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Roboticons!

2009-04-27T20:00:00.004-04:00

An "i.con" by definition is a visual/graphical representation of an object or scene or person or abstraction. Inspired from the popular "emoticons" used in the internet world, "roboticons" (pronounced robot-ti-kon) is a visual representation of emerging robot population in the real world with a close connection to some of my favorite things!

Below is "Roboticons", my contribution to an exhibit at MIT's Cambridge Science festival themed Robot Demographics. Check previous blog post for more on the exhibit!

Robots in the hood...<(--)>

2009-04-27T19:32:00.002-04:00

Thanks to my friend Tony Riccardi, I had the opportunity to participate in a group art show for MIT's Cambridge Science Festival!

"Robot Demographics": An exhibition of painting and sculpture occupying our imaginations inspired by an emerging population. The exhibit was at the Out of the Blue Gallery in Central Square, Cambridge.

I was super-excited to be part of this among the likes of Paul Laffoley and others! And also nervous at the same time...but was glad I had this opportunity :). That's him on the left and his work at the exhibit "Femi-sapien" (I think that's what it was called) on the right.

My work was called "Roboticons" (pronounced robot-ti-kon). Tony's work included a three headed robot and a two headed dog! (in below picture)

The exhibit had a good blend of paintings as well as art and sound installations. and also a real one! This included a life sized robot made out circuit breaker boxes. That was indeed impressive!

The opening reception was a fun experience, a first time being a participating artist in one :) and I wanted to share it with all of you. Below are some other pictures from the exhibit!

Robot Demographics: My first group art show!

2009-04-24T23:59:00.002-04:00

Photoshop Watercolor Effects!

2009-04-07T21:45:00.001-04:00

Source: psdtuts

Playing with iPhone's oilCanvas App!

2009-03-18T23:46:00.005-04:00

ObamaMeIcon

2009-01-21T11:34:00.000-05:00

Source: http://obamiconme.pastemagazine.com/

Art & Craft Fair!!

2008-11-18T11:56:00.005-05:00

Check http://somervillemuseum.org/ for more details..!

Another one..!

2008-08-24T20:41:00.000-04:00

True Creativity! Art&Chocolate..my fav two things..:)

2008-07-28T17:56:00.002-04:00

2008-07-27T19:20:00.006-04:00

My latest ones!!
First attempt using the palette knife...

Fresh Pixels..!

2008-04-14T12:13:00.007-04:00

IFF Boston

2008-03-31T17:46:00.001-04:00

DND: Artist at work :)

2007-11-27T23:33:00.000-05:00

Hee..feels like I have rediscovered how much I really enjoy painting and have been doing that lately after work...most people have "a painting a day" in their blogs...but guess I would just start with "a painting a month"...:) here's some of my recent ones...

Below is my attempt (and looks like a bad attempt :( ) to replicate one of Philip B. Hah's Old Recollections, 1882:

This one is a painting of a picture I had captured during my hike in Ascutney State Park, Vermont. Love the dog :)

More to follow...

Somerville Museum's Holiday Sale....Be there!!!

2007-11-15T23:44:00.001-05:00

More events happening....check Website

Team Toadflax @ Talcar XXXIII

2007-10-02T22:00:00.000-04:00

Toadflax…Talcar…??? I had no clue what this was all about....

I always wanted to be a part of the “amazing race” but had never heard about Talcar. Talcar: “The Annual Lost Cause Auto Rallye” is a kind of a regularity rally also known as TSD rallying (Time Speed Distance). It is a form of motor sport usually conducted on public roads but sometimes includes off-road and track sections. The object of these rallies is to maintain precise times and precise average speeds on various segments of a predefined route. Each team usually consists of an amateur driver and a navigator. Teams usually start a regularity rally at fixed intervals creating a field that is spread along the route. I learnt more about it after reading the rules and terms for this sport.

