Maker Faire

The Painful Leg Injuries The Painful Leg Injuries
This unique music combines field recordings, homemade electronics, gameboy, circuit bent toys, software-based instruments, warped old instruments, audio data gathered from file conversions of visual art, and lovely cello drones.

Tree Music Trevor Reichman
Performing original compositions about sustainability, the earth, and other related interests, and focusing on all original compositions, self production, and distribution, tree music takes DIY independence from the music industry to the extreme.

Model Rocketry John Boren, Estes-Cox
A product designer at Estes, John will begin with a brief history of Estes and why it came to be. He will discuss the different types of model rockets and in particular the different methods of recovery devices. He will look at how advancements in technology have allowed the modeler to use model rockets for more then just shooting them off for enjoyment.

PowerPoint Slam Donald Pitschel
This staring contest between ironic wit and the tools of corporate-think airlifts the competitive energy of poetry slams past the iron curtain of bulleted lists and clip art. Competitors can be funny, sincere, ironic, maudlin, obtuse, or hostile--any human expression that defies the oversimplified, unctuous paternalism of corporate presentation style.

Swap-O-Rama-Rama Clothing Swap
Wendy Tremayne Angela Coneflower , Sarah Presson
Get rid of your tired clothes and make them new by joining in the communal process of creative reuse at Swap-o-Rama-Rama, the world's largest clothing swap and creativity workshop. Get hands-on and experience how much more fun it is to be a creator than a consumer. Lean to sew with the help of local designers. Modify and transform clothing through artist-led workshops. Silkscreen your garments with fresh original designs. All materials for creativity are provided. Take away as much clothing as you can carry! <b>It's all free: a Maker Faire ticket plus any size bag of unwanted (clean) clothes admits you to this textile paradise.</b>

Art of the Catapult Bill Gurstelle
Author of "Backyard Ballistics" and "Art of the Catapult", Bill Gurstelle offers a historical and technological review of the catapult as well as a preview of the day's King of Fling contest.

Space Squid Puppet Show and Postmodern Storytelling David Chang , Matthew Bey , Steve Wilson
Come by for kid-friendly puppet plays and stories! Of course, they'll be infused with the slightly-askew sensibilities of Space Squid, Austin's worst sci-fi and humor 'zine.

Rabbit Fist Harold Lehman
This band combines guitars, drums, laptop/keyboards and voices to create layered punchy-pop arrangements around subjects ranging from fear to death, unrestrained-capitalism to sensory overload.

Robo Thespian Will Jackson
Meet a robot who was made for the stage. Will explains how RoboThespian works and describe the surprising reactions people have to his robot.

Deep Sea Suburbs: Backyard Anthropology Mister Jalopy
Born out of the need to repair garage sale purchases, Mister Jalopy embarked on the quest to be handy about 10 years ago. This talk traces his inspiring path of discovery as he built skills and became a Make contributing editor.

Theremin for the Masses Aileen Adler
The Theremin is one of the first electronic instruments ever built, in Russia in 1919. It is played without actual, physical touch! You simply control pitch and volume by moving your hands back and forth within two electromagnetic fields that are radiated off of two separate antennas. Come by for a short demonstration on how the Theremin works, hear how it sounds, and give it a try yourself.

Attic Ted Attic Ted
It's an insane asylum country gothic carnival of musical performance art, utilizing old Hammond organ, cello, noises, and masks.

Screamin' Babyhead Band Marvin Niebuhr aka Professor Conrad
This visual and audio extravaganza features Rogue Bio-mechanicals.

Austin Food Makers Marla Camp
The editor of Edible Austin, Marla Camp, talks about the local makers of good food and how rewarding it is to make your own food.

3, 2, 1 Kill! ColdTowne Theater
'''3, 2, 1 Kill!''' mixes on-the-spot film making with live stage performances and musical accompaniment for a one-of-a-kind multi-media laugh riot. (Note: do not riot). Your suggestion drives the piece. Is it funny? Yes. Is it made up right then and there? Yes. Is it dangerous? Not really. Is it hard to pull off? Heck yeah. Most movies take months to make. They get ten minutes.

