d-os AV/blog

autoportrait

Our bodies are apt to be our autobiographies
- Frank Gillette Burgess

A disease and its treatment can be a series of humiliations, a chisel for humility.
- Laurel Lee

I wanted to rub the human face in its own vomit and force it to look in the mirror.
- J.G. Ballard

What we feel, think and are is to a great extent determined by the state of our ductless glands and viscera
- Aldous Huxley

All interest in disease and death is only another expression of interest in life.
- Thomas Mann

autoportrait:

right around my birthday and as i was recovering from surgery, i decided to take on learning how to manipulate/mod the open source drivers of Microsoft’s Kinect device for the XBox.

after having started on a series of initial tests with live 3D capturing, i became fascinated by the erroneous way the Kinect traces physical space

almost by default i decided to start taking virtual 3D imprints of my own face and body as my distressed physique was still in effort to overcome pain and post-op decimation

the results were sometimes disturbing often veering towards the existentially grotesque

i have always been enamoured by phobism and glitch, as well as, the aesthetic philosophy of Ballard and Cronenberg, hence, this process became a perfect excuse in order to capture reality instances in unexpectedly distorted and almost viscerally ‘decayed’ 3D

a few words on the process

• the Microsoft kinect (rrp eur110) projects IR laser patterns and its second camera calculates the Z-Depth in real-time
• this in turn produces real-time 3D point clouds
• the point clouds are being captured live as a stream of binary files (x,y,z numeric triads) via open socket on my virtual server
• the point clouds are then batch converted into 3D meshes (geometries) via customised C++ code and Meshlab software
• the 3D meshes are then converted into compatible .obj sequences
• the .obj sequences are finally imported in 3DSMax and rendered accordingly

some of the resulting files had also been selected and further conformed
into 3D printing software compatible .stl (stereolithography) files which were then sent to the
3D printing facility and eventually made into real-life 3D artifacts via coated gypsum and resin based materials

so.. this is the way the machine saw me at the time

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

• i must stress the fact that no further processing or mesh clean-up was carried out – absolutely no corrective action was taken – in order to completely preserve Kinect’s unique perspective
• the meshes have no shaders applied to them and the only creative interference had to do with environment lighting and 3D camera set-up


• these are the resulting (physical) 3D prints photographed after exposure at the a.antonopoulou.art gallery in Athens (as my contribution for Beetroot’s ‘Error’ exhibition 28/01-03/03/2012)

• here are a few photographs of work-in-progress for the 3D printed items, as well as, a couple of .stl surface checking tests



• this is a series of (almost) photo-real 3D renders prepared with 3DSMax and VRay



• finally, a series of test renders made immediately after the point-cloud conversions (again, 3DSMax and VRay)



• all presented images have been digitally watermarked (via paid service) and cannot be used/edited anywhere without permission

• i am currently preparing a short video piece created via these techniques – i expect to have it finished (along with the according soundtrack) in just a few days

Tags: 3D, 3D capture, 3D print, 3D scan, 3DSMax, autoportrait, Ballard, beetroot, body, C++, d-os, damage, disease, disturbing, error, exhibition, grotesque art, HDRI, Kinect, Microsoft Kinect, phobism, photo realism, render, Vray

Rogue Element

I am now almost fully recovered at last. However, as of last month i am no longer with Beetroot.

In the past couple of months i have been concerned with a great deal of audio-related activity as a series of (primarily vinyl) releases of old and new material have been scheduled and live projects are also imminent in the very near future.

In terms of C.G. work, i have been experimenting with the Microsoft Kinect device and lots of customised C++ code in order to produce new video as well as physically materialised experiments which i shall be sharing shortly.

Although something quite ambitious in terms of professional scope is currently in the works, I am, once again, free for freelance work, as well. If need be, do not hesitate to contact me.

