Kicking off the 2016 SXSW festival, SXSWCreate, the hub for innovation and creativity, invites thousands to showcase and share their passion for all things technology. Integrating music, culture and technology, the Austin Palmer Events Center hosted the most creative and brightest of minds, March 11-13.
San Antonio natives, The Convergent Media Collective (CMC), hosted their first booth at SXSWCreate.
CMC members engineered the booth to have two screens and an Xbox Kinect. One screen showcasing highlight videos of CMC’s portfolio of technological pioneering and another screen mirroring the guest’s movements via Xbox Kinect.
As guests of all ages poured into the events center, each one stopped by the booth to ask questions and see their movements on screen.
While attending, members Andrew Valdez and Carissa Gonzales were interviewed in Microsoft Channel 9 blog showcase video of SXSWCreate.
All in the all, guests walked away with more information on what the Convergent Media Collective is and how we contribute to the community.
SXSWCreate delivers the creative edge for diverse engineers, hackers and DIY’ers alike. The Convergent Media Collective was able to bring awareness to the collective and connect with a new audience.
We have recently started utilizing laser cutting in our projects. One project, in particular, has just recently been accepted into Luminaria 2015, which is a city wide arts festival. In addition to Luminaria, we have also been accepted into the SA Mini Maker Faire, which is another event based on hacker, technologists and innovators! Our ball is finally rolling, and we are very excited to finally be able to showcase our work to hundreds of thousands of people.
Over the years, each member has volunteered to make-up this collective and have poured personal funds and time into several projects in the past. Just recently we helped raise over $12,000 to purchase a laser cutter for our hackerspace, 10Bit Works.
We have a unique never-before-seen project up our sleeves that the city is excited about. For Tortillas & Technology, member artist Andrew Valdez explores the relationship between technology, culture and art by combining a non-traditional canvas with state of the art technology. The Collective invites the audience to an innovative one-stop print station, where they may upload digital photos, and have them “printed” on a tortilla.
We plan to showcase the laser cutter doing some work in a “photo booth style one-stop-shop station” in the heart of the festival. But in order to pull this project off, we would need a Full Spectrum H-Series 5th Gen CO2 Desktop Laser, exhaust fan, air compressor, and water chiller.
In addition to this project, thanks to the portability of the H-series cutter, we are considering offering training for educational institutions for free around the city. We stand for educating our community through innovation.
With all of our great success, comes a high cost for production and materials. Unfortunately we are currently in a tight situation when it comes to funding our art installation for the festival and makerfaire. We would greatly appreciate any help by providing any publicity, awareness or donations.
Here is a GoFundMe where anyone can help donate!
https://www.gofundme.com/xh5jdcxc
In the past few years, we have helped San Antonio shine the light on laser cutting, 3D printing and other cutting edge technologies.
Convergent Media Collective member, Charlie Young, introduced San Antonio to his new work which was curated by Lady Base Gallery, and shown at Studio Fantomas, located at 1906 South Flores. The exhibit was titled, “New Works by Michael Martinez and Charlie Young” which opened to the public on #SecondSaturday, which is a city-wide arts night in the Lone Star Arts District. Charlie is a graduate from the University of the Incarnate Word with both a bachelor’s and masters in Convergent Media. His passion has always been being behind the camera, but since this was his first post-grad art show, this exhibit definitely served as an opportunity for growth.
Before entering the gallery, there was a delicious spread of food including dips, shrimp and refreshments that were provided by 375° catering. The gallery is small but quaint and filled with amazing pieces of artwork. Charlie’s work was displayed onto a plain white wall and guests poured in to see his portrayal of the culture he grew up in.
Catering was provided by 375˚ catering
“Throughout the years I’ve focused a lot of my energy in taking portraits of clients…” says Charlie, “I couldn’t be happier with the final eighteen products.” This art show exhibits his ability expand his range of creativity and explore deeper meaning with his images. While visiting his hometown of McAllen, which is in the center of the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas, Charlie took advantage of his surroundings and went out to shoot brand new imagery for this exhibit.
Charlie’s work displayed in Lady Base.
Charlie’s work was inspired by the challenges he faced growing up in South Texas, of growing up in a single-parent household and being one of the many Mexican-American citizens of Texas tiptoeing between cultures. His artwork speaks for itself, from pictures of hard-working women and men providing for their families to simply the foods that represent memories of what it’s like growing up Mexican-American.
For future projects,Charlie says he plans on putting on another art show like this one, “I’m always willing to collaborate with new people..” said Charlie “…and this was a wonderful platform to dive into the San Antonio art scene…” Charlie is looking forward to future collaborations and views this as a door-opening event, that helps bring in new minds and provides a stepping stone for him to share his visions.
With his own version of digital-storytelling, he is bringing life and color to Mexican-American culture and opening our eyes beyond stereotypes. From his heart, through a lens and onto a canvas, for all of us to see and enjoy.
Everyone still has a chance to check out his work, Lady Base Gallery is open to the public for viewing and there will be an artist talk August 22, 2015 6-7pm. There will also be a closing event on August 29th from 1-3pm. For more information, visit ladybasegallery.com
Congratulations Charlie!
You can see more of Charlie’s work, ” Entrada: Cincuenta Centavos”, on his website, charlieyoung.work