Automata: Life in Wood Sarah Alexander
A jaunt through the last 30 years of Cabaret Mechanical Theatre with its director who is the daughter of the founder, Sue Jackson. Glimpse some of the fantastic automata from the collection and learn about the artists who made them.

Science in the Movies Steve Wolf
Steve is a Special Effects Coordinator who has designed, engineered, and performed stunts and special effects for feature films and television shows. Steve uses his knowledge and experience to help students develop an appreciation and understanding of science.

Space Squid Puppet Show and Postmodern Storytelling David Chang , Matthew Bey , Steve Wilson
Come by for kid-friendly puppet plays and stories! Of course, they'll be infused with the slightly-askew sensibilities of Space Squid, Austin's worst sci-fi and humor 'zine.

21st Century Woodworking Tools Ted Hall
The founder of ShopBot tells how his company was an outgrowth of his passion for building wooden boats and how that led him to create an affordable, capable CNC machine for the rest of us.

TweakFreaks Sthil: 2:00-2:30 / Furby youth Choir: 2:35-2:55 / 8th Continent Arts Council: 3:00-3:25 / The Spaceinvader Orchestra / 3:30-4:00
Christopher Brown
TweakFreaks™ is Maker Faire Austin's Festival-within-a-Festival dedicated to the art and science of circuit-bending and other forms of electronic musical madness. Featured benders will include: Sk1 Project (Houston), AtariMatt (College Station), The Spaceinvader Orchestra (Austin), The Furby Youth Choir (Austin), Larz (Denton), Ontic (Austin), and Radarcave (Austin). (Subject to change)

Foot Patrol Foot Patrol
Enjoy the only foot-fetish funk band in existence. The singer / keyboard virtuoso is blind and happens to be very interested in feet, so all of the songs this band sings are about that oft-underrated body part.

Pleo and Its Maker, Caleb Chung Caleb Chung
Caleb co-invented the 1998 hot toy of the year, Furby, which sold over 40 million units worldwide, generating over $1 billion in sales. Caleb is inventor and co-founder of UGOBE Life Forms, which will be coming out soon with Pleo, a robotic dinosaur.

Ralph White Ralph White
Banjos, kalimba and mbiras, accordion, and singing: this artist makes no attempt to process or arrange his material. Although he plays the banjo, his style has more to do pre-bluegrass, southern Appalachian "claw-hammer" playing, where the whole fist is used, sort of like a claw, rather than the popular style of finger-picking the strings.

Design Squad Austin Children's Museum
Unleash your ingenuity and challenge yourself to think like an engineer with this area inspired by the popular PBS show--at the Faire through its friends at Austin Children's Museum. Don't miss special guest appearances by Design Squad host Nate Ball and second season cast member Deysi.

Sideshow Tramps Shane Lauder
Not only will they play you a set using their own homemade musical instruments, but they will also demonstrate the philosopher's stone, faith healing, and other miscellaneous lesser miracles.

Crafty Biz 101 Jenny Ryan
Learn about crafting as a business and get tips on exhibiting at local craft fairs from Jenny Ryan, founder of Felt Club in LA.

The Planck Stringed Instrument Seven Sexton
Sounding like a guitar, pedal steel, koto, or sitar, this 7-stringed musical instrument is played horizontally, a bit like a piano, by tapping the strings.

Big Bold Embroidery Jenny Hart
Austin-based artist and entrepreneur Jenny Hart will present a slide show of her embroidered portraits and talk about her innovations in embroidery design. Hart is an artist, author of three titles with Chronicle Books (Sublime Stitching Craft Pad out Spring '09) and founder of Sublime Stitching."

Poor Man's Bagpipe Bob Pennington
Say you join an Irish band, and the need arises for a bagpipe player. But bagpipes are very expensive and they take years to master, and players are hard to come by. No problem! Combine some odd parts, a bunch of ingenuity and a bit of leprechaun luck, and the pipes they will be a-blowin'.

Diet Coke and Mentos Mega-Fountains Fritz Grobe and Stephen Voltz
Help the original Eepybird guys build their amazing Mega-Fountain using Diet Coke and Mentos! Soda practically explodes as carbon dioxide rapidly escapes from the bottle.

