wats:ON? – TRANSFORMER

April 12, 2012–April 14, 2012

The wats:ON? Festival Across the Arts returns for its 2012 edition, TRANSFORMER, coordinated by Pablo Garcia and Spike Wolff and held at the STUDIO.

Physical laws dictate that something cannot be made from nothing. In the 21st century, however, magic and alchemy seem commonplace. Devices in your pocket can span the world and perform wondrous feats. But art and craft have long made the impossible manifest through ingenuity, skill, perseverance and inspiration. The greatest works of art began as art supplies yet transform into masterpieces through human ingenuity.

wats:ON? 2012: TRANSFORMER looks not at cutting-edge technological magic but at amazing transformations from the most humble beginnings. A piece of paper, or cloth, or even the human body can transform into something never seen before — right before your eyes.

Thu 12 Apr, 5:00pm
Giant Eagle Auditorium (Baker Hall A51)
Lecture and Demonstration: ‘Expressive Electronics: Sketching, Sewing, and Sharing’
LEAH BUECHLEY
Director, High-Low Tech Research Group
Professor, MIT Media Lab
Cosponsored by the Human- Computer Interaction Institute’s Z-Axis Seminar Series

Fri 13 Apr, 5:00pm
STUDIO for Creative Inquiry
Talk and Demonstration
NORTD LABS
Addie Wagenknecht and  Stefan Hechenberger
Cosponsored by the STUDIO for Creative Inquiry

Fri 13 Apr, 8:00pm
Alumni Concert Hall, College of Fine Arts
‘Body Music Rhythm Studio – an interactive rhythmic event’
KEITH TERRY
Director, Crosspulse Project
Director,International Body Music Festival

Sat 14 Apr, 2:00- 5:00pm
STUDIO for Creative Inquiry
TRANSFORMER WORKSHOPS
2:00  Paper Airplanes with Ben Saks
3:00  Hacking Objects with Nina Barbuto
4:00  Lasersaur Workshop with Nortd Labs

Sat 14 Apr, 6:00pm
STUDIO for Creative Inquiry
Reception and Artists Talk
WADE KAVANAUGH and STEPHEN B NGUYEN
“Tug O’ War”, an Installation in the CFA Great Hall

The 2012 wats:ON? Festival is made possible by the generous support of the Jill Watson Family Foundation.
Additional support provided by: the STUDIO for Creative Inquiry, CMU College of Fine Arts, the Human-Computer Interaction Institute, and the CMU School of Architecture.