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Diary of a Crossword Fiend, Mar 29, 2019, by Judge Vic
Rob and Jen are new to the biz, having debuted with a Puzzle Society crossword back in December. With this puzzle, they soar to new heights with a heads/tails Schrödinger of all things.
39a [Result of a coin toss] HEADS / TAILS–Hitting this one early, I confidently inserted TAILS and moved on. That totally screwed up my time, as, getting no Mr. Happy Pencil, I raced around the grid, second-guessing other answers.
Of course, we need to acknowledge the crossers here:
28d Inhibit CR A/I MP
29d Antagonize RI D/L E
36d Large quantity M E/A SS
39d Giggle syllables H/T EES
Outstanding! The real beauty of this theme, though, is in the creative entries employed to flesh it out:
17a [1903 Kitty Hawk honor given to one brother over another by coin toss] FIRST FLIGHT
59a [Triple Crown winner whose ownership was decided by a coin toss in 1969] SECRETARIAT
23d [Pacific Northwest city christened by coin toss in 1845] PORTLAND
25d [An Alaskan incumbent lost one by coin toss in 2006] ELECTION
Good fill! Nice clues!
To boot, we find elsewhere BARE BONES; ZOOT and SUIT, clued with cross-references; and DESTROYER … and that’s more than enough, with this nice gimmick! full story...
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Fiber Art Now, Apr 01, 2017, by Trudi Van Dyke
Anna Kristina Goransson has recently found a new direction in her successful collaboration with tech artist Rob Gonsalves for an interactive work. Swarming, which has shown in three venues, is an arrangement of 13 red and orange wall-mounted, felted forms. These pods are home to flocks of red and orange animated “boids.” Visitors are invited to step in and interact virtually with the boids as they dart about exhibiting flocking and feeding behaviors. A computer rigged with a Microsoft Kinect interface monitors the motion of human visitors and controls the video projection and the immersive soundscape. (Visit www.robgon.com and select “swarming” to view a shortvideo.) Gonsalves and Goransson currently have their heads together and are both excited about their next venture. full story...
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USA Today, Mar 22, 2017, by Linda Marston-Reid, for the Poughkeepsie Journal
Here's a review of Reach, Color, Repeat in USA Today. Read the full story...
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Boston Globe, Jun 09, 2015, by Cate McQuaid
Here's a review of Swarming in the Boston Globe. Read the full story...
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Surface Design, May 15, 2015, by Deborah Corsini
The artistic team of Rob Gonsalves and Anna Kristina Goransson created the playful interactive piece Swarming. Thirteen red and orange wall-mounted, hand-felted "pods" are home to flocks of animated boids-or lights.The animation comes to life as visitors approach the sculptures. The light boids dart around the sculpture, exhibiting behaviors reminiscent of flocking and feeding. A computer rigged with a Microsoft Kinect interface (programmed by Gonsalves) monitors the motion of human visitors, which then controls the video projection and immersive soundscape. full story...
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Spartan Daily, Sep 24, 2014, by Samson So
On the corner of South First Street, San Jose’s Museum of Quilts and Textiles, a safe haven for art lovers, sits in serene solitude apart from the usual Downtown San Jose traffic.
Scattered neatly across the walls are several quilt pieces and textile art, each with its own unique design story.
One such art piece is “Swarming,” by Rob Gonsalves and Anna Goransson, which provides an interactive experience with visitors.
The design consists of “pods” that light up the walls like red and orange lanterns, while the projected “boids” are constantly fluttering around as if they were tiny, koi fish darting away.
The boids are controlled by a Microsoft Kinect system that monitors human movement and reacts to viewers who are up close. full story...
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BostInno, Sep 20, 2013, by Marian White
This was me last night as I entered the "From Paper to Pixels" art show in Jamaica Plain, an art initiative created by Infrared5 CEO and Creative Director, Rebecca Allen.
But what I ultimately found was a playful, fun and fully engaging interactive show. The exhibit pairs ‘traditional’ artists with new media artists to create an interactive piece inspired by the traditional piece. Many of the artists were present, explaining their work to the perplexed onlookers, including myself.
The creatures in the exhibit above are “Lightdrop Encounters,” interactive artwork that features brightly colored felt sculptures of an organic and playful shape by artist, Anna Kristina Goransson. And they are (as you can see) brought to life in an immersive audio-visual environment by Rob Gonsalves. The seven lightdrops interact with visitors exhibiting four behaviors: sleeping, chattering, observing and dancing.
