Maker Faire, Newcastle
I’ll be heading up to Newcastle this weekend for the first UK Maker Faire. I’m bringing a selection of playful experiments with sensors and music, including Uncanny Valerie, the all-seeing robotic oracle, Clara 2.0, the polite robot thereminist, my robotic bell rig and a couple of new surprises. One involves a tea tray, a bunch of accelerometers and a 1920s Antoria Piano Accordion. The festival runs all weekend at the Centre for Life, Newcastle, 14 and 15 March. See you there!
I’ll be playing again at the Marlborough Theatre, Brighton, at their next Steampunk event on 21 February 2009. Details to be confirmed – but I expect to be appearing with the robotic bells, theremin, saw and Good Companion – a rigged Imperial Typewriter. I may also bring along Uncanny Valerie – the ‘all-knowing’ robotic dolly oracle.
This is the second ever Marlborough Steampunk event – I also played there and briefly demonstrated the Edison Phonograph at their inaugural event last December. This event was curated by Tarik Elmoutawakil who went to enormous trouble to make the room look spectacular.
I was really taken by the crowd’s passion for ingenious mechanical devices and for curious electrostatic machines. It made me feel very at home. I’m new to the whole Steampunk milarky but was pleased to discover my robotic inventions fit into the Steampunk ethos very well. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said of my wardrobe. At the last gig, Mike Blow and I hot footed it from a Spacedog rehearsal to get to the event. Mike was there in his jeans and green trainers and I was dressed like an old hausfrau, in an ‘ergonomic’ saw-player’s sack. Any advice on how to overcome the wardrobe crisis looming in February would be much appreciated.
