This story has been forwarded to you from
http://www.alternet.org by artistjsudler@hotmail.com
To my friends both in and from Texas, I am so sorry you have to endure this guy.
-------------------------------------
Why Is Texas So Psycho?
http://www.alternet.org/story/138306
The Governor of Texas is one bad haircut away from Blagojevichian levels of gubernatorial gooberness.
-------------------------------------
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Saturday, May 9, 2009
What did you do today?
Hi there to all my family and friends,
"What did you do today?" one of my school mates asked me during the Senior Shows at School today. Well, since I'm not a senior yet (although I may feel like a senior citizen), I got to watch everyone else go crazy with the stress of installing their thesis shows. And then I got a wonderful invitation yesterday, and today during the show, I played a very special old piano. This piano has been reworked so that every key triggers a corresponding light or lights inside of a beautiful blown glass form. These forms were suspended in a wave form around the stage and up light in purple, blue and red. For nearly an hour, I played in my improv style and watched my music literally dance in the air around me.
Right now, I can only send this one photo, but I am hoping to have a video of this performance later this coming week. As soon as I have it I will post it. The sound will be ambient and as I said it was a very old piano so, it seemed quite interested in creating its own unique sounds in spite of my best efforts.
I would like to encourage everyone to see the remarkable work of this talented, new artist who shared his wonderful creation with me today. Please visit www.tomryderart.com
I hope you have a wonderful weekend and create something beautiful!
Jonathan
Friday, May 8, 2009
AlterNet: Florida's GOP Governor to Be Outed in Explosive Documentary Released Today
This story has been forwarded to you from
http://www.alternet.org by artistjsudler@hotmail.com
Its about time.
-------------------------------------
Florida's GOP Governor to Be Outed in Explosive Documentary Released Today
http://www.alternet.org/sex/139908
"Outrage" film goes after closeted hypocritical Republicans who push anti-gay legislation.
-------------------------------------
http://www.alternet.org by artistjsudler@hotmail.com
Its about time.
-------------------------------------
Florida's GOP Governor to Be Outed in Explosive Documentary Released Today
http://www.alternet.org/sex/139908
"Outrage" film goes after closeted hypocritical Republicans who push anti-gay legislation.
-------------------------------------
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Jr. Glass and Metal Casting
Here is a collection of my sculptural work from the spring semester at Alfred University. The class was Jr. Glass and Metal casting. My professors let me take the class with the understanding that I could include stone as part of my work. Initially I only used glass and metal and it was very challenging. Once I started looking for the rocks first, then the sculptures started coming together much easier. The sparkling material in "Inner Shimmer" and "Sapphire Spire" is mica which proved to be impervious to the heat of molten glass. I hope to be able to create more pieces with remarkable mineral.
Jonathan
Jonathan
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
artistjsudler@hotmail.com has shared: ${socialTitleEscape}
| Telepathic Tweets!!! | |
| ${socialTitleEscape} http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/04/braintweet.html | |
Invitation to Join ShareThis
I thought you might like to try ShareThis, a simple way to share things you find online. I have been using ShareThis to send things to all my friends and family, across social networks, email, SMS and AIM. I thought you might like to try it, too. Check it out! http://sharethis.com/users/register/
Invitation to Join ShareThis
I thought you might like to try ShareThis, a simple way to share things you find online. I have been using ShareThis to send things to all my friends and family, across social networks, email, SMS and AIM. I thought you might like to try it, too. Check it out! http://sharethis.com/users/register/
BBC E-mail: 'Quiet Sun' baffling astronomers
Jonathan Sudler saw this story on the BBC News website and thought you
should see it.
** 'Quiet Sun' baffling astronomers **
Astronomers hope new images of the Sun will offer an insight into why there is so little activity on our closest star.
** BBC Daily E-mail **
Choose the news and sport headlines you want - when you want them, all
in one daily e-mail
** Disclaimer **
The BBC is not responsible for the content of this e-mail, and anything written in this e-mail does not necessarily reflect the BBC's views or opinions. Please note that neither the e-mail address nor name of the sender have been verified.
If you do not wish to receive such e-mails in the future or want to know more about the BBC's Email a Friend service, please read our frequently asked questions. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/help/4162471.stm
Fw: Stop yelling
Jonathan Sudler
Artist, Sculptor & Musician
on the VZW Blackberry Storm
-----Original Message-----
From: chrscromarty@aol.com
Date: Wed, 22 Apr 2009 13:13:26 To:
Subject: Stop yelling
?
?
?
