eatART Powers the VAG 2010!

eatART will present its 2nd annual green powered Energy Awareness Art Party. Expect to see giant kinetic sculptures, loads of bicycle enthusiasts and an unforgettable outdoor dance party. This event will be powered with solar **and** pedal power.

On June 27th, 2010, eatART takes over the Vancouver Art Gallery Lawn to top off its annual energy awareness and fundraising event.

Throughout the 9 hour event, there will be 8 teams of three "watt-riders" who have collected "energy pledges" that will be powering the pedal-powered sound system. In tandem with this energy source, an array of solar panels will also be powering the tents and info booth.

What is a "Pedal Powered Sound System"?

Simply, it is a DJ station that is powered by three riders and their bikes. The riders pedal with their back wheel resting on a spinning mini generator that is connected to the sound system. The boomin' soundsystem is controled by a DJ who can spin records with energy aware panache.

How do I get a chance to power the party?

For more information on becoming a watt-rider, please email jenniferlaurencampbell@hotmail.com

Why would I want to "raise watts"? Besides the obvious magnificence of raising watts for a human and solar powered dance party, you will also be raising funds for the eatART Charitable Foundation!

Google I/O and Maker Faire

The Mondo Spider has been invited to show off its new Zero Emissions makeover at two very different but equally exciting events this May: Google I/O and Maker Faire. The Mondo Spider team will travel to San Francisco for these events with the Spider in tow, taking some time to enjoy the sights along the way.

Google I/O (May 19/20) brings together thousands of developers for two days of deep technical content, focused on building the next generation of web, mobile, and enterprise applications with Google and open web technologies such as Android, Google Chrome, Google APIs, Google Web Toolkit, App Engine, and more. The Mondo Spider presence will provide a welcome break for the attendees and inspire them to rethink energy through art!

Maker Faire (May 22/23) is a two-day, family-friendly event that celebrates the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) mindset. It's for creative, resourceful people of all ages and backgrounds who like to tinker and love to make things. It's going to be an amazing Maker Faire with many new and past Makers showcasing the most innovative and inspiring creations yet - we think that the Mondo Spider will fit right in!

Night Quest at UBC

On Saturday, March 27, The Mondo Spider made a surprise appearance at Night Quest, an educational event in Pacific Spirit Regional Park that invites children and families to "experience the magical transition of day into night." Participants are invited to lace up their boots, bring a flashlight, and follow a two-kilometre, lantern-lit trail to discover who sleeps and stirs on such a night.

What better to discover along that trail than a giant, mechanical spider? The Mondo Spider, which now operates silently due to its zero emissions upgrade, inspired shrieks of delight from walkers who encountered her in the shadowy forest.

Day4 Energy Panels Power The Mondo Spider

In February of 2010, Day4 Energy donated four 155 Watt solar panels to the eatART Foundation. eatART donated the panels to the Mondo Spider Zero Emissions project. The panels will be mounted in an array on the Mondo Spider trailer to create a dynamic mobile zero emissions system.

Day4 Energy was founded in 2001 with the ultimate goal of revolutionizing solar power use in residential, commercial, industrial and utility power generation. They facilitate access to solar as a viable energy option, now and in the future, opening up all the benefits it offers. With a management team strong in both science and business, they offer leading-edge technology and project management capability to enable access to clean, boundless solar energy.

CODE Live

CODE Live featured 18 days of digital art, music and culture celebrating diversity and technological innovation as part of the 2010 Olympic Games. With the help of a generous CODE grant, eatART worked around the clock to upgrade Mondo Spider to lithium battery power. At CODE Live, she was proudly paraded the world's first emissions-free walking vehicle.

The spider was on display in a custom built Vivarium attached to CODE 1, a gallery on the Great Northern Way Campus of Vancouver. Walking twice a day through the gallery to the delight of crowds, she became the darling of bloggers and journalists alike and was featured on CTV news on the opening night of the Olympics. The incredible energy of the Olympics and the highly successful CODE project helped Mondo Spider created her usual sensation, and carried the eatART mandate of sustainable energy education into the stratosphere.

A look at the newly converted Mondo Spider.  Video by Ben Cooper.

