušek is a musician, educator, artist, and founder and lead designer of the synthesizer company Bastl Instruments. He studied in Brno and at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna. With Ondřej Merta, he started the art and education project Standuino (2011), which later evolved into Bastl Instruments. Since 2013, the company has developed and produced many desktop synthesizers, effects, samplers (microGranny 2, Thyme, Kastle) and a whole range of Eurorack modular synthesizer modules. The company also collaborates with Peter Edwards (Casper Electronics) on several modules and instruments, for example the softPop and the bitRanger. Coming from a D.I.Y. artistic background, Peloušek’s conducted many workshops and happenings at festivals, universities and other venues (STEIM – Amsterdam, The Cologne University of Music, Superbooth and Loop – Berlin, MuseumsQuartier – Vienna, MENT – Ljubljana, PIFcamp – Soča, Shape Platform – Meetfactory Prague, Synthposium – Moscow, Fold – London). The company has also initiated countless local community activities, organised shows and even set up the Noise Kitchen store in Prague. From 2017 to 2018, Bastl ran the venue Herna in Brno. Since 2018, Peloušek’s been developing his solo musical project Toyota Vangelis under which he’s released several singles and EPs, and performed at events around Europe (Lunchmeat or Meetfactory – Prague, Synthposium – Moscow, Modular Day – Barcelona, CV Freqs – London, Klunkerkranich or Humboldthain – Berlin). He was artist in residence at Locatie Spatie in Arnhem in 2011 and at Opekta Studios in Cologne in 2012.
Václav Peloušek
