Disposable triggered sound system

Hi all

Here is the disposable system so you can see what you will be working with. The example here is the sensor trigger. I have arranged with Norman for him to alter them to enable a plugable external speaker with 2m length of cabling between system and speaker.

This means we can either use the unit as is, or insert the cabling to place the external speaker anywhere within 2 m of the trigger and unit, that would include at the top if we were to include extra height of timber on some sides...?

You only have about 10-15cm of wiring to play with between trigger and system though so that will have to be considered when working it into your pieces...

Talk again soon

Fiona xo

triggers and speakers for the Carousel

Hi All

I heard back from Norman. He has quoted $20 a piece for the trigger and disposable box + $15 for an unplug-able external speaker. I decided it wise to get the six systems with the external speaker so we have more choice with placement. So that will be $210 plus GST? plus postage, he will invoice me and I'll know the final amount.

Norman said he'll email me some photos to post up for you guys but in the mean time the dimensions that I can remember are:

I asked for 2 metres extension for the external speaker to give plenty of choice with where we place it in relation to the trigger and base unit. Any remaining wire can just be incorporated into the works or wound up around the speaker depending on how you guys want to incorporate it...

The wire from the trigger is about 10-15cm and it is directly wired into a small box that is maybe around 10 x 15 cms with a depth of perhaps 3-5cms (guessing from memory here, sorry -tracey should be able to give exact figures for that from hers)

Anyway, we should have the units by next week so we will all be able to play with how you want them to fit within the works.

Cheers

Fiona

My thoughts on the term Carnival

Carnivale, the Circus, In the Big Top, wonderment, another dimension, relocated boundary norms, freak shows and fear factories...

These I imagine more at night than in the day

County Fairs, Rural Shows, even the old AGFEST (Agriculture Festival) if anyone remembers that? - these I imagine in the day and night...

The old blue light disco could even be considered a carnival of sorts, especially back in the day when they were themed - Pink, Punk or Plastic

Zanidu - not sure of the spelling

The Labarynth - David Bowie

and here is an unedited stream of my thoughts with some of these in mind...

Curiosities

Chaos of marvelous sounds

laughter

screams of delight that sometimes verge on fear

Colour

Delightful Freaks

Coloured hair and face paint

Exquisite costumes

massive pumpkins

fluffy chickens

fat cows and very well hung bulls

hay bales and the smell of cow pats and horse poo

cowboys and cowgirls in their tight jeans, shin high boots and big hats

animals with ribbons round their shoulders

preened ponies and their riders

children eating fairy floss

coins falling from the pockets of people high up on the rides

sometimes vomit falling from the mouths of people up high on the rides

dagwood dogs on sticks with too much tomato sauce

dusty windy walkways through sideshow alley

moving clown faces swallowing balls

Big stuffed toys, always seeming just out of reach, always so hard to win

couples walking around, usually a pretty young girl with a big fluffy toy won by her clever boyfriend

dodgem cars

The Gravitron!

fireworks

blacksmithing

hot coals

fire

rhythmic metal hammering

sparks flying

the sizzle of hot metal in water

wood chopping - wood chips flying

the hard chopping sound as a line of brutes make there way with logs

the cheers when the first brute breaks through

the way the chopping sounds dye out slowing until the last and slowest finally finishes

snippets of conversations and people walk by....

possibilities

Hi again, sorry to hog the blog - please say something! This is our chance to converse, seeing as it is hard for us to meet face to face. Would love to meet again soon but I won't know my roster until Saturday, and then I'll know it till the end of the season.

I was chatting to Jamie last night and he suggested it would not be that hard to make the carousel rotate, by mounting it on a bicycle wheel or some such thing with an independently moving outer around an inner axle (it could turn in response to someone gently pushing it, or some other mechanism). Maybe we could have that as an optional extra, to be added in the two weeks prior to the event at Paxtons'? (Magdy, engineering wiz?) Anyway if it wasn't possible, we could still go ahead withe the stationery piece as planned, but if we had the time and expertise to take it further, maybe we could keep that possibility open, what do you think?

Materials

Hi everyone,

I saw the cabinet maker today and he would be happy to cut the grooves for the perspex, he didn't give me a price but I doubt it would cost a lot, and he seemed to think we could put the frames together easily enough. He thought his saw would do the job better than his router.

