It is the norm to encounter various forms of ‘technical difficulties’ especially here at Flux Factory.

Thus, we now bring to you a diverse series of workshops.Unless indicated, all workshops will occur at our location, and are often entirely free.

Upcoming 2005 Workshops will resume in mid-october.

questions? email sebastien@fluxfactory.org

____________________________________________________________
Past Workshops

May 8th 3-6pm - Live Media Series #3- Chiaki Watanabe
#3 of 3workshops covering the medium of video and how it may be
applied in various artistic expressions. This first workshop theme will be
“visual music”, using video as an instrument. (suggested
donation $5.00) more
info here: http://www.nicknack.org/lv/

May 15th, 3-6 pm - NOVEL -
Panel Discussion

May 22nd, 3-6pm - NOVEL Artist Forum

May 1st, 1-3pm - VideoBlogging w/ Jay
Dedman
Setting up a videoblog for your grand parents has never been easier.
This second sunday…those who participated in the first workshop will come
show us their work…we’ll answer any questions…hook them into the community…and
help them tweak their process.
April 24th - Live
media series - 3-6pm - hosted by Chiaki
Watanabe
The first of 3 workshops covering the medium of video and how it
may be applied in various artistic expressions. This first workshop theme
will be “visual music”, using video as an instrument. (suggested
donation $5.00)

w/ Guest artists
Giles Hendrix : www.gesture.org
Chris Jordan: www.seej.net
chiaki: nicknack.org
April 17th, 1-3pm - VideoBlogging w/ Jay
Dedman

Setting up a videoblog for your grand parents has never been easier.
A double series workshop focused on new forms of internet expression and communication.
This first sunday we will learn how to do make a videoblog, show plenty of
examples, get them up and running, and do a practice post. A follow up will
take place on May 1st.
April 10th
- DIY Video Projector - 3-6pm
- w/ Sebastien Santamaria

For those who are tired of waiting for video projector prices to drop to what
you may consider “affordable”. Learn how to make your own high end
video projector for less than a tenth of the cost.

April 3rd - Soft
Sculptural Objects - 3-6pm - w/ artist Saya Woolfalk
Three hour
workshop to create a soft sculptural object that comes from her most
recent piece Winter Garden: Hybrid Love Objects. The object is a mini
palm tree attached to a fuzzy pink tomato. Some sewing experience is helpful
and some materials will be provided. Please bring, scissors, hand sewing
needles, pins, and a light colored cotton thread. Material fee $5

Saya Woolfalk was part of Cute & Scary at Flux Factory, her most recent
work can be seen in the Greater New York show at PS1

March 20 - Knot
Tying - 3-6pm - with Brian Matthews
Learn how to tie knots like a sailor, like a pirate, like a mad husband, like
a person who knows how to tie knots.

Sunday
Oct 10th, 2pm - Knitting with Plastic

A workshop in creating elegance from trash. Sarah Hollis Perry will
demonstrate ways to make upholstery material, clothing, hand bags and

other fabric using recycled plastic bags, tyvek house wrap and other
found materials. bring your own plastic bags.

Sunday Aug22nd.
RADIO LAB FOR RNC PROTESTS Admission free
free103point9 Online Radio, the NYC IMC Sound Team, and independent media
from all over the country will provide Live coverage of the protests during
the Republican National Convention. This Radio Lab workshop will teach radio
and streaming basics. With Sarah Lippek and Tom Roe from free103point9. Also
streamed live on free103point9 Online Radio at www.free103point9.org

Aug 8 SILKSCREENING!!!

Flux Factory now offers silkscreening facilities to the public! Come to our
tech initiative to have access to our facilities, learn the basics of printing,
and educate yourself on how to build your own workshop cheaply. If you would
like to begin printing please bring your own screen, paper, and your image
in black on a transparency (acetate).

June 20th - How
to take slides of your art work
Artists of all kinds come one and come all to learn how to take fantastic
slides of your work. We will teach you how to use your 35 mm (SLR) camera
to take professional looking slides of your 2-D and 3D work relatively inexpensively.
Troubleshooting techniques, question and answer session, where to buy and
develop film, lighting problems, tungsten vs. daylight, light meter issues,
and how to control your lighting. This will be a free tech initiative. Bring
your knowledge and your problems.