STOP YELLING ACROSS THE HOUSE!!!
Everyone needs a good laugh at least once a day, so send this to someone?else!
?
?
?
--
Mac Mcdermitt
Monday, April 20, 2009
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Science of Dolphin Power
Just came across this fascinating article from RPI.edu
“Gray’s Paradox” Solved: Researchers Discover Secret of Speedy Dolphins
A single frame from a research video tracking the flow of water around Primo, a retired U.S. Navy bottlenose dolphin.
The same frame, but with visualized information illustrating the water flow. The arrows indicate in which direction the water is moving, and the colors indicate the speed. The red and dark blue arrows signify the fastest-moving water.
See DPIV video.
Credit: Rensselaer/Tim Wei
New technology helps disprove 72-year-old scientific mystery
There was something peculiar about dolphins that stumped prolific British zoologist Sir James Gray in 1936.
He had observed the sea mammals swimming at a swift rate of more than 20 miles per hour, but his studies had concluded that the muscles of dolphins simply weren’t strong enough to support those kinds of speeds. The conundrum came to be known as “Gray’s Paradox.”
For decades the puzzle prompted much attention, speculation, and conjecture in the scientific community. But now, armed with cutting-edge flow measurement technology, researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have tackled the problem and conclusively solved Gray’s Paradox.
“Sir Gray was certainly on to something, and it took nearly 75 years for technology to bring us to the point where we could get at the heart of his paradox,” said Timothy Wei, professor and acting dean of Rensselaer’s School of Engineering, who led the project. “But now, for the first time, I think we can safely say the puzzle is solved. The short answer is that dolphins are simply much stronger than Gray or many other people ever imagined.”
Wei is presenting his findings today at the 61st Annual Meeting of the American Physical Society (APS) Division of Fluid Dynamics in San Antonio, Texas. Collaborators on the research include Frank Fish, a biologist at West Chester University in Pennsylvania; Terrie Williams, a marine biologist at the University of California, Santa Cruz; Rensselaer undergraduate student Yae Eun Moon; and Rensselaer graduate students Erica Sherman and Paul Legac.
After studying dolphins, Gray said in 1936 that they are not capable of producing enough thrust, or power-induced acceleration, to overcome the drag created as the mammal sped forward through the water. This drag should prevent dolphins from attaining significant speed, but simple observation proved otherwise — a paradox. In the absence of a sound explanation, Gray theorized that dolphin skin must have special drag-reducing properties.
More than 70 years later, Wei has developed a tool that conclusively measures the force a dolphin generates with its tail.
Wei created this new state-of-the-art water flow diagnostic technology by modifying and combining force measurement tools developed for aerospace research with a video-based flow measurement technique known as Digital Particle Image Velocimetry, which can capture up to 1,000 video frames per second.
Wei videotaped two bottlenose dolphins, Primo and Puka, as they swam through a section of water populated with hundreds of thousands of tiny air bubbles. He then used sophisticated computer software to track the movement of the bubbles. The color-coded results show the speed and in what direction the water is flowing around and behind the dolphin, which allowed researchers to calculate precisely how mush force the dolphin was producing.
See a DPIV video of Primo.
Wei also used this technique to film dolphins as they were doing tail-stands, a trick where the dolphins “walk” on water by holding most of their bodies vertical above the water while supporting themselves with short, powerful thrusts of their tails.
The results show that dolphins produce on average about 200 pounds of force when flapping their tail — about 10 times more force than Gray originally hypothesized.
“It turns out that the answer to Gray’s Paradox had nothing to do with the dolphins’ skin,” Wei said. “Dolphins can certainly produce enough force to overcome drag. The scientific community has known this for a while, but this is the first time anyone has been able to actually quantitatively measure the force and say, for certain, the paradox is solved.”
At peak performance, the dolphins produced between 300 and 400 pounds of force. Human Olympic swimmers, by comparison, peak at about 60 to 70 pounds of force, Wei said. He knows this for a fact because he has been working with U.S.A. Swimming over the past few years to use these same bubble-tracking DPIV and force-measuring techniques to better understand how elite swimmers interact with the water, and improve lap times.
“It was actually a natural extension to go from swimmers to dolphins,” said Wei, whose research ranges from aeronautical and hydrodynamic flow of vehicles to more biological topics dealing with the flow of cells and fluid in the human body.
The dolphins Wei filmed, Primo and Puka, are retired U.S. Navy dolphins who now live at the Long Marine Laboratory at UC Santa Cruz.