Mondo Spider: Zero Emission Unveiling

On January 16th, 2010, The Mondo Spider was reborn in front of a crowd of hundreds at the eatART Laboratory. True to its mandate of 'Energy Awareness Through Art', the eatART crew has implemented an electric drive-train in the Spider, making it the WORLD'S FIRST WALKING ELECTRIC VEHICLE!

Until now, The Mondo Spider has been powered by a gasoline engine. 'The transition to electric power proves that something as large and hulking as the Spider does not require an internal combustion engine', says Leigh Christie, eatART's executive director. The advent of clean power in the Spider will also allow it to be driven indoors.

The event featured two unveilings, a crowd of varied ages and interests, and plenty of suspense as The Mondo Spider: Zero Emissions emerged from behind a curtain cloaked in smoke and intrigue. The newly converted Spider operates almost silently, imbuing it it with a sneaky and creepy quality.

Check out this fantastic PHOTO SET from the Unvieling by Julia Kozlov, and this ARTICLE covering the event by Lena Ross.

Gagetoff

Gadgetoff is an invitation-only, one-day, 100%-participation event hosted in and around New York City. In September of 2009, eatART and the Mondo Spider were lucky enough to receive an invitation, and made the journey down South and way East.

Attendance of Gadgetoff is capped at 300 and the guestlist is stacked: participants in past years have included MIT professors, the chairman of iRobot, the Director of DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency), and the Undersecretary of U.S. Homeland Security. Honoured to be singled out and eager to join the annals of uber-geekdom, the eatART crew was overjoyed at Mondo Spider's reception.

Doing what she does best, our loveable, audacious arachnid stomped and lurched her way to international notoriety, and afforded her makers one hell of a good time in good Gadgetoff company.

Oh by the way, check out our travel blog.

eatART powers the VAG

On June 7th, 2009, eatART teamed up with Our Community Bikes (OCB) to present the first green-hybrid powered Energy Awareness Art Party. This event was powered with solar AND pedal power. eatART took over the Vancouver Art Gallery Lawn to instigate its most ambitious experiment in energy awareness to date! The Mondo Spider was in attendance and proved to be a crowd favorite as usual.

This 8 hour event featured 8 teams of 3 "watt-riders" who collected "energy pledges" that powered the pedal-powered sound system. In tandem with this energy source, Daisy, the solar powered trike powered the art workshop tents and info booths. What is a "Pedal Powered Sound System"?

Simply, it is a DJ station that is powered by three riders and their bikes. The riders pedal with their back wheel resting on a spinning mini generator that is connected to the sound system. The boomin' soundsystem is controled by a DJ who can spin records with energy aware panache.

Stay tuned for eatART Powers the VAG 2010 Edition!

eatART (Energy Awareness Through ART)

Mondo Spider congratulates eatART on achieving charity status.

Photo courtesy of Peter Holmes

The Gadget Show!

Mondo Spider was featured on the Gadget Show! Millions of viewers world wide saw this clip:

The Gadget Show clip

Inspiring the next generation of Engineers

The Mondo Spider made an appearance at Oscar Sexsmith's fifth birthday party. A month later, Oscar's father, Mike Sexmith, remarked:

Oscar and the kids still talk about your visit and I have seen a plethora of interesting Lego creations spawned by it as well.

Thanks so much for coming to his party. You and the guys may have single handedly pushed at least two or thee of them into engineering.

The Mondo Spider was created to inspire and thrill people. While this event was no Pemberton Festival or Burning Man, to excite young minds and inspire creative exploration is something we take great pride in.

Parade of Lost Souls

We are pleased to have been invited this year to the great Vancouver tradition of The Parade of the Lost Souls, which is put on each year near all Hallo's eve by the Public Dreams Society. All souls participating in the parade this year had best beware, for The Mondo Spider will be lurking in a dark ally, waiting to terrify innocent passers by as they revel in the parades macabre festivities.

On October 25th, the procession will start at 6:30 at the Britannia Oval, on Commercial Drive, and will snake around the Commercial Drive area until 10:30pm. The Mondo Spider will be tucked in a hiding spot somewhere on the route, waiting to lurch to life unexpectedly throughout the parade. This event is a Vancouver classic and great for kids ranging from five to eighty-five years old. Come and see The Mondo Spider...before it sees you!

For more information on the event, go to Public Dreams, the organizers of Parade of Lost Souls.

