Artist As Activist Exhibit By Stephen Surlin @ The Lebel Gallery

July 29, 2011 – 12:03 pm


Artist As Activist
 Gallery Exhibit By Stephen Surlin
 January 24 – 28 @ Lebel Gallery

The exhibit entitled Artist As Activist is a solo exhibition featuring the recent works of Stephen Surlin, who also curated the show. Because of Surlin’s recent travels to Nigeria, Africa, he was inspired to use his interest in social justice issues, his knowledge of electronics and design and the creative and critical practices learned from his Bachelor of Fine Arts and Women’s Studies degrees from the University of Windsor to produce “products” and ideas for improving the lives of the people he worked with in Nigeria.

Surlin’s focus is mainly on the easily accessible and salvageable products that can be purchased at electronics wholesalers or online, like, LED (lights), rechargeable batteries, and consumer grade solar panels. Along with sewable “e-textiles” like the Lily Pad Arduino.

The other elements of the gallery will hopefully give the viewer an idea of the impact that ideas of “sustainable design”, contemporary technology and critical engagement can have on communities all around the world, including our own.

Below are several excerpts from a book by Stuart Walker , one of the biggest influences on Surlin during the design process.

Sustainable by Design: Explorations in Theory and Practice
By Stuart Walker

Sustainable product design explores reuse of materials, re-manufacturing and product longevity. If we begin to create long-lasting, but repairable and upgradeable products made from reused materials and parts, we will have to reassess our ideas of products and the value and place of the ‘new’, the glossy and the perfect. A product which bears the marks of time and use and its own history could, potentially, have a richness lacking in many of today’s squeaky-clean but rather barren products; but to appreciate this richness we will have to readjust our value system and our expectations of product aesthetics.

Inventiveness Of Necessity
Sustainability demands resourcefulness and restraint. New solutions have to be found which require less.

Improvisation And Spontaneity
The constraints of limited resources at the local level in terms of materials, processes and tools, combined with a realization that most contemporary products are actually a physical manifestation of unsustainable practices, can create a liberating environment in which to reconsider the nature of objects.

Integration Of Scales – Mass-Produced Plus Locally Made Parts
An important but little explored aspect of sustainable product design is a reassessment of our scales of production so that products can be made, repaired and reused within an industrial ecology of cyclic resource use at the local or regional level.

Elegance And Empathy Through Design
When developing products within the limitations imposed by locale, processes, techniques and human skills must be used imaginatively to convert often uninspiring or non-ideal materials into elegant forms that contribute in a positive way to our material culture.

Installation view at Lebel Gallery

Detail of hand painted titles

Rechargeable Solar Powered LED Lamp

Solar panel detail

LED and LilyPad Arduino PCB board detail

Rechargeable Solar Powered LED Bag

Solar panel on bags flap and wall paintings

View inside the bag, showing the rechargeable lithium-ion battery and lipo charger.

LEDs and LilyPad Arduino LED PCB boards wired with conductive thread detail

Read More »

By Stephen Surlin | Posted in Activism, Conceptual, Curation, Design, Drawing, Illustration, Installation, Painting, Photography, Sculpture, Video | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (2)

Design: Artist As Activist Exhibit Posters

July 11, 2011 – 9:28 pm

These are the posters I used to spread the word about my gallery show entitled “Artist As Activist”. The description can be seen on the poster. The show was at the Lebel Gallery at the University of Windsor, Ontario, Canada.

Click on a poster to see the hi-res version. I personally took each of the photos used in the posters during my trip to Enugu State, Nigeria, Africa.

Read More »

By Stephen Surlin | Posted in Activism, Curation, Design, Photography | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Music Section Updates

July 5, 2011 – 12:47 pm

The music section of my site has been updated to include video of me performing a few impromptu pieces and a recent exploration I did of the “chiptune” genre. I will be updating this area more in the near future, possibly with some music releases under my “FURS” alias and DJ mixes.

Kero Bits + Beats w/ mlrV 2.2 + monome 40h from Stephen Surlin on Vimeo.

Jamming on the monome 40h using mlrV 2.2 with some samples from the new samplepack “Kero’s Bits & Beats” from Twisted Tools (http://twistedtools.com/shop/samplepacks/free/kero/).

“Here is a collection of loops/samples taken from my Logic tracks that I have been working on for the past year. All samples made with Kyma Pacarana, Machinedrum, Virus TI, Monomachine, Nord3 and Monome. I hope you can make something interesting with them, Enjoy. ”

Kero
[http://www.facebook.com/djkero]
[http://www.detroitunderground.net/]
[http://www.djkero.com]

Read More »

By Stephen Surlin | Posted in Digital, Illustration, Music, Performance, Video | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Performance: Paramecium In Three Parts

June 20, 2011 – 11:10 pm

Paramecium In Three Parts from Stephen Surlin on Vimeo.