Wei said the research team will likely continue to investigate the flow dynamics and force generation of other marine animals, which could yield new insight into how different species have evolved as a result of their swimming proficiency.
“Maybe sea otters,” he said.
For more information on Wei’s work with Olympic swimmers, visit: http://news.rpi.edu/update.do?artcenterkey=2477
“Gray’s Paradox” Solved: Researchers Discover Secret of Speedy Dolphins
A single frame from a research video tracking the flow of water around Primo, a retired U.S. Navy bottlenose dolphin.
The same frame, but with visualized information illustrating the water flow. The arrows indicate in which direction the water is moving, and the colors indicate the speed. The red and dark blue arrows signify the fastest-moving water.
See DPIV video.
Credit: Rensselaer/Tim Wei
New technology helps disprove 72-year-old scientific mystery
There was something peculiar about dolphins that stumped prolific British zoologist Sir James Gray in 1936.
He had observed the sea mammals swimming at a swift rate of more than 20 miles per hour, but his studies had concluded that the muscles of dolphins simply weren’t strong enough to support those kinds of speeds. The conundrum came to be known as “Gray’s Paradox.”
For decades the puzzle prompted much attention, speculation, and conjecture in the scientific community. But now, armed with cutting-edge flow measurement technology, researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have tackled the problem and conclusively solved Gray’s Paradox.
“Sir Gray was certainly on to something, and it took nearly 75 years for technology to bring us to the point where we could get at the heart of his paradox,” said Timothy Wei, professor and acting dean of Rensselaer’s School of Engineering, who led the project. “But now, for the first time, I think we can safely say the puzzle is solved. The short answer is that dolphins are simply much stronger than Gray or many other people ever imagined.”
Wei is presenting his findings today at the 61st Annual Meeting of the American Physical Society (APS) Division of Fluid Dynamics in San Antonio, Texas. Collaborators on the research include Frank Fish, a biologist at West Chester University in Pennsylvania; Terrie Williams, a marine biologist at the University of California, Santa Cruz; Rensselaer undergraduate student Yae Eun Moon; and Rensselaer graduate students Erica Sherman and Paul Legac.
After studying dolphins, Gray said in 1936 that they are not capable of producing enough thrust, or power-induced acceleration, to overcome the drag created as the mammal sped forward through the water. This drag should prevent dolphins from attaining significant speed, but simple observation proved otherwise — a paradox. In the absence of a sound explanation, Gray theorized that dolphin skin must have special drag-reducing properties.
More than 70 years later, Wei has developed a tool that conclusively measures the force a dolphin generates with its tail.
Wei created this new state-of-the-art water flow diagnostic technology by modifying and combining force measurement tools developed for aerospace research with a video-based flow measurement technique known as Digital Particle Image Velocimetry, which can capture up to 1,000 video frames per second.
Wei videotaped two bottlenose dolphins, Primo and Puka, as they swam through a section of water populated with hundreds of thousands of tiny air bubbles. He then used sophisticated computer software to track the movement of the bubbles. The color-coded results show the speed and in what direction the water is flowing around and behind the dolphin, which allowed researchers to calculate precisely how mush force the dolphin was producing.
See a DPIV video of Primo.
Wei also used this technique to film dolphins as they were doing tail-stands, a trick where the dolphins “walk” on water by holding most of their bodies vertical above the water while supporting themselves with short, powerful thrusts of their tails.
The results show that dolphins produce on average about 200 pounds of force when flapping their tail — about 10 times more force than Gray originally hypothesized.
“It turns out that the answer to Gray’s Paradox had nothing to do with the dolphins’ skin,” Wei said. “Dolphins can certainly produce enough force to overcome drag. The scientific community has known this for a while, but this is the first time anyone has been able to actually quantitatively measure the force and say, for certain, the paradox is solved.”
At peak performance, the dolphins produced between 300 and 400 pounds of force. Human Olympic swimmers, by comparison, peak at about 60 to 70 pounds of force, Wei said. He knows this for a fact because he has been working with U.S.A. Swimming over the past few years to use these same bubble-tracking DPIV and force-measuring techniques to better understand how elite swimmers interact with the water, and improve lap times.
“It was actually a natural extension to go from swimmers to dolphins,” said Wei, whose research ranges from aeronautical and hydrodynamic flow of vehicles to more biological topics dealing with the flow of cells and fluid in the human body.
The dolphins Wei filmed, Primo and Puka, are retired U.S. Navy dolphins who now live at the Long Marine Laboratory at UC Santa Cruz.
Wei said the research team will likely continue to investigate the flow dynamics and force generation of other marine animals, which could yield new insight into how different species have evolved as a result of their swimming proficiency.