So how do these creatures move? According to the artist, a Microsoft Kinect interface detects human movement, which in turn controls the Lightdrop creatures. In addition, there is a soundscape and video projection of “virtual Lightdrops” behind the 3D creatures. I would think of it as something like when Wii meets art—to sum it up in simple terms. full story...
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Intel Software Blog, Sep 03, 2013, by Wendy Boswell
What happens when you take the technology behind perceptual computing and pair it with cutting-edge, exploratory art works? That’s the question Infrared5 CEO and Creative Director Rebecca Allen decided to explore with a new art exhibit coming out September 20, 2013 titled "From Paper to Pixels"; "an initiative to create collaboration between traditional artists and new media artists."
Two artists, Kristina Goransson and Rob Gonsalves, graciously took the time to answer a few questions about their work in the show:
What was the planning process – how did you come up with this sort of interaction?
Rob Gonsalves: I saw the call for work for "From Paper to Pixels" on the Collision mailing list with the intriguing premise of pairing new media artists with traditional artists. My first thought was to pair up with Kristina, as I am good friends with her and know her work.
Kristina kicked off the collaboration by sending photos of her recent felt sculptures. I was drawn to her Lightdrops, and we discussed the possible options of incorporating elements of new media: video projection, interactivity, sound, kinetics. They all sounded good, so we decided to do all four!
full story...
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NVIDIA Blog, Jul 02, 2013, by Harel Kopelman
Ever wanted to see what your portrait would look like if painted by Vincent Van Gogh?
The Boston Cyberarts Gallery display using CUDA was created by Robert Gonsalves, who describes his Dial-A-Style piece as an algorithmic portrait studio. Dial is an interactive video installation that allows visitors to create a digital self-portrait in a variety of artistic styles, from Vincent van Gogh-inspired Impressionism to comic book fueled Anime.
The visitor starts by spinning the Dial-A-Style wheel. The wheel might stop at four artistic styles – Impressionism, Cubism, Pointillism or an Anime theme. The wheel can also stop in between styles, resulting in a hybrid portrait.
Once the wheel stops, optical detectors send a signal to the computer, which triggers a webcam to take a picture of the visitor. The computer then runs the selected algorithm to create a stylized painting, which is displayed on a screen. If the viewer likes the portrait, he or she can upload it from the artistic display and then download it for themselves from www.robgon.com. full story...
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Metro Boston, Jun 27, 2013, by Barry Thompson
A singularity even in culturally rich Jamaica Plain, Boston CyberArts Inc. continues the 15-year tradition formerly managed by the Axiom Group (and the Green Street Gallery staff before them) of hosting cutting-edge art in a room often stumbled upon by confused commuters. Until July 28, techies and art connoisseurs can check out “Collision: 19,” an interactive collection from what CyberArts director George Fifield describes as “artists who are engineers, or engineers who make art.”
To cite a pair of favorites on display, “Dial-A-Style: An Algorithmic Portrait Studio” by Rob Gonsalves allows passersby to instantly download an impressionist, pointillist, cubist or manga-style portrait of themselves. Say hello to your new Facebook or Twitter default? You betcha. full story...
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The Arts Fuse, Mar 20, 2013, by Margaret Weigel
The current Boston Cyberarts show The Game’s Afoot: Video Game Art ... features six games: Debtris, Into the Void and Sisyphus by local developer Anthony Montuori; O.f.f.i.c.e.A.n.t.s. and Campaign Horse by COLLISIONcollective favorite Rob Gonsalves; and Airlock Park by Brooklynite Victor Liu.
Rob Gonsalves’ game O.f.f.i.c.e.A.n.t.s. continues [the show's] theme of work-inspired angst; when the user “shakes” the Office Worker Kibble into the maze (caution: don’t actually open the canister!), small human figures rush over to “eat” it. I get it: corporate cube life sucks, and success/release is impossible. Gameplay was minimal. Conversely, I couldn’t lose Campaign Horse for trying. Campaign Horse is a digital version of the classic playground game, where the user flings a rigged basketball towards a screen-based net to earn a letter. Two teams—the red and the blue—represented the political parties, and the winning team got to trash the defeated in a media frenzy.
full story...
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Boston Globe, Mar 19, 2013, by Cate McQuaid
Here's a review of The Games Afoot in The Boston Globe. Read the
full story...
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Boston Art Underground, Mar 16, 2013, by Sam Nickerson
Video games usually create breaks from daily life, but Boston Cyberarts Gallery’s The Game’s Afoot: Video Game Art provides no such respite. Together, the six games curated by George Fifield make a solemn arcade.