Photo courtesy of Samira Dudzinski

Pemberton Festival

Come join us at the Pemberton Festival this summer and watch Mondo Spider perform alongside a phenomenal lineup of artists -- Coldplay, Nine Inch Nails, Tom Petty, the Tragically Hip, and many, many more!!

Friday - Sunday, 25 - 27 July 2008
1835 Highway 99

Download the Pemberton Arts Flyer and check out the Arts Lineup! (1.2M pdf)

Great Northern Way Campus Open House

Come celebrate Vancouver's emerging centre of innovation in sustainability, arts & culture, and digital media. Concepts for the future development of GNWC will be on display. Join us for live performances, an exhibition of works by local artists, and fun hands-on activities. Entertainment for the whole family!

Saturday 21 June 2008
10AM - 3PM
577 Great Northern Way

Main Street Car Free Festival

The Mondo Spider will be making an appearance at the Main Street Car-Free Festival. Join us for a stroll down Main Street!

Sunday, 15 June 2008
Main Street between 12th and 16th

VIDFEST

The Mondo Spider has been invited to participate in Vancouver International Digital Festival (VIDFEST).

The Tippett brothers are media visionaries. They attend VIDFEST to connect with the top creative minds working in digital media. Attracting visionaries from games, Web 2.0, interactive design, animation and mobile applications, the festival is an annual "must-attend" in Vancouver.

May 21-24, 2008. Go to www.vidfest.com for more info.

Emily Carr Institute Film and Animation Festival

Killing the Spider is a short narrative about a girl and a young boy who contemplate about the life of a spider. It is a contemporary myth that portrays human and animal relationships within the framework of science, nature and the imagination.

Vancity Theatre
1181 SEYMOUR ST (AT DAVIE)
VANCOUVER, BC
V6B 3M7

More info here: http://mediagrads.eciad.ca

Film by Matt Johnson.

Juicy Danger Meets Burning Man

To commemorate the 10-year anniversary Special Edition DVD release of David Vaisbord's Juicy Danger Meets Burning Man documentary, Larry Harvey, Executive Director of Burning Man, will be in Vancouver for an evening of celebration and debauchery. The evening will begin with a screening of this cult classic film and escalate into pure riot and revelry! The after party for this event will feature a Burning Man inspired fashion show, the band Blackberry Wood, DJs Jay Michael and Timothy Wisdom - not to mention food, fire and awe inspiring and often dangerous performances and installations.

And guess what they mean by dangerous?

Hint: it has eight legs and weights 1500 lbs...

Saturday 10 May
Japanese Hall
487 Alexander Street, Vancouver, Canada

More info here: juicydangermeetsburningman.com

Great Northern Way Campus

the Great Northern Way Campus (GNWC), is an unique, graduate university environment that is firmly planted in the heart of Vancouver's historic light industrial zone. It combines the efforts and resources of four huge academic institutions: University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser, Emily Carr, and the British Columbia Institute of Technology. Still in it's early stages of development, GNWC aims to 'intersect arts, technology and the environment in a manner that bridges academia with industry, artists with technology, and innovation with development.' This forward thinking campus is an integrative environment that builds community and celebrates innovation.

with art, technology, energy awareness and education, the GNWC is a natural partner for eatART. At present, we have made the GNWC our home, and the in the future, we will collaborate further with both students and staff.

for more information: http://www.gnwc.ca/

Vancouver's Creative Future

On May 3, 2008 Vancouver Mayoral candidate Gregor Robertson will be at eatART to meet with the arts community and to discuss how he plans to make Vancouver a centre for creative capital. Located at Great Northern Way Campus, eatART is an emerging organization devoted to "energy awareness through art". The organization is home to a three and a half tonne solar-powered tricycle and the 1500 pound robotic Mondo Spider.

As MLA for Vancouver Fairview, Gregor has demonstrated commitment to issues of housing affordability, social and environmental sustainability, and support for the creative sector of Vancouver.

Join us on May 3rd to share ideas with the arts community about how Vancouver can develop an economy that goes beyond reliance on natural resources.

eatART
555 Great Northern Way.
Saturday, May 3rd, 2008, 2-4 pm

Visit the official blog here: http://iheartgregor.wordpress.com/

Or see us on facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=12813978230