MRAC Next Step - NYC! Update 1

I'm in New York City to learn and see and explore and make, thanks to the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council and the McKnight Foundation's Next Step Fund! As you can see from above, yesterday I spent the day at the ocean, given that 70 degree days in November don't come often - I took full advantage! I didn't get in further than my knees, but I could have - it was so much warmer than most of the lakes I swam in this summer.

Aside from the fun day at the beach, I've been holing up at Harvestworks diving in deep with Max/MSP/Jitter software. What the heck is that, you are probably wondering. In short, M/M/J will help make my video installations interactive - I am working on creating what is called a "patch" that will talk from my Android tablet to the computer running the videos and allow the viewer of the work to move the animals around, change videos, and potentially influence other environmental factors of the installation such as lights, sound, and so forth.

The fantastic Tommy Martinez is my mentor in this creation. He took a video of my project working that I'll upload later. Only a few days in and it is looking so good! Honestly, I feel surprised that this thing that I've been talking about for over two years is actually happening - that I am making the work do what I envisioned in my head! I've had many doubts along the way as whether what I wanted was even possible, so it's really special that I am being funded to make this happen!