A glance at SX Create 2015 (Credit: Merrick Ales)
On March 11-13, Palmer Events Center hosts SX Create, one of the most fascinating SXSW Interactive events open to all badge holders and the general public. SX Create combines innovative machinery, art installations and musical instruments to introduce visitors to the future of diverse technologies.
Making Tech Accessible
Tomchesson’s finely crafted artwork: ATX Heritage Tree Ordinance (Credit: Liana Tomchesson)
Guests can get up close (and often hands-on) with gadgets like drones, droids and even conductive ink pens made to draw circuits on paper.
Austin’s Electroninks will give visitors an opportunity to try out their Circuit Scribe: “We’ll be showcasing electronic papercrafts for the classroom, including a paper city and beautiful electronic greeting cards. We’ll also demonstrate how to use a pen plotter to prototype circuits in a lab or makerspace.”
The Circuit Scribe from Electroninks Writeables (Credit: Electroninks Writeables)
Alongside many exhibition booths, onstage presentations and panel discussions will be running all day at SX Create. Topics range from “E-Textiles: Fashion Meets Tech at SciTech Kids” to “A Robot Companion: Human’s Best Friend?” to “How to Create Makerspaces in Your Community.”
Two of the Austin area’s own spaces that promote ingenuity in our community are ATX Hackerspace and TechShop. Both participants will be present at SX Create to promote their ways of making technology, like through 3-D printers, fabrication equipment and other professional gear available to Austinites.
Mindful Art at SX Create
Kamin’s MindFull headphones (Credit: Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art)
Artists Calder Kamin, Liana Tomchesson, and Dharmesh Patel and Autumn Ewalt of Animalis will exhibit their artwork and interact with guests during the event.
Tomchesson is a “technology-driven 3D artist and metalsmith passionately focused on creating a shared space where provocative cultural subjects and finely crafted jewelry and objects referencing adornment coexist.” She plans on displaying a mini-gallery of her artwork, including large sculptural sunglasses, which create a mirage effect from afar.
Kamin eagerly anticipates presenting her custom nature-inspired headphones as part of her project called MindFull. These headphones will play recordings of interviews from ecology experts concerning the relationship between humans and nature, and “listeners are asked to become more thoughtful and observant about the animals around them.” She will also explain her “plastic twisting and crocheting technique” that she uses to create artwork from recycled materials.
Animalis plans to intrigue audiences with their large interactive art piece. The color changing angular orbs evoke a science fiction feel that’s sure to be mesmerizing.
Music Machinery
Ponytrap Music: “industrial music for modern primitives” (Credit: Katie Cowden)
Thingamagoop 3000 from Bleep Labs
(Credit: John-Mike Reed)
It wouldn’t feel like SXSW without some musical components. Austin’s Bleep Labs will have an interactive booth with contraptions like the Thingamagoop 3000, “a light-controlled synthesizer, effect and noise friend,” and the 3TrinsRGB, a video and audio synthesizer.
Austinites Hilary and Quentin Thomas-Oliver form Ponytrap, an inventive band that combines violin and cello with drumming robots. At SX Create, they plan on displaying their 10-foot tall robot drummer, while talking to visitors about why and how they create their own brand of classical/industrial music. They’re set to perform onstage Sunday, March 13, at 12:30 p.m.
How to Attend SX Create
SX Create takes place at Palmer Events Center at 900 Barton Springs Road from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on March 11, 12 and 13.
- The event is free, but if you do not have a badge (of any kind), please register for a Guest Pass.
- Check out the schedule for all of the session times for this year’s event, and the list of exhibitors.
- Plan your schedule easily with the SX Go app.
@MadameKLM wants to know:
Who or what do you look forward to seeing at SX Create?
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