Circuitous
May 17, 2007 9:30 PM Subscribe
Aw I thought functional meant that it actually did something (y'know with circuits, not with... table). Still, really neat looking stuff
posted by pantsrobot at 10:00 PM on May 17, 2007
posted by pantsrobot at 10:00 PM on May 17, 2007
I'm not usually one to express lust and envy over recycled-circuitboard art or functional objects because I've made a fair amount of it myself, and it's easy to do - but that stuff is making me absolutely sick with lust and envy.
A huge part of it is "Where in the hell did he find all those awesome old boards with so many matching pieces!?", while all of the rest of it is "ZOMG such insane craftsmanship!"
Nice stuff. [This is good]
posted by loquacious at 10:30 PM on May 17, 2007
A huge part of it is "Where in the hell did he find all those awesome old boards with so many matching pieces!?", while all of the rest of it is "ZOMG such insane craftsmanship!"
Nice stuff. [This is good]
posted by loquacious at 10:30 PM on May 17, 2007
Interesting. Thanks, nickyskye.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 10:53 PM on May 17, 2007
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 10:53 PM on May 17, 2007
Where in the hell did he find all those awesome old boards with so many matching pieces!?
He almost certainly had them custom printed. PCB etching is cheap (espesically considering what he's charging). If he actually did this from existing parts, he's and idiot.
posted by phrontist at 12:18 AM on May 18, 2007
He almost certainly had them custom printed. PCB etching is cheap (espesically considering what he's charging). If he actually did this from existing parts, he's and idiot.
posted by phrontist at 12:18 AM on May 18, 2007
Wow, so intricate, very lovely! I'm finding some of these pieces a bit reminiscent of Arabic furniture.
And though only related inasmuch as it's also a piece of furniture, this fun little piece is worth a look.
And speaking of circuit boards, here's a worm making music on one.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 12:27 AM on May 18, 2007
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And though only related inasmuch as it's also a piece of furniture, this fun little piece is worth a look.
And speaking of circuit boards, here's a worm making music on one.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 12:27 AM on May 18, 2007
No need to slink away, phrontist. I think the coining of a new word (espesically) is something to be proud of!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 12:29 AM on May 18, 2007
posted by flapjax at midnite at 12:29 AM on May 18, 2007
That's so fucking cool! I hadn't seen this post before I just put another OCD artist link up, but I guess it's artist day on metafilter.
posted by serazin at 1:03 AM on May 18, 2007
posted by serazin at 1:03 AM on May 18, 2007
Seconded tellurian. It's a very cool post nickyskye. Thank you.
posted by adamvasco at 2:08 AM on May 18, 2007
posted by adamvasco at 2:08 AM on May 18, 2007
WOW. Not at all what I was expecting.
Wish they all had the "click here for detail" closeups. Many times per piece.
posted by dreamsign at 6:07 AM on May 18, 2007
Wish they all had the "click here for detail" closeups. Many times per piece.
posted by dreamsign at 6:07 AM on May 18, 2007
I can't afford to be even HALF the nerd I really am.
posted by hermitosis at 6:10 AM on May 18, 2007
posted by hermitosis at 6:10 AM on May 18, 2007
These reminded me of the puzzle cube in hellraiser, which makes me realize that they probably made that with PCB etching as well.
These are incredibly cool.
posted by Pastabagel at 6:50 AM on May 18, 2007
These are incredibly cool.
posted by Pastabagel at 6:50 AM on May 18, 2007
very neat, and I wish I could either buy something he's done (yeah, like I could afford it) or learn how to build something even a tenth as cool. Great find.
posted by rmm at 10:00 AM on May 18, 2007
posted by rmm at 10:00 AM on May 18, 2007
phrontist: From the artist bio it appears that he's actually recycling old boards.
Black epoxy boards (and the wide-trace, hand-drawn sinewy shapes he's using) all tend to be from ancient, ancient computer hardware. You'd probably have a hard time finding a manufacturer of black epoxy PCBs these days. Green, blue, red and amber, sure - but black hasn't been used (regularly) in decades - not to mention the skills and time required to manually strip and layout the boards the old-school way - with flexible litho tape masks and pen and ink on paper or film.
