Abe's Art+Code Journey // Art fair exhibition // June 2024
Hello, dear friends and Patreon supporters!
In my last newsletter, I shared my preparations for the Parameter Art Fair in Ljubljana. This time, I will write about the fair weekend.
But first, apologies for being one month late with my newsletter. See, my studio participated in the 48 Hours Neukölln art event right after the Parameter Fair, then came a week of hiking adventures in Norwegian Fjords and a family visit to Finland.
Now that I’m back, let's get to it!
A rubber stamp
One of the last things I prepared before leaving was a rubber stamp. My friend Gábor signs his prints with a custom-made stamp, and I very much liked the idea of stamping the envelope before handing it to the buyer. I bought a stamp carving kit and a powerful magnifying glass to help me work on small details.
The hand-carving route did not take me far: the rubber was too soft for carving small letters and kept breaking. I considered ordering a stamp online, but there was not enough time, so I asked my colleague Stephan if his laser cutter might do the work. He was up for trying. Centering the rubber piece and setting the laser speed and strength were all trial and error. After our 5th attempt, I was delighted to have a usable stamp. It’s not an award-winning design, but it will do the job.
The luggage
I had promised to operate my pen plotter live for the audience, so I used the original box to transport it. I expected rain, so I put it inside a large transparent plastic bag together with the A3 prints, everything wrapped with a tension strap to make it easy to grab with one hand.
My backpack contained my laptop, water, and snacks. The yellow suitcase had all the pens, a MIDI controller, the A4 and A5 prints, and many envelopes. Since the plotter was not heavy, I put it on the rolling suitcase and walked easily with everything. All ready!
Catching a train
It was early Friday morning, and I waited at the bus stop until anxiety showed up. A driver in the opposite direction waved to tell us that no bus was coming. What? Why? So much for a smooth start. I walked/ran 600 meters to the next stop to realize that no buses were coming at all, apparently due to flood damage. Not great.
I called a taxi and the driver was really not happy about driving me 750 meters to the local train, but I was too much in a hurry to care. Fortunately, I hopped on the high-speed train going South at 8:19. Such a relief!
Writing a program for the audience
I am now 10 hours away from my destination, and tomorrow at 4 pm, my laptop must be running a program that lets visitors create designs by turning 16 knobs on a MIDI controller.
In addition to creating such a design program, I must simplify sending designs to the pen plotter. So far, I’ve made my programs save creations as SVG files, then opened such files using a different program to configure and start the pen plotter. This is too complex if I need to talk to curious visitors, potentially get paid, and make invoices.
So, I focus on this part first: I study the axi-cli documentation and write code to control the pen-plotter directly from my programs. I can now easily configure the plotter, save and load the settings, and start the actual plotting. It even shows a progress bar and time estimate while plotting, something I never had before. When plotting finishes, I receive a Telegram notification on my phone. It makes my work so much easier! I’m very happy about this.
Next, I start writing the design program the audience will use. First, I create a virtual MIDI controller represented by several sliders. If the real controller is plugged, you can use it. If not, you can use the mouse instead. This is great for testing on the train.
An idea of something I never tried before pops up in my head: I will use four of the knobs to grow shapes on top of previous shapes, and the interaction order will matter. So if I turn knob A and then knob B, I get a triangle on a circle, but if I first turn knob B and then knob A, I get a circle on a triangle. I had never written a program in which the interaction order produces different results. Probably it’s a terrible idea, but hey, this is creative coding 😄
I arrive in Ljubljana at 7 pm, and take a tram to the hotel, just 1 km away. There is a vegan sushi place downstairs. The owners are passionate metalheads with their T-shirts, head scarves, and music to sing to while rolling sushi. Not the tastiest, but definitely the most giant sushi I’ve ever eaten.
After noticing my room's height is greater than its width and length, I continue coding, sleep, eat early breakfast, and then continue coding some more. My program is not ready, but I need to prepare my stand. I really hope there is time to finish it later.
Setting up
After a few trams (most of them going in the right direction), I arrive at the venue. Participants show up slowly and set up their tables.
I hang four plots on a wall and arrange the rest on the table, together with my laptop, the MIDI controller, the Axidraw pen plotter, pens, gloves, and an A4 book with transparent sleeves full of A4 and A5 artworks. Under the table, there's space for the box, the suitcase, my backpack, and many empty envelopes for potential sales.
After setting up the table, I resume working on the software. For some reason, the program crashes when turning some knobs. This is becoming rather stressful, but fortunately, after spending some time on it, I figured out why and can go enjoy lunch 🎉.
The fair
This has been the first time I’ve sold art in a market, and enjoyed interacting with the audience. We are planning to host a 3-day art market in my studio in September, with over 30 participating artists. I will also consider participating in street markets in Berlin.
During the fair, people were curious about the pen plotter and enjoyed playing with the software I wrote, so I will also have it running in the coming market.
Photo by: Katja Goljat / Ljudmila Association archive
In case you are wondering, I priced my prints at 10€ (A5), 50€ (A4), and 100€ (A3), based on suggestions by the organizers according to past fairs. I will think further about the price structure, as the size is not always proportional to the plotting time, creation time, or ink price.
The fair lasted four hours, during which I sold mostly A5 postcards and some A4 plots. Then, to end the event with a big surprise, I learned I was one of the three honorary award recipients! 💰😀🥰 This meant very much to me.
Photo by: Katja Goljat / Ljudmila Association archive
Random notes
I’ll end this newsletter with some things I have on my head now:
Think about plotting written details on each postcard: title, date and time, plot duration, pen type, author, unique seed, and GPS coordinates? If anyone finds one of my plots lying around, it should explain itself.
Maybe include a card with contact info in each envelope.
Should I sell my plot inventory online?
Next time, bring something to tilt works towards the visitors, instead of having everything flat on the table. It makes it easier to see.
What small details can make the buying experience memorable?
How do I feel about the collection of works I brought? Is there too much variety in styles, papers and pens? Create a more coherent vision next time? Focus on something I’m very proud of.
In September’s exhibition, do I want to allow other kinds of user input? For instance, create a work based on a photograph sent from their mobile device? Accept a name or words to make the work more meaningful to them?
Visitors in Ljubljana didn’t always dare to grab the book from the table and look at the works it contained. How do I make it more visible? Add a “touch me” sticker to the book?
Design a new stamp I like so much I want to tattoo it on my body. This one was created in a hurry.
Display a link to my newsletter so interested visitors can stay in contact.
Thank you for being there! I wish you a lovely weekend :)
aBe PaZoS SoLaTie
Art & Code