This was a work I did in my BioArt class at the University of Windsor (http://www.incubatorartlab.com) that involved interactivity and performance. The basis for my interaction with the biological (living or at one time was living) element is through the program Max/MSP/Jitter, especially the OpenCV.jit computer vision libraries, in order to track movement and other data through a camera. During the performance I am changing play speed, creating loops that play forward and reverse and adjusting thresholds that determine what aspects are being detected.

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By Stephen Surlin | Posted in Conceptual, Digital, Interactive, Music, Performance, Video | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Histographic Self Portrait

June 20, 2011 – 10:17 pm

Histographic Self Portrait from Stephen Surlin on Vimeo.

This was a project in development for my senior level drawing course with Iain Baxter& at the University Of Windsor. The project was to create a self portrait.

I have had a recent interest in Max/MSP/Jitter and thought to use the histograph abilities, taken from a live camera. I used ‘face detect’ from Open.CV to detect a person, which starts the rapid flow of colours as the screen projects the histograph one colour band at a time. The face detects also allows only one person to start the projection, if two or more faces are detected the projection will stop.

Music:
Boards Of Canada – 747

Read More »

By Stephen Surlin | Posted in Digital, Drawing, Interactive | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)

Windsor Labyrinth Project

June 16, 2011 – 1:06 pm

This project came from being made to look at my community and engage with it in a different and unique way in my Drawing class with Iain Baxter& at the University of Windsor. I was already familiar with the idea of the Labyrinth, especially the type you may find in places of solitude, contemplation and spirituality.

Many Labyrinth‘s can be found in cathedrals around Europe, though many more can be found outdoors, in parks and gardens.

“ Labyrinths are used by modern mystics to help achieve a contemplative state. Walking among the turnings, one loses track of direction and of the outside world, and thus quiets the mind. “

A picture of someone walking a labyrinth in the American Midwest.

This inquiry into the Labyrinth brought me to focus on three sites that might be advantageous to contemplate on and within.

Windsor, Ontario’s downtown core, a site where many dissonances and fear exist from segregation of groups and the emptying of many buildings/businesses.

Windsor’s West End, Sandwich Towne, a place I previously lived and borders on the University I currently attend. The boarding up of several streets has caused an already ignored area become greatly more destitute. This is because of a second bridge to America that might be built but is not underway; in the meantime exacerbating the desolation of one of Windsor’s heritage communities, which I am from.

Orchard Park, Tecumseh, Ontario, the neighbourhood I currently reside in. I have been living in several homes in the “suburbs” for over a decade now. These communities are very symptomatic of the cultural and economic apartheid based in urban sprawl.

I created a system of maps in order to create a route that traverses these three regions.

Windsor, Ontario’s downtown core

Windsor’s West End, Sandwich Towne

Orchard Park, Tecumseh, Ontario Read More »

By Stephen Surlin | Posted in Conceptual, Illustration, Interactive | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

The Creation of The Rechargable Solar Powered LED Lamp

June 10, 2011 – 12:11 pm

Stephen Surlin helping a local find a pair of glasses.

Stephen Surlin helping a local find a pair of glasses at another location.

Trying On Glasses from Stephen Surlin on Vimeo.

Tripod footage of me helping people find the glasses the need for reading and other activities when I went to Enugu State, Nigeria with ACRT (AIDS Crisis Response Team) to participate in various humanitarian activities. This mainly included health based support, like a travelling clinic.

The process of helping over 100 people find glasses, by talking to them and letting them try several pairs, was one of the main inspirations behind my work in creating sustainable design projects that bring light to people who need it.

When I returned home I began work in my Bachelor of Fine Arts – Visual Arts program to create rechargeable solar powered LED light sources.

I found that I needed quite a bit of help in figuring out what kind of components I needed to use. I had found most of the parts, and what’s needed to get them working, on my own. This included, LEDs, solar panels, lithium-ion batteries and several other components. I was especially inspired by the writings of Stuart Walker, from his book Sustainable by Design. All of this research also led me to use the Lilypad Arduino, which uses waterproof circuitry and conductive thread in order to create simple/repairable/waterproof/wearable circuits, which also encourage young children and women to get involved in electronics, especially in the type of “traditional” societies I was working in in Nigeria. Read More »

By Stephen Surlin | Posted in Activism, Design, Sculpture | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (1)

Photography: Humanitarian Trip To Enugu State, Nigeria with ACRT (AIDS Crisis Response Team)

May 18, 2011 – 10:15 pm

Humanitarian Trip To Enugu State, Nigeria, Africa with ACRT (AIDS Crisis Response Team)
July 2010

I’ve updated the photography section with some photos from my trip to Nigeria with ACRT (Aids Crisis Response Team). This trip was extremely influential on me and my life in many ways. Especially in my art, activism and social justice endeavours.