Tags: 3D, 3D print, 3D scan, Audio-related work, beetroot, CPL, experiments, Fear Condition, Freelance, health, International Comedy, Kinect, live gigs, Lotus, Microsoft Kinect, music, Poeat Negra, releases, vinyl

“Ain’t It Dead Yet ?”

status update : repairing

11/20/2011 : first time outdoors and even had a much needed haircut ! resuming activities, slowly but surely !
11/17/2011 : better yet as the bloating subsides. i shall even attempt to leave the flat tomorrow after 6 whole weeks indoors !
11/09/2011 : much better these days. great improvement since last week, at last !
this relentless and resilient jinx continues..

back home, at last, and after 3 entire weeks.. (mind you, this was the first time i’d endured such a prolonged offline status since 1996 !)

so.. i was eventually subjected to a 5½hr long surgery (cholecystectomy) on the 13th of October, which started out as laparoscopic and ended up as an “old-school” open procedure due to intermittent complications.

this, left me with four bullet-sized holes (plus one for the drainage), and an additional 26cm incision on my abdomen.
a huge portion of my abdominal muscles and according nerves had to be completely cut in order to rid of a terribly inflamed, enlarged (x15), hardened and stone packed gallbladder (in near gangrene state).
the surgeons took out 23 discreet medium-sized stones (potentially fatal, as they could at any time block the bile tract) and the remaining smaller ones, along with the “bile-mud”, were sent for biopsy.
had i not received this urgent operation (almost, and luckily, immediately after the diagnosis) i would have developed acute pancreatitis and eventually, (definitely fatal) liver cirrhosis.

as a post-op consequence, i currently have absolutely no control of the frontal and right lateral parts of my torso and i shall have to keep enduring immense pain, bloating and agonising discomfort (lack of self-sufficiency) for a few more weeks.

recovery is excruciatingly slow and it still takes me up to 20 painful minutes to get in and out of bed..
i cant be sited for more than a few minutes at a time, and i can’t sleep in any other way but lying immobilised on my back, which sucks big time.. i am not allowed to lift anything heavier than a kilo or so, and my breath is very short due to the internal stitches and “re-organisation”; i do tire after speaking for a few seconds at a time..

all of a sudden, even the simplest tasks of everyday life have become unbearable and enormously distressing chores, or so it seems.. i needn’t mention the getting used to life with/without the catheters..

according to the doctors, it’ll take me at least another 4-6 weeks (from today) to become quasi-operational again, and at least six months in order to return into a near-normal everyday life functionality. full recovery of muscle tissue, nerves and gastric functions isn’t expected for another two years.

apologies to all who tried to contact me during all this time, however, please bear in mind that it has been (it is still is to a large extend) nearly impossible for me to reply (or even get on the phone for more than a couple of minutes at a time).

many-many thanks for all the kind words to all the friendlies.
gimme till early-mid december and i shall resurface for sure._

annus horribilis – pt ii

.. and, as if what i’ve already gone through in the past couple of years was not enough..
late last night, i was notified that i have to undergo urgent delicate operation as well ..
for fuck’s sake … it seems that the jinx doesn’t want to go away ..

in all, that is to say …  don’t be looking for me for the next 2-3 weeks as i highly doubt it that i’ll be spending any time in front of the monitor until i get ‘good’ again ..

09/30/11 update : unfortunately, it will more likely have to be 4-5 weeks until i’m back on my feet again as the surgery is proving to be a tad more complicated than anticipated … bollocks !

10/10/11 update : in & out of the hospital for more clinical examinations and currently waiting for the internal inflammation to go away whilst under ‘pleasant’ medication. i’ve one more day to go as i’ll be admitted for prep tomorrow in the evening and receive surgery on thursday. (currently watching ‘URGH! A Music War’ on self-made DVD)

Greek Monsters Exhibiton by Beetroot | Alte Münze Berlin | 8-16 October 2011

On Friday, October 7th, Beetroot Design Group will receive the Stylus (as the ‘red dot: design agency of the year‘) at a special award ceremony to be held at Konzerthaus Berlin, and during the same event it will launch its most ambitious project ever, an exhibition titled “The Greek Monsters”, which will be hosted at the Alte Münze Berlin, until October 17th. Following that, it will start a worldwide tour, making stops, among others, in the cities of Basel, Singapore, Essen, Hong-Kong, etc. It is clearly a project that will garner attention from the communication design community, as well as a wider audience, on an international level. This is the loop-able motion invite to the main event in SD format as it will be presented on the terminal monitors of the Berliner U-Bahn throughout the exhibition’s duration.

piano study on eno

i was recently asked to do some ‘space music’, and as a warm-up i did a wee Eno-esque improv on Modartt Pianoteq drenched in Magnus’ Ambience reverb.

Beetroot is “red dot: agency of the year 2011″ !

beetroot Beetroot is honored with the highest distinction in the :Red Dot communication design awards.

Beetroot is the “red dot: agency of the year 2011 !