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Monthly Archives: May 2010

Impressions From LGM 2010

Managed to squeeze two days of Libre Graphics Meeting in my schedule this year again, and it was again exceeding expectations. The creative mix of artists, designers and hackers is unique and extraordinary, the talks, covering both work of art & software, are mostly a revelation (to me). The organizers around Femke, Nicolas & Anne managed to grab a lofty, industrial-style old piano factory for the venue, a perfect match for the event, and with excellent infrastructure. Kudos to them!

From the talks I attended, I think I was most impressed by the nodebox folks, one of the rare moments of interdisciplinary innovation (albeit with prior art) that makes you feel very humble. I’d actually hang my walls with stuff like that.

Some random impressions:

(Lukas Tvrdy with Krita hairy brush stroke example – Jakub Steiner on his 100%-FLOSS-based icon workflow – Peter & Franz of Scribus fame demoing fancy mesh gradients – Eric Schrijver’s great ranting on design & “pixels are vectors, too” – ReJon’s Inkscape talk via Inkscape – the CloutComputing panel)

A festival this time

Was in Gelsenkirchen again this year, for what seems to be the rock festival hitting the sweet spot between band relevance (i.e. not entirely arcane or unknown), and size (i.e. you don’t need to walk one hour from your tent to the stages). What should I say – it was a blast. Rain stopped on Thursday, and sun was shining the whole weekend. My favourites this time: Bloodbath, Accept, Kreator, Nevermore, Orphaned Lands, Rage + orchestra. Honorable mention: Mambo Kurt, for doing a really funny gig on a home organ + C64, in front of a very demanding audience.

Impressions:

(dawn in the amphitheater – Kreator’s Miland „Mille“ Petrozza – 3 behind the mixing desk – shower, festival-style – part of the venue – Orphaned Land from Israel, surprisingly good – stunts in mid-air – Rage + strings)