To look at the main photography page, click here, or click on “Photography” in the “Pages” menu.

Traffic In Lagos

Enugu Stage, Nigeria

Children from Enugu State

School in Enugu State

Doing an AIDS test

Long lines and colourful fabrics

Helping someone who was left unnoticed

Benadine is able to sit-up and have soft food after a few days

By Stephen Surlin | Posted in Activism, Photography | Tagged , , , | Comments (2)

Pocket Park / Sound Wall

May 3, 2011 – 10:00 am

The pocket Park / Sound Wall project was done by myself and Kevin Kaputsiak. Together, along with Tug Collective: Gaelyn Aguilar, Gustavo Aguilar, we attempted to create a sustainable and low-impact designed structure in order to create a small space where students and passer-bys can have a bit of solitude and nature in an area where that experience is not readily available.

Mission Statement

To research and implement the building of a “Pocket Park” utilizing sound reducing walls, tubes, and other low-impact and sustainable building techniques. This park is a project that is intended to spark interest and questions around urban green space, the attempt to bring silence into noisy urban settings and the effects of noise found in urban areas, especially ones near busy roadways, on our health.

Goals

Analyze and assess the level of noise pollution generated by Huron Church.

Discover ways of lessening this pollution through the use of found materials to construct sustainable low-impact structures.

Give suggestions for further revisions to help continue the project and implement these designs.

“Green Corridor” Students at the University of Windsor: Stephen Surlin, Kevin Kaputsiak

Tug Collective: Gaelyn Aguilar, Gustavo Aguilar

Waddle & Daub from Stephen Surlin on Vimeo.

This is time-lapse documentation of the waddle and daub process which is described below. The project was for the course Green Corridor (greencorrior.ca) at the University of Windsor in Ontario. The waddle & daub is needed to create “sound walls” that can muffle the sound of the NAFTA super highway, Huron Church Road, that is right behind my school and is also the busiest border crossing in Canada with millions of trucks traversing the border each year.

The construction of the sound wall needed to address the amount of sound that can be absorbed or reflected by each building method. The density of the material is important, especially to reduce the amount of low-frequency noise.

Based on the research inspired by Tug Collective we were able to focus on low-impact and sustainable design. The publications, Design Like You Give A Damn and Design For The Other 90%. These publications focus on the use of local materials and building techniques. These ideologies mixed with the use of the pallets will hopefully begin a dialogue with the public and concepts that correspond with global trade, shelter, the use of materials and the correlation between design and the state of citizens around the world, all concepts that are becoming more and more important as “Free Trade” and globalization continue to bring distant places into an interlocking network.

After we moved through several stages of research we came to a method referred to as wattle and daub, a medieval building method used to build houses in regions across Europe. Wattle refers to the weaving of branch like materials between posts, this structure is then covered in daub, which is a mixture of clay, sand, straw and water. This mixture is then mixed with shovels and by walking all over it, as it was done back in the 1500s, then straw is added to the mixture in order to make it strong and sticky enough to put it on the waddle.

The space by the Lebel School Of Arts where the park/wall can be.
The materials we salvaged in order to make the pallet based walls.

We attempted to create the wall in several styles.

Luckily we were able to source large amounts of material and have it delivered by the generous people over at PCR Contractors, who were working near by on the new engineering building.

Clay, straw, sand, dirt, grass and twigs to make the daub.
A pallet with the waddling on it, ready to be daubbed.

After leaving the work site for a day, when I returned, a rabbit was resting in the pallet structure. Seems like a good sign for what we are trying to create, green and sustainable structures.
Another pallet after being daubbed.

The finished Sound Wall/Pocket Park

Doing some recordings for the sound analysis.
The analysis of the fireld recordings, done in Logic.

Analysis 1 – Various recordings of the surrounding areas.

Analysis 2 – Recording in front and behind wall to determine change.

Click on the picture to the left to view and/or download the PDF version of the “Sound Wall – Pocket Park Legacy Report“. A document we are required to complete at the end of our course in Green Corridor.

By Stephen Surlin | Posted in Activism, Design, Installation, Sculpture | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (1)

Abstract Parts

April 17, 2011 – 11:31 pm

Abstract Parts from Stephen Surlin on Vimeo.

This short film/animation is made from footage of a screw recorded through a microscope, magnified 400x, and then sent through a Max/MSP/Jitter patch, which uses Computer Vision (OpenCV.jit) to add rythmic lines that reference the form of the screw and the music of Philip Glass.

I made the recording of the screw in the BioArt Lab with a USB camera mounted on a microscope at the University of Windsor where I am enrolled in Visual Arts.

Music:
Kronos Quartet, Philip Glass
String Quartet #3,
“Mishima” – 5. Blood Oath

A screenshot of the Max/MSP/Jitter patch.

By Stephen Surlin | Posted in Drawing, Illustration, Video | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)
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