More intriguing on a technical level, Rob Gonsalves’ games ditch joysticks and buttons for more participatory interaction, whether it’s feeding an office full of software developers with a canister of virtual food in O.f.f.i.c.e.A.n.t.s. or tossing a basketball hooked up to x-axis accelerometers in Campaign Horse—a game of virtual Horse where missed shots spell out actual insults exchanged
during the 2012 election. Between the more realistic mechanics of participation and the subject matter, neither feels much like a game. full story...
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Boston Globe, Mar 15, 2013, by June Wulff
Here's a review of O.f.f.i.c.e.A.n.t.s. in the Boston Globe. Read the full story...
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The Arts Fuse, Nov 17, 2012, by Margaret Weigel
Collision18:present curated by COLLISIONcollective members William Tremblay, John Slepian, and Bob Kephart offers something for everyone, a potpourri of mediums, techniques, narratives, and technologies
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Rob Gonsalves’ “JitterBot - A Dialog in Dance” may harken some back to the balloon figure constructions of early 80’s digital renderings. The program translates the user’s kinetic gestures onto a green balloon figure; a companion red figure “follow[s] the visitor’s lead and sometimes JitterBot busts a move on its own.” The user can also select from a menu of music styles. Thankfully, this display was walled off from the rest of the gallery, allowing this reviewer to engage in an array of graceless twirls, karate kicks and booty-shaking dance moves. In short, it was great fun and a tribute to technological mastery. full story...
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Southern Maryland News, Dec 23, 2009, by Pat Ullberg
"Glow," is the title of the splendid winter exhibition in the Arts building [of Annmarie Garden]. Thirty-three artists from all over the nation portray some aspect of light in many different mediums, both two- and three-dimensional. Among these outstanding works are a few sculptures and electronic pieces that leap out and grab the visitors' attention.
...[one] installation allows the visitor to make an electronic painting. A large light table on the floor is connected to a computer monitor. By moving special tools — small cube[s] and a spool-shaped piece — across the light table surface, the viewer changes the colors and shapes and shapes on-screen, in endless different abstract compositions. The viewer can even "own" his work by sending an e-mail to a home computer for screen wallpaper. This entertaining work is titled, "LumaTouch Expressionist," by Rob Gonsalves of Massachusetts. This viewer made a nice Jackson Pollack abstract to send to her home screen. full story...
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Wellesley Townsman, Oct 22, 2009, by Elana Zak
For almost a decade, Halloween on Hillside Road has been marked by jack-o’-lanterns, changing leaves and a large sculpture glowing brightly against the dark sky.
Since 2001, Rob Gonsalves and his wife, Jennifer Lim, have set up light exhibits in their front yard to celebrate Halloween. Using rope lights, the two make a different image each October. One year it was a witch with red eyes that seemed to follow the viewer; another time it was a skull. This Halloween, the light installation isn’t an image, but a phrase. Seen from one angle, it reads “trick.” From another perspective, the word is “treat.” full story...
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Big Red and Shiny, May 06, 2008, by Matthew Nash
In Masked Thoughts, Gonsalves has set up two white cutouts on the tops of poles. One cutout is in the shape of a head, with two holes for eyes, and the other is in the shape of a thought bubble from a cartoon. Looking through the eye-holes, one sees their reflection in a large mirror, with images projected on the two cutouts: faces of politicians, historical or pop culture figures appear, while bits of text fill the thought balloon. Rotating the cutout changes the image or text. Masked Thoughts is a fun and funny play on the identities we adopt when we place an intermediary technology between our selves and others. full story...
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Boston Globe, Aug 16, 2007, by Cate McQuaid
Here's a review of Wave Puppet in the Boston Globe. Read the full story...
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Boston Globe, Apr 26, 2007, by Cate McQuaid
Here's a review of ai8ball in the Boston Globe. Read the full story...
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New York Times, Apr 27, 2005, by Sarah Boxer
Here's a review of Janken in the NYT. Read the full story...
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Boston Phoenix, Mar 25, 2005, by Randi Hopkins
Then in an example of interactive art that is indeed "hands-on," artists William Tremblay and Rob Gonsalves address the expressive range and power of the human hand in their video installation Janken, which takes its name from the Japanese word for the game " Rock Paper Scissors. full story...
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Boston Globe, Dec 30, 1999, by Cate McQuaid
Here's a review of Y2K Pops in the Boston Globe. Read the full story...
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