Farewell..

I'm moving to Tumblr. It's much easier to use and more customisable, and therefore less fuss - meaning I'm much more likely to use it! My research is ongoing and moving in some exciting new directions, so feel free to drop by.

Bit late to the party, I know, but thinking about Hockney's IPad and iPhone drawings...

Ny times piece about Hockney's iPhone drawings

Like the bit where the writer discusses the fact that Hockney does not worry about onward distribution. The writers opinion is that these are not copies, but originals.

Westworld, Red Dead and Zeke's Shack

I'm having some initial thoughts about a piece of writing looking at cowboy simulation. Why would this be on my mind? Well, it's down to playing lots of the marvellous Red Dead Redemption and wondering to myself why I like it so much. It started me thinking about other experiences of wild west simulation in my life, and then I remembered the film Westworld. I saw it when I was quite young - maybe 7? - and I clearly remember being completely terrified. Yule Brynner was just so scary as the unstoppable cowboy robot gone wrong. There was just nothing that could kill him. There are moments in Red Dead, for example when you are in the Multiplayer modes, playing in real time online with other players and you see them 'beam in' to the game, Star Trek styley when I feel strong comparisons with Westworld.

The other notable wild west simulation in my life relates to the town where I grew up, Weston-super-Mare. Weston pier as I knew it burnt down in 2008, and with it, all the strange, scary and evocative attractions inside it. One of these was 'Zeke's Shack', a hillbilly themed shooting range, where animatronic straw-haired varmints would spit and shoot water at you. The aim was to shoot moving targets in their dusty broken down shack and yard in order to win points to spend in the prize booth. It always scared me and made me squirm but I was grimly fascinated by it, much like Westworld. The interesting twist in this is that it was destroyed in the fire, and I can't help but wonder what it all looked like when it burnt. As I've been writing this, I've just remembered that Yule Brynner's character in Westworld has his robotic face burnt off, but still keeps on going.......

Sketchbook

Vector drawing app for iphone - how did I miss this one?

http://mobiletechaddicts.com/2009/03/18/sketchbook-vector-based-drawing-for-iphone/

Logorama

Jon Burgerman digi drawing video

Foray into augmented reality with Layar

Just got hold of 'Layar', an augmented reality app for iPhone. As well as the incredible possibilities it has for locating information, local services and businesses, and for social connectivity I can imagine using it to make drawings. It works by pointing the phone's camera at an environment and allowing you to call up information about the area, which is represented in the form of graphics layered over the top of the real environment on the screen. It provides apps within the app, providing another layer of possibility for third party developers. It has me thinking that you could add drawings as information within an environment, which could be a city or maybe just a gallery space. Images can be layered on top of the actual environment - in the way that the Terminator does when he looks around the room (thanks for that,Simon Cox, Click On, BBC R4).