A Peaceful 2014 December Solstice

camminando | Night Snow

Today we (in New York) witnessed one of the first snowstorm of the season. There was not too much drama, just a cold grey day and finally a quick enjoyment of the softness of the light patina on the tree laces. It was comforting after the troubling news of the day.

West 77 Street, 18:55 EST

Central Park, 20:01 EST

vernissages | Juan Muñoz at Marian Goodman Gallery

Marian Goodman Gallery is hosting impressive and immersive large scale installations of sculptures from the late Spanish artist Juan Muñoz (1953-2001).

Many Times (1999)

Figure Hanging from One Foot (2001)

Walk total length: 5.4 km

Self Help | When the Whole is Greater than the Sum of Its Parts

“The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”

― Aristotle

Aristotele's observation ---often used to indicate a synergetic, positive, outcome--- is unfortunately true also for the idiocy and frustrations of life. I spent almost all the past week dealing with individually small things whose sum turned into a whole huge frustration. Besides my personal situation  ---abandonment from spouse--- I had to deal with professionally related nuisances, mainly dueto 3D printing. It was so frustrating experiencing the failure of my desktop printer which has had a very poor performance, terminated with total failure, since from its purchase of less than two month ago —especially after reading the recent article in The New Yorker, narrating the marvel of 3D printing applications in medicine. Researchers in material science collaborate with medical practitioner to 3D print in bio-compatible materials not only prosthetics and exoskeleton but also parts of internal organs.

Shapeways, the 3D printing service I often rely on for finer resolution design also failed, in the missed delivery of several design I was planning to present during my visit to Milan. Of course my personal frustrations are marginal, considering what is going on at a collective level with all the cases of racial discrimination, but when combined with my personal/professional rumination left me with little energy 

Walking provided healing as usual: my 14 km walk in the relentless was cathartic, clearing the tension and frustration.

To conclude with popular wisdom, adopted by Nietzsche: "That which does not kill us makes us stronger".

A Tale of Two Countries

It's 7 pm and I am at holiday party in the Upper West Side. Just a few hours ago another shocking not indictment verdict for the Eric Garner's chokehold death caused by a white police officer.
A week ago on November 24 another not indictment verdict for the unarmed teenager Michael Brown shooting in Ferguson, Missouri, on August 9.
What's going on? Is this a tale of two countries?
It is a troubled time, full of contradictions, from the comfort of technology to the never ending racial hate.

camminando | My Geospatial Self: Italy, November 5-19

I have been keeping a chronological geospatial journal of my fifteen days  in Italy. Below are some of my recorded walks, which have totaled about 95 kilometers. The total of unrecorded walks is about 45km. I recorded about 915 views

Milano, November 5

Roma, November 7

Roma, November 8

Roma, November 9

Roma, November 9

Roma, November 10

Roma, November 11

Pisa, November 12

Pisa, November 13

Roma, November 14

Roma, November 16

Roma, November 17

Montecatini Terme, November 18

Firenze, November 18

Milano, November 19

Creative Practice | Art Science Technology: Movement in Virtual Space

Framing movement in Cartesian Space

La filosofia è scritta in questo grandissimo libro che continuamente ci sta aperto innanzi a gli occhi (io dico l'universo), ma non si può intendere se prima non s'impara a intender la lingua, e conoscer i caratteri, ne' quali è scritto. Egli è scritto in lingua matematica, e i caratteri son triangoli, cerchi, ed altre figure geometriche, senza i quali mezi è impossibile a intenderne umanamente parola; senza questi è un aggirarsi vanamente per un oscuro laberinto.

Galileo Galilei - Il Saggiatore (1623)

Movement is no exception to the mathematics of the universe described by Galileo. Geometric configurations are able not only to represent but also to inspire human voluntary movement sequences —and ultimately produce "positive" cognitive states. The correlation between voluntary human movement, space and mental activity comprise the topic of the creative practice of my doctoral research at Deakin University, titled "Form Mind Body Space Time".
As component of my research methodology, an original approach to the study of movement in the space of virtual environments began being tested on November 11 and 12. The physical facilities were located at   PERCRO, the Perceptual Robotics Laboratory founded by Massimo Bergamasco and part of the Institute of Communication, Information and Perception Technologies (TECIP) of the Scuola  Superiore Sant’Anna, right in Pisa, birthplace of Galileo.
The experiments involved the virtual environment of the XCAVE (based on the framework XVR developed at PERCRO and involved motion capture technologies and electroencephalography (EEG), using the 32 channel wireless G.Nautilus system from G.Tech. The PERCRO researchers involved include:

Michele Barsotti, PhD Student, EEG capture and Setup
Claudia Faita, PhD Student, Support
Alessandro Filippeschi, Postdoc, Motion Capture
Marcello Carrozzino, Ricercatore, Graphics
Emanuele Ruffaldi, Ricercatore, Graphics

Moving in a space based on combination of tori and cylinders

Movement improvisations inspired by the hypericosahedron

Testing motion sensors and wearing the EEG cap

Moving in a golden spiral from the Fibonacci series —Leonardo Fibonacci was also born in Pisa!

Finding a baseline: back to the Cartesian grid

A video clip from the "Torus Meditations" http://youtu.be/VkrOgXbFZ4c?list=UULBmuY0cLF_b0xgCXF92Ebw 

camminando | Pisa, Urban Places of Art & Science

Pisa is undoubtedly one of the places where architecture, art and science merge in harmony. The Romanesque and Gothic architecture of Piazza dei Miracoli transitions into the Renaissance arcades, churches and palazzi. Buildings and urban spaces create a continuum in the harmoniously proportioned scale architecture. Pisa is also birthplace of Galileo Galilei and Leonardo Fibonacci. Galileo's birth home is still visible in Borgo Stretto. Walking through these highly inspiring places on my way to PERCRO provoked several insights about the design of experiential spaces for the virtual environment site for testing movement routines.

View of Borgo Stretto, the street where Galileo was born

Palazzo Caravona, home of Scuola Normale Superiore

Views of Piazza dei Miracoli (formerly Piazza del Duomo), including:
Duomo (1064 AD), Battistero (1153), Torre Pendente (1173), and Camposanto (XII century)

Palazzo Arcivescovile (XV century)

Entering Piazza dei Cavalieri (XII century)

Palazzo della Carovana in Piazza dei Cavalieri

Palazzo dell'Orologio with Torre dei Gualandi (o Muda )