Terp 2 It ColdTowne Theater
A nerdcore rapper from Austin whose performance is aided by sketch comedy videos and a professional wrestling belt, Terp 2 It has opened for MC Chris and for "Comedy Central Presents...."

Flying Cars Vernon Porter
Vernon believes that the future of the flying car is now. He is building a prototype flying car that uses a Mazda RX-engine and runs on regular gas. Designed to fly two people at 150 mph cruise speed, it fits in an ordinary garage.

Swap-O-Rama-Rama Special Fashion Show Presentation
Wendy Tremayne Angela Coneflower , Sarah Presson
Get rid of your tired clothes and make them new by joining in the communal process of creative reuse at Swap-o-Rama-Rama, the world's largest clothing swap and creativity workshop. Get hands-on and experience how much more fun it is to be a creator than a consumer. Lean to sew with the help of local designers. Modify and transform clothing through artist-led workshops. Silkscreen your garments with fresh original designs. All materials for creativity are provided. Take away as much clothing as you can carry! <b>It's all free: a Maker Faire ticket plus any size bag of unwanted (clean) clothes admits you to this textile paradise.</b>

Rattletree Marimba Joel Laviolette
This Zimbabwean marimba band builds all its own marimbas--including the impressive six-foot tall bass one.

Self-Guided Design Chalo Colina
A prolific maker, Chalo will talk about the role of common sense and self-confidence in meeting technical objectives using resources at hand. He believes that most people already have most of what they need to make things they might assume that are beyond their ability.

Fire Show adelyn botto , David Umlas , Edwin Wise , Jason Mika
A variety of fire-art performances by Jason Mika, David Umlas, Edwin Wise and Adelyn Botto.

Haircuts by Robots amelia winger-bearskin
No, it's not automated grooming, but rather an epic sci-fi rock opera that tells the story of a torrid love-triangle between a woman, a man and a robot, all set against an intergalactic backdrop where danger lurks around every corner. The robot's parents are a guitar and a typewriter.

Kosmophone: Music from the Spheres Jerry Chamkis
Jerry is founder of the Acme Electric Robot Company in Austin. He builds music recording equipment and teaches at the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired. His Kosmophone is a gamma-ray spectrometer operating in the range of about 3 to 7 million electron-volts (MeV) controlling a MIDI music synthesizer.

Foleyvision Foleyvision
Strange foreign films are dubbed live with voices, music, and sound effects. Come by to enjoy an episode of Japanese Spiderman.

Spelunker Steve Marsh
This solo act creates a primitive blues-in-a-cave experience. It is performed exclusively on self-made instruments, including an electric 2x4 with slide, a bass 4x4, and electric springs, and vocals channeled through effects and live loops.

Livid: Experimental Video Controlling Instruments Livid Instruments
Use the Viditar, or trigger video while playing the either the bass or guitar models, or manipulate video effects with motion detecting interactive projection system.

The Making of ArtGolf ArtGolf Team
ArtGolf is Maker Faire’s newest homemade attractions. Get the scoop on this design-and-build project from its makers.

Swap-O-Rama-Rama Clothing Swap
Wendy Tremayne Angela Coneflower , Sarah Presson
Get rid of your tired clothes and make them new by joining in the communal process of creative reuse at Swap-o-Rama-Rama, the world's largest clothing swap and creativity workshop. Get hands-on and experience how much more fun it is to be a creator than a consumer. Lean to sew with the help of local designers. Modify and transform clothing through artist-led workshops. Silkscreen your garments with fresh original designs. All materials for creativity are provided. Take away as much clothing as you can carry! <b>It's all free: a Maker Faire ticket plus any size bag of unwanted (clean) clothes admits you to this textile paradise.</b>

Rattletree Marimba Joel Laviolette
This Zimbabwean marimba band builds all its own marimbas--including the impressive six-foot tall bass one.

Wonderful Little Things Mark Frauenfelder
Editor-in-Chief of MAKE and founder of Boing-Boing,net, Mark Frauenfelder will give a little talk about the funny little things you find in the back of old magazines, and what you can find there today.

