Paloma Kop

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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

Audiovisual Jams in the Barn Yard

People jamming in the yard

On Tuesday, June 18, I gathered with a few friends in an outdoor space behind a small gray barn which I helped renovate over the spring. As part of a party taking place that night, we set up a projector screen and a PA and brought out some music and video gear for a jam session that lasted well into the night. I pulled the excerpt below from our session, which features Snark on saxophone and electronics, ShmOoOo on synths and samplers, and Ben Kujawski on guitar, as well as myself on visuals. It was a memorable evening, and I look forward to my next opportunity to perform video synthesis outdoors.

3:39 | Watch on: Youtube Peertube

Me and my video projections Audiovisual jams at night under a tree strung with lights

Live A/V Show in Rochester

Show flyer

On Saturday, May 4, Andrei and I returned to The Psychic Garden in Rochester, NY to perform live video and sound as REALITY ORP! Our friend Anna Oxygen (Ithaca) also performed a bumping synthwave set. Unfortunately Dr. Hamburger was unable to perform, but fellow Rochester locals Shonen Book were able to hop on at the last moment with a fever dream of feedback-laden visuals mixed with Donkey Kong. It was a memorable night. Many thanks to Taimur for holding down the Psychic Garden fort as well!

Here is a recording of our performance:

21:35 | Watch on: Youtube Peertube

Introducing Zine Club!

Zine Club

Zine Club is the culmination of some ideas I've had brewing for a while. I wanted to start making more physical objects and mailing them to people, and I also wanted to start something like a Patreon but without actually using that platform. After fleshing out the details and creating a new page on my site, it's now ready for launch! If you're interested in receiving mysterious virtual or physical objects at regular intervals throughout the year, and supporting my ability to spend more time making weird art, check it out at the link below...

🌐 More info/subscribe: palomakop.tv/zine-club