I am happy to go ahead and buy the timber, hinges, revolving light and perspex if you feel we are OK to go ahead, I'm just aware that time is slipping by and we probably need to get started soon. I can check out the perspex on Friday as I'll be in town then, and can get the framing timber etc. My main question is that if we decide to put a roof on it to keep the light contained, we would need all the side panels to be the same height, even thought the perspex panels could be of varying heights. What do you think about that? Any other ideas/thoughts/suggestions/reservations/directions?

Trace

put a lid on it?

Just a thought: the light will escape out the top . . and reflect out into the room . . maybe we should put a lid on it, just a circle of plywood would do it, maybe could put holes in it for projected stars on ceiling above? If we did this we would need all the sides the same height though, which could work OK if the panels are irregular in size . .

Thoughts? ideas?

Carousel

Hi All

Well, I made it back to the blog....There are now two of me I noticed...not sure how to rectify that.....

Anyway...I was thinking this morning, we should also remember the theme of this year's Festival in our thinking....water and light...and some how marry that to carnivals, Carousels, marvelous bearded ladies and other wonderous things!!

xo

Cabinet of Wonder / Curiosity Box?

Hi light makers,

Thanks so much for your patience yesterday, I think we've got our engineering specs sorted now.

I was thinking in my waking/dreaming state that what we are making reminded me of a Wunderkammer, that cabinet of curiosities people used to collect before taxonomies and museums tried to make everything appear orderly. I had a look at some pics from Water for Elephants (will definitely see it Wanda!) and circuses and sideshows are also that collection of "wonders", whether they be bearded ladies, dwarves, strong men, exotic animals, elaborate carousels, maze of mirrors, all things designed to inspire wonder. (Maybe the glass cabinets in the room have triggered this train of thought . .)

Have a look at images in Google for Wunderkammer, and also:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabinet_of_curiosities

Wheels are turning . .

Hi Fiona, Magdy and Wanda,

Good to see the wheels are turning in our collective minds! Wanda and I had a chat about it in the car on the way to Eungella yesterday too.

I think the plan was to have the piece (in its carousel formation) stationery, with the light inside rotating on the rotisserie. This way it will be much less complicated to make and to assemble.

If it’s going to work best in the windows of the MECC, that’s fine with me. If we are going for the six sided carousel, we could then either install it as six vertical panels, or 18 small panels (which might be a bit small given the size of the windows?) or perhaps 2 or 3 to a window but not necessarily aligned vertically – all sorts of options. What would you think about blacking out the remaining space on the windows outside the panels?

Regarding materials, we were thinking that maybe each panel could be backed with white Perspex (as in a light box), and maybe a sheet of clear Perspex on the front, to make a little box (only as deep as the width of the timber frame – maybe 3 or 4 cm), this would give the panels structural stability and durability, if they were being transported and installed by other people at other locations for example, plus it would give some scope for a little bit of 3-dimensionality, what do you think? It should be easy enough to install buttons, sensors etc into the clear Perspex front.

If we had six sides, Magdy, Wanda and I would then start out with our two panels each for our initial concepts. We would then pass these on (maybe one to each person, eg I would give one of mine to Magdy and one to Wanda) for their response on the next panel (and possibly addition to the first panel? or perhaps give the next person a motif from the first panel to include in their panel?) As we were driving and chatting we discussed the possibility of the panels being arranged quite randomly, and when lending the work to other people they could arrange them how they wish – having their own input into how the pieces work together for them, what do you think about that?

Carousel Maquette

Six sided

Six sided

Five sided

Five sided

Hi Wanda, Magdy and Fiona,

great to see y'all yesterday!

Here are some pics, this is a scale model at 1:10 (Wanda I must have have been inspired by your maquetting - although this is much dodgier than your gorgeous smicko maquettes!)

The height here is 2m, about the height of a doorway, and the small panels work out at approx. 800mm wide x 660mm high. For a five sided piece the diameter is about 1.4m, for a 6 sided piece the diameter is 1.8m. We can make it a bit smaller, but I think you want it tall enough so that tall people can't see inside, what do you think? and it there is a roof over it at some stage you don't want people bumping their heads on it . . .

I have photographed them from viewing height to give a sense of the piece from that angle.

Trace