The Art of Ping Pong

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JONO SANDILANDS

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ContentsMY PROCESS p6HISTORY p7FUNDING p8DEVELOPMENT p9TINKERING p11PREPERATION p15the exhibition p20OPENING NIGHT p22THE GAMES p25WHAT NEXT? p33FIND OUT MORE p34PRESS & MEDIA p35

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betojeto 6 Nov @artofpingpong @BonhogaGallery #theartofpingpong

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MY PROCESSJono Sandilands is a designer and visual artist based in Shetland. Here, he explains the conception, process, exhibition, and future of his project, The Art of Ping Pong which was exhibited at Bonhoga Gallery Shetland from Wednesday 7 to Sunday 11 November 2012.

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HISTORYThe Art of Ping Pong started life back in 2009 in response to a student brief set by YCN Annual Student Design Awards. At that time the concept was simple: to record where the ball makes contact with the table during a game of table tennis and allow players to be interactive in creating original pieces of artwork. The concept was commended and won an YCN national student award.

That same year, I started a Graphic Design placement with Shetland Arts Development Agency. Shetland Arts is the leading arts agency in Shetland and promotes a year round programme of music, craft, theatre, literature, visual arts, dance and film events; the agency also runs Mareel, the UK’s most northerly music, cinema, and creative industries centre, the Garrison Theatre, and Bonhoga Gallery. 2009 passed quickly and I soon found myself in 2010 having to thinking about what I was going to do when my placement came to an end. This is when I decided to revisit The Art of Ping Pong. I knew I would have to secure funding to take the concept further, so I started looking for sources and filling in application forms.

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FUNDINGIn 2010 I secured a Visual Artist Award from Shetland Arts in partnership with Creative Scotland and the Shetland Islands Council. This would allow me to develop the concept into a reality by allowing me to purchase some equipment and expand my skills in programming software and hardware.

When my placement came to an end I was met with an unexpected surprise: Shetland Arts wanted to keep me on in full time employment, and I gladly accepted. However, this changed my Ping Pong plans slightly as, obviously, the amount of time I had to work on the project would be significantly less than I was bargaining for.

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DEVELOPMENTBy this time I had started blogging on The Art of Ping Pong with the aim of creating a record of the research and testing I had been working on. I started with some very basic tests on how to track the ball. Some of my initial ideas included colour tracking and sound tracking, and using multiple microphones under the table to pinpoint the sound and location of a ball bounce. I found that there was quite a lot to get my head around and I didn’t have nearly enough time in the day dedicated to thinking it through, and consequently things were taking longer to progress than I had expected. But on reflection this was not necessarily a bad thing…

The project took a big leap forward at the start of 2012 when a friend mentioned that Xbox Kinect could be a useful tool and was already being experimented with for projects similar to The Art of Ping Pong. The Kinect has a depth sensor, alongside video camera and microphone, so the possibilities seemed very exciting for my project.

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TINKERINGI used the Kinect by taking the data the device provides in its normal functions and translating this, using a code I created myself, into a display of graphics.

The Kinect is fundamental to how the project actually works. So now when I look back at the extended period of time I’ve spent working on this project, I find it interesting to note how quickly things can change. It will be interesting to see where we are in 3 years time.

To control the interactive table there is a big red button, which, when pressed resets the game prints a copy for display on the gallery walls during further gaming.

As an extra for the exhibition, and to complete the space in Bonhoga Gallery I also created a new light box called the Ping Pong Screen. The “screen” is made up of 168 individual LED lights which are diffused with a Ping Pong ball over each LED, the screen can show text based messages.

24 OctShifting shit up #arduino

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26 Oct Loads of soldering to do.

16 OctBig red button! #theartofpingpong

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4 NovArduino now in place and an organised mess #arduino #theartofpingpong

2 NovGlowing ping pong balls #theartofpingpong

14Drilled and glued 168 ping pong balls for the Ping Pong Screen

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PREPERATIONThe run up to the exhibition was a pretty hectic time: working full time alongside managing a separate project isn’t easy! I dedicated lots of my nights and weekends to the project, and also took some holidays in order to complete it. I took over my parents’ garage with a (rough around the edges) set up of the exhibition – all of this with lots of help from my Dad, including lots of games of ping pong!

betojeto 19 OctDrawing with Jono and his psychedelic ping-pong FF @ArtofPingPong #colaboration

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4 NovAn exhibition in a van #theartofpingpong

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5 NovSetting up #theartofpingpong

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the exhibitionThe exhibition was set up very quickly at Bonhoga Gallery with some tinkering time for added extras to make things run more smoothly, and as the doors opened for the preview night, I was ready to play!

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11 OctExhibition posters! #theartofpingpong

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OPENING NIGHTThe opening night had demos on the table by Shetland Table Tennis club and also music by a local DJ. The vibe was great and I really enjoyed myself, and the feedback I got was that others really enjoyed the exhibition too.

betojeto6 NovDj Marshall playing ping pong set @ArtofPingPong #awesomeset #mynewfavouriteDj

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betojeto6 NovDemo by Shetland PingPong team to the tune of DjMarshall @ArtofPingPong #gigoftheday

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6 NovThe cake of ping pong #theartofpingpong

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THE GAMESThe opening night had demos on the table by Shetland Table Tennis club and also music by a local DJ. The vibe was great and I really enjoyed myself, and the feedback I got was that others really enjoyed the exhibition too.

7 NovThe big red button #theartofpingpong

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6 NovSome of tonight’s artwork #theartofpingpong

27The Art of Ping Pong - Bonhoga Gallery - Friday 9 November 2012 - 2.49pm

28The Art of Ping Pong - Bonhoga Gallery - Saturday 10 November 2012 - 11.53am

29The Art of Ping Pong - Bonhoga Gallery - Thursday 8 November 2012 - 2.24pm

30The Art of Ping Pong - Bonhoga Gallery - Opening Night - Tuesday 6 November 2012 - 7.43pm

31The Art of Ping Pong - Bonhoga Gallery - Opening Night - Tuesday 6 November 2012 - 6.26pm

32The Art of Ping Pong - Bonhoga Gallery - Thursday 8 November 2012 - 3.57pm

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WHAT NEXT?The question on everyone’s lips was “What happens to the table now?” The honest answer is: I don’t know. But I do have a few ideas for more events here in Shetland but also further afield, I would like to hear from anyone interested in having an Art of Ping Pong event anywhere, from galleries, to clubs, bars, halls, group events, and anything else at all. You can contact me to find out more.

9 NovDoing some testing @newdeadlanguage #theartofpingpong #collaboration

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FIND OUT MOREWhere to find out more:

Website www.jonosandilands.com

Blog www.theartofpingpong.blogspot.co.uk

Facebookwww.facebook.com/TheArtOfPingPong

Twitter@ArtofPingPong@jonosandilands

Instagramjonosandilands

Emailhello@jonosandilands.com

11 NovI won... Well just... against @davidsjoberg

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PRESS & MEDIA

9 NovBBC Radio Shetland Interview3m44s

Recording available on request:hello@jonosandilands.com

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PRESS & MEDIA

2 NovNo pong without ping... Yeah. Made the Shetland Times today

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PRESS & MEDIA

13 NovNorthingsReview by Malachy Tallack

http://northings.com/2012/11/13/jono-sandilands-the-art-of-ping-pong/

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PRESS & MEDIA

23 NovCentral Station My Process BlogInterview

http://thisiscentralstation.com/my-process/my-process-the-art-of-ping-pong/

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PRESS & MEDIA

November Issueii’ Shetland Feature