2021 July 13-August 12, Tuesdays and Thursdays, 6-9pm

Making Art with Electronics and Microcontrollers with Andrew Salamone

Microcontrollers, like Arduino, have made it possible to create practically any electronic device all by ourselves. By using programming code to digitally control electronic components, we can make things move, talk, or light-up with just a few lines of text, but these overwhelming possibilities are also why getting started with microcontrollers and electronics can be so intimidating!

Starting with the basics of writing code, wiring, and circuit design, Making Art with Electronics and Microcontrollers will introduce techniques for incorporating electronics and microcontrollers into art projects. The workshop will be in 3 parts: electrical, mechanical, and digital, and the goal is for those processes to be integrated by the end of the workshop. We’ll go over electronic components, like DC motors, servos, and LEDs. And after learning how to add lights, motion, and interactive sensors to your work, we’ll combine them into a finished art project.

Purchasing this $36.99 kit from Amazon is a required supply for the workshop.

Same-time online sessions will be Tuesdays and Thursdays, 6-9pm, starting July 13 and ending August 12, 2021.

2021 August 30-September 3, M-F, 9am-5pm, Face-to-Face Socially Distanced

Bookbinding for Artists and Photographers with Scott McCarney

Far from being marginalized, the book has become a viable part of contemporary art’s multi-disciplinary practices. Book form, however, is not well understood in this context — the decisions we make when binding a book can be part of the overall art-making process.  The desire to make books with photographic content is as old as photography itself.  The accessibility of digital printing, from the inkjet in your studio to the Indigo of online publishers, is fulfilling this desire for contemporary artists and photographers. But how to make a unique product tailored to the physical and conceptual needs of your work?

This workshop employs the basic tools and techniques of hand bookbinding to answer that question. All aspects of the material book will be considered through a series of unique structures that accommodate single sheets, folded folios, and gathered sections while exploring the materials of traditional book making. Binding and finishing strategies that subvert the limitations presented by print-on-demand books will be introduced.

The class will focus primarily on physical considerations of book structure, but participants are welcome to bring work in progress or ideas for books. Some time will be devoted to discussing how binding structures and layout strategies literally as well as figuratively support image display.

This workshop is available for 3 undergraduate or 2 graduate credit hours from SUNY Brockport.

It is an in-person, face-to-face, socially distanced workshop, August 30 – September 3, 2021, Monday – Friday 9am-5pm

Click here to register online or contact tateshaw@vsw.org for more information or to register by phone.