Paloma Kop

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New Studio Tour

Work desk with a computer and modular synthesizer in a darkened room

Since my recent move to New Haven, CT, I now have a private room for my studio and work space. It's been a while since I've had a dedicated space for this purpose, so I was very excited to set up my things again.

I've had a number of studio spaces over the years, and even the ones I had for an extended period were prone to me moving everything around periodically, so I've gone through a lot of trial and error to find the best way to arrange things for my purposes. Since I work with a lot of AV equipment, I've felt the temptation — the same one I've seen others in this medium get pulled into as well — to create some kind of Ultimate Signal Chain where all of my gear can remain plugged in and patchable. This seems to work well for shared studios and recording spaces, but in my own space, I like to create bespoke setups for whatever my current projects require. For example, sometimes I want to use a bunch of electronic equipment, while other times I just need table space for drawing or doing something messy with inks or other liquids.

So I have decided that it's better to just keep a few things out on my desk by default:

  • my desktop computer
  • a television screen that accepts analog or digital inputs
  • a multichannel audio interface
  • some speakers
  • a paper notepad
  • my modular synths (including both audio and video modules; these aren't as ubiquitous at the other items in this list, but I like having a tactile synth playground available on short notice, and they are really annoying to put away and take back out)

If I want to use other equipment for a specific project or performance, I can bring it out and plug it in just for a few days or however long I need it for. There is even enough space in my room to set up additional folding tables to extend my surface area if needed. If I'm preparing for a performance, it is actually helpful to quarantine everything I'm bringing with me to a separate table anyway; it makes it easy to pack, and helps make sure everything will fit on the table I'm bringing.

With these methods in mind, my studio is organized around three areas:

  • my desk (pictured and described above)
  • shelves for storing equipment and supplies
  • a nook with a beanbag chair for reading, and a meditation bench.

I do most of my reading on the couch and at the table in our living room, but I like having a private space to relax as well.

Below, you can find my attempt to draw my studio as an isometric video game level. There are a few things you can't see because they are on the cut-away walls: another window, a small closet, and several wall-mounted cable hangers for cables I need quick access to.

Isometric drawing of my studio room

Here are a few other details about my desk setup:

  • I added a triangle of wood to soften the inner corner of my L-shaped desk, and make it nicer to sit at my computer which is positioned diagonally in the corner.
  • My desk has motors to adjust the height, but my modular synth case is best positioned vertically, so I built a wooden frame that attaches to the desk and provides a surface for it to lean against without touching the wall.
  • The two chairs I use at my desk are a stool and a special chair that allows me to sit cross legged at my desk. I have found that using chairs without backs has greatly improved my posture and back pain.
  • My split mechanical keyboard is also helpful for ergonomics, in addition to being fun and customizable. I made wrist rests for it by tying off a pair of socks filled with dried beans.
  • I made a little organizer out of cardboard for storing shorter modular patch cables by draping them over one of my speakers.

I hope you enjoyed this virtual tour of my studio! I love seeing other people's spaces as well, so if you share yours, let me know.

2024 Year in Review

Portrait of Paloma Kop with their video equipment

I wanted to post something like this around New Year's, but I missed the window where I could publish it without mention of my lateness. But I have a good excuse: I was fully in the middle of moving! As of January 1st, we are officially leasing a lovely apartment in New Haven, CT.

Even though 2025 is already well underway, I'm taking a moment to reflect on the past year. Here are some of the things I did in 2024:

  • Rebuilt my artist website (the one you're looking at now!) to use 11ty, a static site generator. It was a lot of work, but the effort I put in will make maintaining and updating this site about 1000% easier. (More about this in the colophon.)
  • Attended my fourth vipassana meditation retreat, and completed a 100-hour meditation teacher training program. I haven't taught any meditation classes yet, but the things I learned have helped me deepen my meditation practice.
  • Taught my first college course as an adjunct professor: Intro to Animation at Hamilton College. (I actually taught two sections, so my first two college classes!) This was a wonderful experience for me, and I hope to get more opportunities to teach again in the future.
  • Taught two online classes through Polyphase Portal: one about HTML & CSS, and one about video feedback. Each one met weekly for a month. I preferred teaching IRL, but it was cool to be able to include folks from outside my local area.
  • Lived in various free and inexpensive alternative spaces in the forests of Upstate New York, including a few months of house-sitting, a converted barn, and most recently, a 30-foot yurt. Although I've decided to move back to a more urban area, I really enjoyed getting to spend more time in nature, regularly being in the presence of waterfalls, cool rocks, and all sorts of animals.
  • Survived another year without a full-time job.
  • Saw a total solar eclipse for the second time in my life.
  • Attempted to go on a summer road trip that was aborted quite early on.
  • Built a shed on my parents' property. This was my largest solo woodworking project to date.
  • Played 4 shows, co-led 2 video art workshops, and did an art installation, a group show, an artist talk, and 2 presentations at open source meetings.
  • Started Zine Club!

Compared to 2023, when we spent 5 months driving across the U.S. in a van, I spent almost all of this year in one area (New York State). But it has felt like just as much of a strange, meandering journey as the last year did. And while I still haven't quite landed somewhere that feels like a long-term, sustainable lifestyle, I feel like I'm moving in the right direction, fumbling towards a balance between my sometimes-conflicting needs for freedom and structure, for unhurried time and financial stability, and so forth.

I don't know exactly what happens next, but I'm curious to find out. So onward into 2025, and whatever this weird timeline we all inhabit holds for us next.