“Maybe sea otters,” he said.
For more information on Wei’s work with Olympic swimmers, visit: http://news.rpi.edu/update.do?artcenterkey=2477
Monday, May 19, 2008
Yes, I'm still alive...
I have been woefully neglectful of posting here, what with the end of term, helping out with both a graduate student's final show (cold-working a lot of glass), helping a friend hang his prints for his senior show, dealing with commencements and all the pomp, ceremony and insanity associated with this time of year.
Getting back on track, I found an older web listing of a show called "Things With Wings" at The Walter Museum in Maryland. Here is a description of the show from October 12, 2005 - November 26, 2006
This small exhibition explores the various winged gods and hybrid creatures in ancient Greek art. The Greeks conceived of messenger gods like Hermes and Iris as winged, so they could go anywhere and swiftly deliver their messages to gods and mortals alike. In the medieval world, angels became the winged intermediaries between God and humans. Personifications of abstract concepts, such as Love (Eros), Victory (Nike), Sleep (Hypnos), and Death (Thanatos), could also appear as winged humans. The wings of monsters like griffins, sirens, and sphinxes enhanced their terrifying appearance but also protected the beings they guarded. The installation presents 31 objects, which include Greek bronze and marble statuettes, vases, and gems.
I have already corresponded with the museum regarding these pieces and Dr. Sabine Albersmeier, Associate Curator of Ancient Art will hopefully be able to assist me with some of my research! This show is being reprised at the Ward Museum of Waterfowl Art in Salisbury, Maryland next year, from May 15 – July 19, 2009. Hopefully, I will be able to get there to see it.
If anyone out there has any information(history/origins/folktales/etc.) to share about "hybrid creatures" please email me!
Getting back on track, I found an older web listing of a show called "Things With Wings" at The Walter Museum in Maryland. Here is a description of the show from October 12, 2005 - November 26, 2006
This small exhibition explores the various winged gods and hybrid creatures in ancient Greek art. The Greeks conceived of messenger gods like Hermes and Iris as winged, so they could go anywhere and swiftly deliver their messages to gods and mortals alike. In the medieval world, angels became the winged intermediaries between God and humans. Personifications of abstract concepts, such as Love (Eros), Victory (Nike), Sleep (Hypnos), and Death (Thanatos), could also appear as winged humans. The wings of monsters like griffins, sirens, and sphinxes enhanced their terrifying appearance but also protected the beings they guarded. The installation presents 31 objects, which include Greek bronze and marble statuettes, vases, and gems.
I have already corresponded with the museum regarding these pieces and Dr. Sabine Albersmeier, Associate Curator of Ancient Art will hopefully be able to assist me with some of my research! This show is being reprised at the Ward Museum of Waterfowl Art in Salisbury, Maryland next year, from May 15 – July 19, 2009. Hopefully, I will be able to get there to see it.
If anyone out there has any information(history/origins/folktales/etc.) to share about "hybrid creatures" please email me!
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Syncronized Movement
My mom sent me this video because she likes horses and showmenship. I like this video because it shows how an interspecies relationship can develop. It shows how a man viewed from a distance could be thought to be part of a heard of unique animals, perhaps he and the horse are actually one being, because what other explanation could there be for a man moving so easily in sync with all of these animals? Makes one ponder the idea of the origin of some of our longest standing myths.
Monday, May 5, 2008
"Redefining Movement" 5/4/08
Well folks, here are the photos as promised. An undulating sculpture ala Calder. The installation went well and although not sparkly, loud, messy or otherwise obtrusive, I believe it achieved the goal of demonstrating an undulating movement during our final show (Redefining Movement- A Sculptural Experience, May 4 2008).
We'll see how it does academically. Just as a review here is the Final Assignment instructions (click to read the instructions) . Please scroll down through the blog and compare the video "Learning to Dolphin Kick" with the images that I have here. As an object of assistance, the approach I ultimately took is to teach the first step of visualization. That is to say, to visualize a wave-like movement, which the body can replicate. I would really like to get some input back on what people think about this project. For the time being this is my conceptual, Zen statement on learning the movement of the dolphin kick.
All About Movement
Want to mess with peoples' heads? Stop moving. Put a hold on everyday movement in a crowd and watch what happens. This video does just that. Hope you enjoy.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Final Sculpture Project
I will post some pictures of the final project a bit later. At least it is finished and installed, after three failed attemps/design revisions.