Space Squid Puppet Show and Postmodern Storytelling David Chang , Matthew Bey , Steve Wilson
Come by for kid-friendly puppet plays and stories! Of course, they'll be infused with the slightly-askew sensibilities of Space Squid, Austin's worst sci-fi and humor 'zine.

Automata: Life in Wood Sarah Alexander
A jaunt through the last 30 years of Cabaret Mechanical Theatre with its director who is the daughter of the founder, Sue Jackson. Glimpse some of the fantastic automata from the collection and learn about the artists who made them.

Foleyvision Redux
Foleyvision
Strange foreign films are dubbed live with voices, music, and sound effects. Come by to enjoy an episode of Japanese Spiderman.

Model Rocketry John Boren, Estes-Cox
A product designer at Estes, John will begin with a brief history of Estes and why it came to be. He will discuss the different types of model rockets and in particular the different methods of recovery devices. He will look at how advancements in technology have allowed the modeler to use model rockets for more then just shooting them off for enjoyment.

Beyond the Frames of Light and Strange Sounds Lori 16MM Varga
A handmade, analog 16mm motion picture exhibit of experimental media which reappropriates material in 35mm slide & 16mm film formats, all juxtaposed from seven projectors. Circuit-bent instruments & mag oxide tape readers supply Avant-Audio for the screening.

Manager's Choice Manager's Choice
This mutated new wave dance rock hatched in a garage laboratory from an explosive concoction of worldbeat and early punk music with one goal ... dancing zombies. The unit boasts 4 singer-songwriters who send the beakers bubbling over with a hook-riddled and danceable set. During the day, they masquerade as: 1) a dementor 2) a tuscan raider 3) a golf pro and 4) a replicant. Can you guess who does what?

Armchair Astronomy Tierney O’Dea
You can now use an observatory telescope even though you are sitting at your computer at home. Tierney of SLOOH.COM will talk about a web site for armchair astronomers. SLOOH.COM is an online network of observatories with its flagship observatory located at the Astrophysics Institute of the Canary Islands and two more online soon in Chile and Australia.

Space Squid Puppet Show and Postmodern Storytelling David Chang , Matthew Bey , Steve Wilson
Come by for kid-friendly puppet plays and stories! Of course, they'll be infused with the slightly-askew sensibilities of Space Squid, Austin's worst sci-fi and humor 'zine.

Belaharr Drum and Dance Troupe Belaharr
This group of drummers, dancers, and friendly musicians in Austin performs rhythm and music drawn from Afro-Cuban, Middle Eastern, and other cultures around the world. At 2pm, after our regular performance, we're having a MakerJam. Bring anything percussive and come play along with us, or join in the MakerLine conga line!

Hacking the iPhone George Hotz
Rochester Institute of Technology student and chronic hardware hacker, George Hotz recently unlocked the iPhone.

Science in the Movies Steve Wolf
Steve is a Special Effects Coordinator who has designed, engineered, and performed stunts and special effects for feature films and television shows. Steve uses his knowledge and experience to help students develop an appreciation and understanding of science.

TweakFreaks Radarcave: 1:30-2:10 / The Spaceinvader Orchestra: 2:00-2:30 / Furby Youth Choir: 2:35-3:00 / 8th Continent Arts Council: 3:05-3:30 / Ontic: 3:35-4:00
Christopher Brown
TweakFreaks™ is Maker Faire Austin's Festival-within-a-Festival dedicated to the art and science of circuit-bending and other forms of electronic musical madness. Featured benders will include: Sk1 Project (Houston), AtariMatt (College Station), The Spaceinvader Orchestra (Austin), The Furby Youth Choir (Austin), Larz (Denton), Ontic (Austin), and Radarcave (Austin). (Subject to change)

The Maker As Revolutionary Wendy Tremayne
In 2005, Wendy launched Swap-O-Rama-Rama, an "alternative to consumerism" in the form of a clothing swap and DIY workshop. The aim is to inspire creative reuse through the recycling of used clothing by cutting, sewing, and transforming the garments into something new, original, and decidedly your own. Since its introduction, Swap-O-Rama-Rama has grown to more than 40 cities around the world, including a very special swap at Maker Faire.