It all started with my roommate Johnna and her Talcar acquaintance Rick deciding to team up together to participate in this years Talcar…the thirty third one. They have been participating in Talcar since many years in different teams. Rick’s team happens to be the famous “Team Toadflax” (Toadflax is a kind of a flower, guess the name is since Rick’s hobby includes wildflowers…so now I knew what Toadflax meant :)). So, in Talcar, the rally could start and end anywhere in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut or probably even Vermont. A week before the rally, you are made aware of the starting point but you have no clue where it will end till you finish the race. Another part of Talcar involves having a theme for your team, decking up your car, having objects for bonus points etc…This years Talcar, we found out, would start somewhere in New Hampshire…that itself is a 2 hour drive from Boston city. So, Rick came to our place to discuss the theme and strategy for team Toadflax. I got involved in this discussion a little and got excited about this whole race. That’s when I decided to be a part of Team Toadflax. So Rick the driver (precise times and precise average speeds…hmmm...I could have been the driver too :) ) and Johnna and I, the navigators…Toadflax in Bloom!!! Haha…that’s what Johnna called it to be…

So, we came up with a theme for our team, decided to decorate our car with toadflax all over it and Rick came up with a “Good vs. Evil: Toads vs. Dinosaurs” story. Well, I am still quite unsure how the story fit in there but we had it on our car and trust me, you don’t want to know the story.

The night before the rally, we drove to one of Rick’s friend’s beautiful lake house in Rochester, New Hampshire. It was a cute little log house right next to the gorgeous Baxter Lake. Wow, I thought that was the most beautiful place one can have a house at and I just wanted forget about the race and spend the weekend there.

Next day, we drove to the starting point of the rally, Samantha’s Inn at Tamworth, NH around 8:30am. We checked in, parked and started meeting the other teams. It was fun to see the crazy costumes and themes that they had come with it. One team was “the lobster team” with the members dressed up as fishermen, captain and giant lobster claws protruding from the front headlights of their car. Ha-ha, these claws opened and shut when they pulled the string attached to it from inside the car. Another team called R.S.U. (actually stood for Rip Shit Up!) was a bunch of crazy guys, one with a Mohawk hairdo, and one with a long beard; had human sized mannequins standing on the top of their car. Team toadflax was all pretty carrying a bunch of toadflax and Johnna trying to explain people the “Good vs. Evil: Toads vs. Dinosaurs” story. It felt like here at Talcar, people got into their alter ego like our Mr. Toadflax; nobody knew him as Rick there.

After all the schmoozing, teams gathered to listen to the organizer’s instructions and officially start the rally. Teams started leaving in the order they arrive at the start point at intervals of 5 minutes. Team Toadflax started around 10:30 am. We got a big envelope with the route instructions and lost maps (incase you can’t finish a leg…you max that leg if you use the lost map). We reset the odometer; they noted our start time, miles and started the countdown. Go Toadflax!

The instruction set were around 150 Numbered Route Instructions (NRIs) with some clues between them. For example, it looked something like this:

1. RAT. CAS 40
2. Dive into the syrup. CAS 20 at dirt.
3. CTPS 25

A house with red roof.
A wishing well
Bones

4. Stop. Stay away from the “children”.

Luckily, Johnna had told me about these rules and terms. What the above instructions meant were: 1) you take a Right At the ‘T’ intersection (RAT) and Continue At Speed (CAS) 40mph 2) Look for something that relates to “dive into the syrup” (it was going onto Maple St which was a dirt road) and CAS 20. 3) Continue Till you see Posted Speed (CTPS) 25. 4) At the next Stop, go in the direction opposite to that which has anything saying “children”. Between 3) and 4), make sure you pass a house with red roof, a wishing well and a cemetery (for bones).

The whole route was absolutely scenic; going through dirt roads in the state park area with some rare wild animals, through beautiful lakes and a bit of highway too. Following these NRIs, we completed legs 1, 2 and 3. Like most teams, we got a little confused and lost during the second leg but managed to find our way out. The third leg ended at Tamworth Camping ground, surprisingly this year’s talcar started and ended in the same town. There was the award ceremony (we ranked 20th…not bad), Talcar gifts, drinks, barbeque…All teams camped here for the night and we left for Boston the next morning.

TALCAR; will be there next year!!

E=mc^2

2007-09-21T16:23:00.000-04:00

Quotes from the great Einstein happens to be my first blog post....inspires one to think!!