Free at last, free at last, free at last

Well, I no longer have an office in my house, nor porn-related visits from affable migrant workers. I don’t know if it’s a reflection on the virtuality — or even real-world valuelessness — of the nature of my work product, but it’s interesting to think that everything I’ve done on BME in a decade and a half can be shrunk down to the content of a few DVDs… or in this case, a bunch of cheap electronic junk.

Ah, what to do now?

Part of me wants to sit around, play Guitar Hero and watch TV all day (which I may well do today, as I am computerless right now other than stealing Caitlin’s computer when she’s not here), but I think I have five main things on my “next stage” projects, at least in the short term:

  • Finish the book projects that are already started.
  • Launch the new site.
  • Get enough good paintings done for a show.
  • Teach a robot arm to paint (that’s my new project, building on my earlier work with computer composed music; teaching a computer to paint in my style, using lots of paint and good texture).
  • The snowrail.

I’m really looking forward to the robot painting project and have been obsessively watching robot arm videos and watching various sites for used industrial robots…

28 Comments

  1. cirrin wrote:

    “everything I’ve done on BME in a decade and a half can be shrunk down to the content of a few DVDs… or in this case, a bunch of cheap electronic junk.” Maybe the physical aspect of what you did on BME, but there’s no measure of the pleasure you contributed to the community or the sense of peace you helped people acheive.

    Thursday, May 22, 2008 at 8:28 am | Permalink
  2. Jeremy wrote:

    Are you getting rid of all of these things because you dont need them anymore? Or are they being reclaimed? :/ Regardless- the robot project sounds quite awesome, Ive been doing alot of robot-geiger-art lately.

    Thursday, May 22, 2008 at 8:57 am | Permalink
  3. Gracie wrote:

    You and BME have certainly made an impact on my life, and on the lives of countless others. You and your work rock beyond the telling of it.

    Thursday, May 22, 2008 at 9:12 am | Permalink
  4. Rawiri wrote:

    I did some basic robot programming and can’t wait to see what comes out of the painting robot.

    And I really want to see the new site!!!

    Thursday, May 22, 2008 at 9:49 am | Permalink
  5. estrojenn wrote:

    i vote for sitting around all day playing guitar hero and watching tv. you deserve the rest!

    Thursday, May 22, 2008 at 10:13 am | Permalink
  6. d.c.flint wrote:

    hello dear Shannon ! how i write many time : U & BME change me & my life . (5 y.o. i’m with BME, i make tattoo- BME hokey team logo).big senks & respect 4 U. & question : U write that one of your new projects , its new site. What that will be ? (if that not secret!). (sorry my english & hello from Russia!)

    Thursday, May 22, 2008 at 10:17 am | Permalink
  7. Absinthe wrote:

    Guitar Hero ftw! And hopefully Rock Band too, damn UK release being so long after you lucky people the other side of the ocean!

    And with regard BME, I’m with the others in that whilst the physical aspect may be on a few DVD’s the real work you did is walking around all over the word with smiles on their faces that you helped put there.

    Thursday, May 22, 2008 at 10:17 am | Permalink
  8. Megan wrote:

    Maybe I missed this, but… new site?

    Thursday, May 22, 2008 at 11:03 am | Permalink
  9. Scienkoptic wrote:

    It’s always nice to be reminded that while I have trouble getting something electronic to say “HELLO WORLD”, There are others have enough hubris to be thinkning about teching robots to paint. :)

    Thursday, May 22, 2008 at 12:44 pm | Permalink
  10. Scienkoptic wrote:

    It’s always nice to be reminded that while I have trouble getting something electronic to say “HELLO WORLD”, There are others have enough hubris to be thinkning about teaching robots to paint. :)

    Thursday, May 22, 2008 at 12:44 pm | Permalink
  11. p7tms wrote:

    Shannon,
    What is the saying….”When a door closes, a window opens”?

    Yes – you did OOODLES on BME. BUT- I do remember that there was lots to do – and it was needed soo very quickly that you really didn’t have time to enjoy the days. Instead you were usually stuck behind a monitor.

    There are many bright sides to not having that site now:

    1 — more time to hang out with Nefarious

    2 — more time to hang out with Caitlin

    3 — more time to do your artwork / other projects

    4 — more time to enjoy life and all it offers

    Sometimes it isn’t easy to find a “bright side” to things. But if you can, then it opens you up to many other possibilities :)

    Now…
    You mention a robot arm painter. That sounds very interesting. Between the programming/type/style/ of peinting, I’d like to see how you do it. Hmmm… a robotic vanGogh, or maybe a robotic Monet. Or impressionism versus cubism – anything is possible :)

    Heck – you might even attach a webcam and create a program for the arm that would do an “artistic rendering” of whatever the webcam “sees”.

    Good Luck!

    ed

    Thursday, May 22, 2008 at 1:56 pm | Permalink
  12. dresden wrote:

    Hey man, what is this new site you speak of? Mod related?

    Did you ever get that trike of yours working?

    Thursday, May 22, 2008 at 2:50 pm | Permalink
  13. DON wrote:

    Some interesting reflections there on how you measure virtuality. In physical terms, the extent of my own personal contribution to BME/IAM would probably fit on a floppy disk! But in the wider sense of all the memories I have of BME, the people I’ve met, the events I’ve attended and the hours of pleasure and enlightenment I’ve had – the effect all that has had on me as person I don’t think can be measured.