March 28th
- Install Fest & Linux Audio

For those who’ve always wanted linux running on their computers, but never
dared to install it alone. This is a great opportunity to learn the basics
and get started on how to improve your life with free software!
Marco Scoffier
will also demonstrate using audio in a linux based environment,
covering certain programs.
Bring you laptops, even your desktops (backup your files!). NO RSVP

March 21st - Make 3 books in 3 hours.
Join new york artist Andrea Dezso
here at fluxfactory to create 3 one-of-a-kind books

(an origami book with its own box, a magic-fold book and a double-spined concertina
book).
Beginners to book making welcome. If you have an x-acto knife, a glue stick,
or any special
paper that you’d like to use, bring them with you.

Dec 7th - An Afternoon of Folk Electronics
Hosted be Brian and Leon
Dewan, creators of exotic analog electronic musical instruments. We’ll
look at some of the instruments they have built, combined with printed-circuit
board etching and soldering demonstration, from circuit conception through
finished product.

note: if you like wires and control nobs, do not miss this!

Nov 30th - A look into Linux part 2
We will have taken a PC and installed Linux, and we will have seen what happened.
As we become administrators of our own linux systems, Marco Scoffier will
continue in this workshop to explore other computing possibilities, show how
they aren’t that scary, and how useful they can be.

Nov 23rd - Video Mixing and Streaming

A workshop on QuickTime streaming and on Keyworx,
a free multi-user video mixing software. With Eric Redlinger, from the Keyworx
team and host to the video component of SHARE,
a weekly laptop gathering.

Nov 16th – Pinhole Photography 3pm - 6pm
Experience the magic of pinhole photography! Learn to construct your own camera
from a simple box and print photos from it in the same day. All materials
provided. $5 materials fee. 8 people max.

Nov 16th - Puppets that do stuff 2pm - 6pm
Nick Jones
of Pirate Puppet Rock Opera Consortium Jollyship
the Whiz-Bang
We’ll cook up some paper mache, sculpt a basic rod puppet and figure out how
to make it move, using some combination of string, springs, and rubber
bands. Small details make all the difference: a simple gesture or two will

raise your puppet above the realm of mere representation — it’s what makes
garbage become alive! Create your alter ego! Make a new friend! Basic materials
provided. Small fee for fancy things from my personal stash.

Nov 9th – Rube Goldberg Workshop
Ever want to spend 3 hours, use just about every item in your house, to make
an omelet. Rube Goldberg was onto something when he drew his chain reaction
machines that endlessly wasted an enormous amount of energy and time to do
simple things. Now you can learn how to build one of these brilliant machines
under the instruction of Brian
Matthews, Mechanical Engineer and madcap artist.

Nov 2nd - A look into Linux part 1
In this course we will take a PC and install Linux, and see what can happens.
Marco Scoffier will create a Linux workstation at Flux, user accounts will
be distributed, and new methods of computing will be exposed. Programs like
Pd(sound software) and blender(3d package) will be covered.

Oct 26th - Modern recording at home and in the studio
This informal seminar will explore the basics of digital recording,
editing and mixing. In comparison to its analog counterparts, we’ll look at
Pro Tools and some examples of what it can do in both a home studio and a
professional recording environment (and how the two intersect). Basic recording
studio standards and techniques will also be addressed. This workshop will
occur at MelodyLanes
recording studio in Williamsburg.

max. 10 attendees, rsvp and details with sebastien@fluxfactory.org

Aug 31st - Beginner Sewing It’s been a long time since you could
ask your Mommy to darn your socks, much less make you that special prom dress.
Now’s your chance to finally grab a hold of your holes and learn to sew! Lead
by Fluxer Stefany Anne Golberg, this workshop will go over the basics of hand
and machine sewing, with hand from 3-4:30 and machine for the rest of the
time. Bring things you want to repair or sew something special to sell on
the Flux products page. There will be some needles and thread available but
you are encouraged to bring your own. And if you’ve got your own machine,
you can bring that too.

