james tindall
by mikrosopht
how did you get started in programming ?
I started playing around with programming when i was about 10 using a zx spectrum and basic. I studied an interactive art degree in newport wales.
what were your first successful creations
well i was studying animation as well at the time so my first creations were very simple programmatically and were pretty much just simple interfaces to allow user control over simple animation loops
when did audio begin being incorporated into your work
right from the very start. I t has always been and always will be primarily about the music. it's my fuel without it there's no inspiration for me. I started using synths and samplers to make music in 91 but i had always been a visual artist for as long as i can remember. so when i started programming my purpose was to combine my visual art with my audio work.
so you make all the sounds in your pieces unless its obviously a collaborative work with say boards of canada, tipper, leftfield, or whomever
Yes all the music and audio in my personal work is my own stuff. I'm very good at starting tracks and very bad at finishing them off so web interfaces are in a way perfect for my musical output :)
would you consider yourself a bit of a perfectionist?
..it just occurred to me that by asking that question i may never get an answer.
I definitely often get accused of being a perfectionist...but i don't really believe in perfection. It's just that with the process of creation facilitated by the computer with undo's, multiple saved versions, etc ... there's always somewhere new the work can be pushed or tweaked. Saying that I usually find a place where it feels resolved , at least temporarily! I always spot things i'd change when i look back at work after a couple of months
ha ha...i guess that answered the question in more ways than one :)
do you feel dynamic ?
if by dynamic you mean fickle, always changing my mind then the answer is yes. maybe :)
whats your favorite things youve made, your favorite place to eat, and your favorite animal
my favourite creation is normally my most recent...at least from a look and feel / style perspective. As my taste in style changes quite rapidly. I think it's important to constantly seek new styles and ways of saying things. if you say the same thing the same way over and over it quickly becomes meaningless. I like a good thai curry. cats
have you ever eaten a cat ???
haha....no never! not knowingly at least...although some of those chunks in my curry are often a little suspect!
have you ever seen the movie Goonies? what do you think of the character Chunk ?
actually he always made me laugh...it'd be a pretty dull movie without him. i like the bit where he blows his cheeks on the window
have you ever seen a cat do that? have you ever blown a cat up? do you like to go to the movies
no but they do get up to some stupid stuff
do you think cats are mostly stupid or slightly smart
i actually remember seeing some older kids burn a cat when i was 5
did that traumatize you for life? what weird stuff have you personally witnessed in your lifetime
i don't think so. cats are definatley bright. the difference between cats and dogs...dogs see humans feeding them and caring for them and think hey these guys must be gods, cats see humans feeding them and caring for them and think " hey I must be a god"
are you god or did you mean the cat thought itself was god
we all are. aren't we? i meant cat's think they are gods
are you a fan of the hard sciences
what do you consider a hard science?
not easily penetrated, strongly alcoholic, characterized by the presence of salts, stable in value, firmly and closely twisted, physically fit.
I'm into science and tend to be quite an empirical person.
do you own an observatory ? where do you work
I like Quantum Physics, Cosmology, Maths, Evolution Theory, Artificial life, Cybernetics...
would you marry a robot if s/he/it was perfect for you
i often work from home...but sometimes i go into the office of whoever i'm working with on whatever project
where is home
if she really was perfect for me i'd be stupid not to. i live by the river on the Isle Of Dogs in east london
are you a sailor
no ... more of an old sea dog!
how Old are you
32
how does that make you feel
hmmm....i don't like this aging thing. i worry about getting round to all the stuff i want to do
like what
haha...everything...
would you consider yourself a worry wart
no i'm not a real worrier...i'm just not so realistic and set my expectations fairly high
Alberto Giacometti, Max Ernst, M.C. Esher, or Salvador Dali
That's easy - Giacometti
sculpture or paperstuff
both
favorite(s) ?
there's a portrait of his ...i forget the name - in the tate modern in london...everytime i go i end up staring at it for a good while along with a nude by Euan Uglow
so howd you get to be a premiere media_maker for some hype electronic musician folks
i was very fortunate to graduate from a course that prepared me with an education in the fine arts along with a knowledge of computers just at the right time to catch the internet wav
how do you feel about aif mp3 ogg mpg avi and stuff
don't like ogg, love mp3s
ogg: why not? if you have to go, we can wrap it up. let me know
no it's ok..the kettle just boiled :)
what are you drinking over there
green tea
im under the impression there is a lot more tea drinking in the uk than the usa, have you ever killed anyone
man you pair up your question in a strange way! yeah tea is essential. No
apples, oranges, pears, apricots, hammocks, monks, nuns, nannies, fannies, an anthill, hilltops, tulips, teeth, or a tongue transplant (that was /. news)
apricots and hilltops
lollipops or scrubbing mops ? if more people in the united states drank tea would the world be a better place
something needs to be done about the willingness of the US and the UK to go to war and the erroneous belief that it will make the world a better place in the long run. and by something needs to be done i definitely do not mean any kind of terrorist action or even marching in the streets
regime change ?
education is the only way. no i don't feel it's our right to initiate regime change in another nation unless there's a very very watertight justification
i meant in the us, uk.
well yeah..that'll happen anyway...i can't see bush getting in to the whitehouse again! can you? and blair will just be too damn tired soon...he seems to have aged 20 years in the last two
i hope not i really do. if bush goes back in thatd be terrible.. i dont think we could stand it. do you think the internet could help the average citizen see through national propaganda
I think the alternative information sources provided by the web can be extremely useful but the problem of legitimization makes it a double-edged sword. sources can be misleading in more ways than one...they can often appear to be more independent than they are.
do you have any favorite methods of gathering information you'd like to share
only the old style link to link to link...i think they used to call it surfing :) ... not sure people do it anymore ?
recommended sites ? google to start ?
edge.org
ubu.com
ctheory.net
google will always be home, the first and last place to look. oh and of course gabba.net and electrokin.com ...
james tindall googlisms:
james tindall is
james tindall is #454
james tindall is doing some of the best shockwave multimedia work to be found on the web
now you see what i mean by the problem of legitimization !? ;-)
james tindall website