None of the new-school PCB design tools get you that hand-designed look, and for a reason. The new-school computerized design tools insist on straight lines, thinner traces and "beveled" angles to direction changes in the traces. (to reduce EMI noise and transmissivity - beveled traces with no sharp corners and right angles transmit less interference and radio noise, and are also more efficient with less energy lost to heat, etc.)
Granted, he could be etching his own boards. As you said, it's easy - if toxic and laborious.
But it doesn't jive with his artist statement of "Evoking the ancient with materials collected from the fossil bed of technology."
The dude has a regular source or a couple of sources with some old, old geeks somewhere. It wouldn't take much for a careful craftsman - not any different than working with precious matched wood veneers or metals. Measuretwice thrice and cut once and all that.
Pastabagel: The puzzlecube in Hellraiser was a variety of materials, depending on the scene and action it was performing. The main "static" model was painted, cast epoxy, and really rather crude to see in person. This tends to be the case for most Hollywood props. They only have to look good on film, and they have to be very, very cheap and easy to reproduce - in case they're damaged.
This is most often the case with Hollywood props. They usually look like crap in person. Two examples: Deckard's "hero gun" from Bladerunner and Skywalker's Lightsaber from Star Wars. In particular Deckard's gun looks very shabby in what few closeup production stills that are still available. The hobbyist recreations of the same prop gun are 100x more detailed, durable and interesting to see in person. The same goes for Skywalker's Lightsaber. The original movie prop is an odd assemblage of found objects - the infamous dirty old beat up Graflex flashstrobe unit, the rubbery bits that look like windshield wipers.
Die hard prop collectors (which I am not) know these things. If it's too shiny and too perfect, it's probably not the real thing. There is, of course, an entire industry dedicated to trying to fake the fakes - recreation props "cast from the original molds", or 2nd generation recreations, or worse, outright frauds passed off as the original props.
posted by loquacious at 10:05 AM on May 18, 2007
Black epoxy boards (and the wide-trace, hand-drawn sinewy shapes he's using) all tend to be from ancient, ancient computer hardware. You'd probably have a hard time finding a manufacturer of black epoxy PCBs these days. Green, blue, red and amber, sure - but black hasn't been used (regularly) in decades - not to mention the skills and time required to manually strip and layout the boards the old-school way - with flexible litho tape masks and pen and ink on paper or film.
None of the new-school PCB design tools get you that hand-designed look, and for a reason. The new-school computerized design tools insist on straight lines, thinner traces and "beveled" angles to direction changes in the traces. (to reduce EMI noise and transmissivity - beveled traces with no sharp corners and right angles transmit less interference and radio noise, and are also more efficient with less energy lost to heat, etc.)
Granted, he could be etching his own boards. As you said, it's easy - if toxic and laborious.
But it doesn't jive with his artist statement of "Evoking the ancient with materials collected from the fossil bed of technology."
The dude has a regular source or a couple of sources with some old, old geeks somewhere. It wouldn't take much for a careful craftsman - not any different than working with precious matched wood veneers or metals. Measure
Pastabagel: The puzzlecube in Hellraiser was a variety of materials, depending on the scene and action it was performing. The main "static" model was painted, cast epoxy, and really rather crude to see in person. This tends to be the case for most Hollywood props. They only have to look good on film, and they have to be very, very cheap and easy to reproduce - in case they're damaged.
This is most often the case with Hollywood props. They usually look like crap in person. Two examples: Deckard's "hero gun" from Bladerunner and Skywalker's Lightsaber from Star Wars. In particular Deckard's gun looks very shabby in what few closeup production stills that are still available. The hobbyist recreations of the same prop gun are 100x more detailed, durable and interesting to see in person. The same goes for Skywalker's Lightsaber. The original movie prop is an odd assemblage of found objects - the infamous dirty old beat up Graflex flashstrobe unit, the rubbery bits that look like windshield wipers.
Die hard prop collectors (which I am not) know these things. If it's too shiny and too perfect, it's probably not the real thing. There is, of course, an entire industry dedicated to trying to fake the fakes - recreation props "cast from the original molds", or 2nd generation recreations, or worse, outright frauds passed off as the original props.
posted by loquacious at 10:05 AM on May 18, 2007
This is good.
posted by Many bubbles at 8:54 PM on May 18, 2007
posted by Many bubbles at 8:54 PM on May 18, 2007
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posted by dbiedny at 9:57 PM on May 17, 2007