Aug 24th - Life Beyond Word and Web Surfing

Learn some simple techniques to make your computing more effective.
This session is hosted by Sebastien Santamaria, who will explain the basics
of digital imagery and html/webdesign. Bring a laptop, or share. Have some
ice tea.

September 10 - 25, 2004

-functional art objects and music made from waste.

There is an alchemical process that takes place when waste is converted into something useful. REFUSE is a collection of work by artists who apply this process to castaway raw materials reshaped into functional art objects and sound sculptures. The exhibit will include pieces whose emphasis is on form and function, making scavenged material an integral, possibly unapparent element of the work through skilled transmutation. An apparent dwelling space within the gallery will be assembled with pieces ranging from dresses woven from cassette tape ribbon (Alyce Santoro), a chair reupholstered with woven blue new york times bags (Sarah Hollis Perry), chairs fashioned from recycled road signs (Boris Bally) and tables crafted from scrap wood (Scrapile). Several Interactive sound sculptures and musical instruments made from waste will be placed throughout the gallery providing a sonic backdrop for the space.

Featuring works by: Shinsuke Aso, Boris Bally, Neil Benson, Lea Bogden, Steve Bradley, Carrie Collins, Peggy Diggs, Joy Halsted, Jennifer Long, Jacob Mitas, Nikolai Moderbacher, Cynthia Norton, John Parker, Sarah Hollis Perry, Paul Rutkovsky, Jason Sanford, Alyce Santoro, SCRAPILE, Colleen Rae Smiley , David Snyder, Erwin Timmers, Steve Thompson, Crispin Webb
with musical performances by
Ken Butler, Isac Zal, Neptune

curated by Jacob Mitas

click to view online documentation

Counter Culture
New Museum of Contemporary Art
September 2004
—Sonya Shrier

If nothing else, Counter Culture is a clever solution to the transitional state that the New Museum—along with most museums—is in: it is an effort to find a middle ground between the new $20 admission at MoMA and the Star Wars exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum. Awaiting the construction of their new space on the Bowery, to be completed in 2006, the New Museum attempts with Counter Culture to provide an exchange between the neighborhood and museumgoers by setting up a collection of “interventions” within a two-block radius of where the new New Museum will be. Each of the seven artists in the show used an existing institution as a base for their piece, making the viewer’s interaction with the non-museum public vital to the experience of the show. However, in setting up this relationship, it was a lopsided exchange from the outset.

“Can You Hear Me” by Julianne Swartz announces the show with it’s striking form and clear motive. Its bright yellow piping runs from the street into the second floor lobby of the Sunshine Hotel and literally shoves “exchange with the locals” down your throat. The viewer shouts into the piping (something that a wide tube at eye level just begs for) and the residents can communicate back if they are so inclined. In Marion Wilson’s “This Store Too” the artist pushes a cart around a few days a week selling works that she made with objects donated from homeless people from the Bowery Mission, as stated in the press release, to “provide an opportunity for needy people to participate in commercial exchange.”

Though the intentions of the show are noble, the result is something of a failure. While the museumgoer thinks it is a witty concept to be able to communicate with “the people” through a tube, is the person on the other end really having the same intellectual experience? And, conceptually, it may be a nice idea to show how a homeless person can make riches out of rags, but would it really be as easy for a homeless person to sell these works as it is for an artist in a museum exhibit?

In the midst of the overall feeling of the show there were some pieces that manage to negotiate this difficult territory with positive results. “Secret Places” by the Queens based collective Flux Factory requires a very covert type of exchange by asking you to go into Bowery Martial Arts store and relay a secret password to the man sitting behind the counter. You are then lead into the back stockroom of the store to find a makeshift control center where you receive your secret mission. The use of humor along with the idea of infiltration worked to turn the show’s theme around on itself.

Jean Shin’s “Wishing Well” infuses the usually mundane industrial sinks that are ubiquitous along the Bowery sidewalks with a surprising beauty by welding several of them together. Shin’s use of materials shows consideration and respect for the surrounding area as opposed to the negative feeling of infiltration that brings forth the division between the museum and the public in a somewhat unequal exchange.