Washtub Jerry & Bruce Newman Washtub Jerry & Bruce Newman
This combination workshop and music performance will reveal materials used, reasons for selection, Q & A with Wash & Bruce, and crazy things that have happened along the way to making the washtub bass.

Handmade Nation Faythe Levine
Faythe will discuss the new wave of craft that is sweeping the nation. In 2006, she began shooting her documentary, Handmade Nation, traveling to 15 cities and interviewing over 50 community members. She will show a clip of the documentary in progress and discuss the different ways to get involved with the craft community as a maker.

Acroyoga Ashley Gloor
AcroYoga blends the spiritual wisdom of yoga, the loving kindness of Thai massage, and the dynamic power of Acrobatics. These three ancient lineages form the foundation of a unique new practice that cultivates trust, connection and playfulness. Our highest aim is to bring individuals into a state of union with themselves, with each other, and with the divine. From this place of mutual support the true self can be realized, honored and shared for the benefit of all. Om Shanti

Deep Sea Suburbs: Backyard Anthropology Mister Jalopy
Born out of the need to repair garage sale purchases, Mister Jalopy embarked on the quest to be handy about 10 years ago. This talk traces his inspiring path of discovery as he built skills and became a Make contributing editor.

Operator Operator
This Euro-synth band based in Austin prepares a potion of equal parts synth-pop and indie rock with a dash of glam. Operator makes music that's extremely foreign yet instantly appealing. Arrangements consist of whirling electronics and taut guitar, structured around an inextricable combination of bass and electronic drums. Smooth vocals cool it all down, and simple melodies arranged in complex layers drift apart only to recombine in anthemic moments that sparkle with emotional depth and humanity.

Gigapan Rich LeGrand
The next generation of panaromic imaging is here and in gigapixels. Rich LeGrand of Austin-based Charmed Labs has been working with Google, NASA and Carnegie-Mellon University to create a robotic unit for taking gigapixel pictures with ordinary digital cameras. The images can be viewed in Google Earth or online at gigapan.org.

The Planck Stringed Instrument Seven Sexton
Sounding like a guitar, pedal steel, koto, or sitar, this 7-stringed musical instrument is played horizontally, a bit like a piano, by tapping the strings.

Lunar Laser Ranging at McDonald Observatory Washtub Jerry
Learn about the first 37 years of lunar laser ranging at McDonald Observatory in west Texas. Lunar data is used to study many aspects of the earth and much more.

Poor Man's Bagpipe Bob Pennington
Say you join an Irish band, and the need arises for a bagpipe player. But bagpipes are very expensive and they take years to master, and players are hard to come by. No problem! Combine some odd parts, a bunch of ingenuity and a bit of leprechaun luck, and the pipes they will be a-blowin'.

The Art of Living Dangerously Bill Gurstelle
There are people who take extraordinary risks to achieve their goals. What can we learn from them? What keeps us from living dangerously and participating in events like Punkin Chunkin, Burning Man, and High Desert Rocket Launches.

Diet Coke and Mentos Mega-Fountains Fritz Grobe and Stephen Voltz
Help the original Eepybird guys build their amazing Mega-Fountain using Diet Coke and Mentos! Soda practically explodes as carbon dioxide rapidly escapes from the bottle.

Make Bot, Break Down: An Audio/Video Centrifuge Michelle Mayer
This three-member information ministry instigates spontaneous throw-downs everywhere and anywhere Earth people need a party.

Operator Performance resumes after Coke + Mentos quiets stage 4:00-4:45
Operator
This Euro-synth band based in Austin prepares a potion of equal parts synth-pop and indie rock with a dash of glam. Operator makes music that's extremely foreign yet instantly appealing. Arrangements consist of whirling electronics and taut guitar, structured around an inextricable combination of bass and electronic drums. Smooth vocals cool it all down, and simple melodies arranged in complex layers drift apart only to recombine in anthemic moments that sparkle with emotional depth and humanity.