    Thursday, May 22, 2008 at 3:07 pm | Permalink
  14. What Don said.

    Also, I enjoyed your gallery pages. The colors and brush-stroke details look great!

    Thursday, May 22, 2008 at 3:28 pm | Permalink
  15. And with regard BME, I’m with the others in that whilst the physical aspect may be on a few DVD’s the real work you did is walking around all over the word with smiles on their faces that you helped put there.

    cheers to this.

    my first suspension is because of coming to this site and seeing the world in a whole other light once i did it. i have since met tom brazda who had done amazing work on me, the same goes for blair and eventually the truly wonderful brian decker.

    you will always have so much appreciation for what you have done to this whole world in opening so many eyes to wonderful new things.

    thank you shannon over and over.

    Thursday, May 22, 2008 at 4:18 pm | Permalink
  16. LotN wrote:

    Yup, much more than a website.

    What about building that house? I’m waiting for the announcement that you’re looking for people to help built and live in the technology-infused hobbit holes…

    Thursday, May 22, 2008 at 4:32 pm | Permalink
  17. daniel jacques wrote:

    aye, haha, the whatsit… earth house project…looking forward to future updates on this, plus..yeah, thanks a mecca for the community man, i hope it survives your absence, at least i know the friendships ive made there definately will. peas.

    Thursday, May 22, 2008 at 5:21 pm | Permalink
  18. JenO wrote:

    Just came here to thank you for the job you’ve done, and even though I definitely didn’t agree with you on some of your posts, I still wouldn’t have wanted the site to change one bit. Good luck Shannon.

    Thursday, May 22, 2008 at 5:44 pm | Permalink
  19. Torture wrote:

    Yeap, BME is and was just bits and bytes, but it made a link to so many people!
    I am glad to be in my own way, part of the community you created, and I must say I am sad that you have left, but I am also happy for you. I see you full of projects, and that makes me happy for you.
    I see you moving on, and it is somethimes very very hard.

    I will keep visiting you here, and on whatever other project you are involved in.

    Best wishes for you Shannon, hope I can go to Canada someday and have a beer with you.

    Torture.

    Thursday, May 22, 2008 at 7:19 pm | Permalink
  20. Ben wrote:

    Your a great painter & doing a book would be awesome & I think many people, would love it…also lauching a new site sounds like great news to me….
    you’ll never be forgotten by the people you whos lives you changed.Bme was great because theres not many things in this life were you go “WOW now this is really something new & different here”….thats how bme was for me something that pulled me in & I was never the same after it & I’m very thinkaful for all you did there. Good luck with your pursuits my friend!

    Thursday, May 22, 2008 at 7:54 pm | Permalink
  21. mat wrote:

    ” there’s no measure of the pleasure you contributed to the community or the sense of peace you helped people acheive.”

    Thursday, May 22, 2008 at 11:27 pm | Permalink
  22. juDe wrote:

    Go on with all the projects Shannon. ;)

    Friday, May 23, 2008 at 8:08 am | Permalink
  23. Ania wrote:

    My first book about body modification was your Modcon and it made me cringe a few times. Now it’d be pretty hard to make me feel this way.
    I so hope your book projects involve body modification cuz well, I don’t dig robots much.

    Friday, May 23, 2008 at 9:17 am | Permalink
  24. Nicole wrote:

    Marc better not read of these robotic arms being able to paint. After all of the home automation, I can’t even figure out how to turn on a lamp!

    Although, a bitch slappin’ arm would bring much joy to my little world.

    Forget Guitar Hero, that’s so last year. Rock band is where it’s at!

    Friday, May 23, 2008 at 11:17 am | Permalink
  25. MissSio wrote:

    There are people who can fit their entire career’s worth of work onto a few cds. That’s the amazing and depressing thing about modern technology. A piece of incredibly moving digital art that you spend weeks slaving over and completing can be negated to an email attachment. I have the entire works of Shakespeare on my iPod. His entire life’s work, in my pocket. (along with enough other literature to fill an entire physical library.) It’s incredible. But with the advent of modern technology came modern ideas of how to connect with other people. You have utilized this modern technology in an amazing way to make a community out of wide-spread pockets of like-minded individuals. It’s awesome.

    Even if your entire effort can be condensed to a few CDs, all those now-connected people have you to thank for that, and they know it.

    Now it’s time to start something else new. It’s up to you whether or not it’s going to be digitally condensible. :)

    Friday, May 23, 2008 at 1:17 pm | Permalink
  26. p7tms wrote:

    While a life’s work may be condensed into various media, it does not capture the human condition/ human factor :)

    Friday, May 23, 2008 at 2:27 pm | Permalink
  27. MissSio wrote:

    exactly! :)

    Friday, May 23, 2008 at 2:54 pm | Permalink
  28. Super Muffin wrote:

    I vote for the Rock Band/Guitar Hero movement!

    And no matter what – things are going to get better and far more interesting for you! :D

    Friday, May 23, 2008 at 6:45 pm | Permalink
Wow Shannon, that's really annoying! What is it, 1997 on Geocities? Retroweb is NOT cool!

Post a Comment

Your email is never published nor shared. Required fields are marked *
*
*