Analog Week at Hamilton TV Club

Analog video equipment in the Hamilton Digital Arts Lab

On Friday, December 13, Andrei and I visited our friend Anna Oxygen's TV Club class at Hamilton College (where I'm also teaching Intro to Animation this semester). TV Club is a class Anna created for the Digital Arts program that gives students the opportunity to explore video art, livestreaming, and performance. For their final episode of the fall 2024 semester, we provided an analog video art playground, and livestreamed its output as we walked the students through the setup and then let them experiment with it.

Here is an abridged cut of the episode; the full length stream is archived on the Hamilton TV Club Youtube Channel.

12:29 | Watch on: Youtube Peertube

Students exploring analog video Close up on TV monitors A student using the analog video mixer Close up on TV displaying processed output Paloma and Andrei

First Few Mystery Objects Revealed

Aritanian Flowers cards

Since I launched my Zine Club project this past spring, I've been mailing out an edition of Mystery Objects every 2 months. The goal is to surprise people with the contents of their packages, so I try not to post any images of the Objects until after they've reached their recipients. Now that the Club has been running for a while, I can share a bit about the first few Objects I've created.

Sticker set

My very first Mystery Object was actually three objects - a set of stickers, based on my drawings of three "Exquisite Machines."

Foil postcard

The second Mystery Object was a foil postcard print. The abstract designs were created digitally, and the asemic "text" captions are a fictional writing system from a world-building project I started in the quarterly e-zine that I had just published the month before, titled Self-Same Life Forms of Aritana Occ.

I liked how the silver foil came out, the way that the metallic ink protrudes slightly from the card, and how the spreading of the ink gives the lines a more liquid, blobby quality. There is a subtle gradient in the background, which I think ended up being a bit too dark to notice.

Also, I was experimenting with creating a print that was also a postcard; the other side was stamped and addressed. But the cards ended up being a bit fragile, and scuffs from passing through the mail system were very visible on the matte cardstock. In the future, if I make small printed cards, I will enclose them inside of envelopes instead of sending them out into the world naked.

The first and last card: 'Spore' 7 cards spread out in a grid 3 cards spread out in a fan shape All of the cards strewn about

The third Mystery Object was a set of 16 printed cards called The Life Cycle of Aritanian Flowers. In the accompanying info card, I suggested that these were flashcards created for students learning about the stages of growth and reproduction of a fictional type of plant found in Aritana Occ. The idea thus far with the world-building project of Aritana Occ is that it is a dimension occuped by fractal (or "self-similar") life forms. All of the images on the cards are drawings based on frames of video feedback.

I printed these cards myself, and I also cut them down and punched the rounded corners. Since I was making over 20 sets in a variety of paper colors, I ended up having to print and cut several hundred cards, and the process took a bit longer than expected. In the future, I probably won't do this again by hand, but I was pleased with how they came out. I thought that perhaps the cards could also be used for divination, and some of the recipients seemed to share that idea and took photos of them arranged in tarot-like spreads.

Addendum: visit this page to see all of the cards and find information on how to print your own deck.

Front of the abstract PCB Back of the abstract PCB 3D view of the board in Kicad Screenshot of the board in Kicad

The most recent Mystery Object that I sent out was manufactured using the process for creating printed circuit boards (PCBs). However, the designs on the board are entirely abstract and serve no electronic function whatsoever. As an electronic artist and tinkerer, I've come across some projects that take advantage of the medium of circuit boards as an art form, and I wanted to experiment with making something like that myself.

I was vaguely aware of the process of designing a circuit board, creating gerber files, and getting them made through an online service, but I had never done it before. I downloaded Kicad and learned a bit about the different layers that comprise a PCB: the fiberglass board, the conductive copper layer, the colored solder mask, immersion gold, and white silkscreen, as well as the board outline, which can be any shape. I designed the layers so that they would create a cohesive pattern, with copper, gold, and white silkscreen on one side, and the other side white silkscreen only.

The dark blue solder mask I chose ended up being very opaque, so the additional layer of copper underneath the solder mask wasn't really visible, but you can kind of see it in the form of a slightly embossed edge around the "Discordian Knot" design. The resulting object was very satisfying to hold, and also quite durable, as I've been using it as a keychain for a few weeks now. I learned a lot from this project, and I hope to create more PCBs-as-art-objects in the future.

Here is a video I made of a few of these Objects so you can see them existing in time and space:

0:56 | Watch on: Youtube Peertube

So, that brings us up to date on the latest Mystery Objects, at least until I send out the next batch in December. Creating these Objects and snail-mailing them out to people around the world has brought me a lot of pleasure. If you're interested in receiving strange Objects like these in your mailbox periodically, check out the link below and consider becoming a Zine Club Member. The more people join, the more time I can spend creating weird art.

🌐 palomakop.tv/zine-club

August Shows in the Hudson Valley

Me and my video equipment

In August, I performed live visuals for two shows in the Hudson Valley. The first one was on August 21 at The Avalon Lounge in Catskill, NY, where my video projections augmented the music of two electroacoustic duos: Lunar Slopes (Snark & Jeff Rieger), who are local to the Hudson Valley, and Matthew Ryals and Stephan Haluska, who were on tour together and who hail from NYC and Cleveland, respectively. It was great to return to this lovely and welcoming venue, and to get the opportunity to collaborate with friends, old and new. Here are few scraps of video footage from this show:

1:09 | Watch on: Youtube Peertube

The second show, which I helped organize, was held at a private space in Kingston, NY. I performed visuals for sets by Snark (who also helped organize the show), The Spookfish, and headfullofhammers. Bungey Colle, another co-organizer, was sadly unable to make it to perform.

Below are some visual artifacts from the shows.

Flyer for show at the Avalon Flyer for show at the Stone House Animated snippet of my visuals View of the stage from my visuals station Lunar Slopes performing Me doing visuals