The final project is about designing something to enhance or inhibit a movement which we described in an earlier project. My movement was learning how to dolphin kick. I wrote a brief decription with instructions on how to accomplish this swim stroke. The first step to learning this movement, however, begins by envisioning an undulating ripple or wave. Then you have to apply the idea of that motion to moving your body in a similar fashion underwater.
In an effort to help the viewer understand this rippling motion I have created a mobile which undulates from side to side. By standing below it and watching the movement of its nine rectangular, vertically hung panels, the viewer gets a sense of how the body must move horizontally through the water. The spaces between each panel represent each of the major joints involved in accomplishing this movement (wrist, elbow, shoulder, lower back, hips, knees and ankles).
Originally the sculpture was going to involve many components ala Ned Kahn's designs. Due to a challenge with the US Postal system, I didn't receive the holographic sequins in time to complete the sculpture as originally intended, so I tried it with just its hardware cloth form but it wouldn't move becuase there wasn't enough surface area to catch an aircurrents. Then, there were issues with hanging/balance. So I got a shimmering antique silver(more of a taupe) ripstop nylon cloth and made covers for each of the panels and switched all the mechanics to black.
The completed sculpture is hanging in the foyer to Harder Hall just above the main doors. It is by far and away one of the most simple and yet elegant things I have made in a while. No flash, no sparkle, just a gentle, undulating mobile; an undulating reminder to help the curious move more naturally through the water, just like a dolphin.
The final project is about designing something to enhance or inhibit a movement which we described in an earlier project. My movement was learning how to dolphin kick. I wrote a brief decription with instructions on how to accomplish this swim stroke. The first step to learning this movement, however, begins by envisioning an undulating ripple or wave. Then you have to apply the idea of that motion to moving your body in a similar fashion underwater.
In an effort to help the viewer understand this rippling motion I have created a mobile which undulates from side to side. By standing below it and watching the movement of its nine rectangular, vertically hung panels, the viewer gets a sense of how the body must move horizontally through the water. The spaces between each panel represent each of the major joints involved in accomplishing this movement (wrist, elbow, shoulder, lower back, hips, knees and ankles).
Originally the sculpture was going to involve many components ala Ned Kahn's designs. Due to a challenge with the US Postal system, I didn't receive the holographic sequins in time to complete the sculpture as originally intended, so I tried it with just its hardware cloth form but it wouldn't move becuase there wasn't enough surface area to catch an aircurrents. Then, there were issues with hanging/balance. So I got a shimmering antique silver(more of a taupe) ripstop nylon cloth and made covers for each of the panels and switched all the mechanics to black.
The completed sculpture is hanging in the foyer to Harder Hall just above the main doors. It is by far and away one of the most simple and yet elegant things I have made in a while. No flash, no sparkle, just a gentle, undulating mobile; an undulating reminder to help the curious move more naturally through the water, just like a dolphin.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Solutions in Progress
I went back and studied the videos of Ned's work and realized that basically he had a net(work) that supports all of the individual metal or plastic plates. Since I am working much smaller, I realized (I believe), I can acheive the same effect by using hardware cloth with 10mm sequins suspended inside each of the squares. I will cut the cloth to the shape of my dolphin kicking figure, and because this is hardware cloth, the overall structure will be much lighter than if I had tried to make it out of wood and used the Reflecto-Lite system (or similar style with finish nails and sequins).
Now the next step is getting all of the pieces together without a car...Hopefully someone will respond to my calls. If not I will be empty-handed in class.
Final Sculpture Challenges
Although I have not heard back from Ned Kuhn Studios, I have been searching the internet for an alternative to his metal plates to create my final sulptural piece. I have only found one company which makes the shimmering effect used on large billboards and signs. Reflecto-lite is located in Canada and they haven't been answering their phones since last week. They seem to be the only source for the shimmering discs. Their system, however costs $20.40 per square foot; that's before shipping. Ok back to the drawing board.
The other challenge I am facing, besides time, is weight. If the mobile piece I am trying to create is life size (this would be ideal) there is a logistical nightmare in trying to rig (suspend) the work if I am dealing in wood and metal. There has to be another way to create this piece.
The other challenge I am facing, besides time, is weight. If the mobile piece I am trying to create is life size (this would be ideal) there is a logistical nightmare in trying to rig (suspend) the work if I am dealing in wood and metal. There has to be another way to create this piece.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
After coming across this image and the last video, I believe I can combine these two ideas into a single work which should demonstrate the idea of an undulating body form. Getting the idea of the movement firmly established in the mind is the first step to successfully completing this challenginging style of swimming.
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