audrey penven

Tonight, Loud Objects performed at Noisebridge. Tristan Perich and Lesley Flanigan soldered their instrument while playing it. Beautiful 1-bit glitch. This makes me happy. Full photo set is here.

At last month's Hubba Hubba Revue, I shot with two cameras. The digital shots went up a little while ago. Now I present to you the film version of the night. 160 ISO film in my Contax with the 1.4f Zeiss lens. This, of course, means multiple exposures! A lot of them! Like this one of the beautiful Vienna la Rouge.

The rest of the photos are here, added to the set of digital shots.

The sound of my hands moving across the keys. The glow of my laptop screen. Things are happening. I keep reminding myself of this, even though it's not tangible yet. Email. Talking. Planning.

Another New Year in Berlin. I've completely lost track of how many people we've convinced to join us. A plan formed at sunrise, Tuesday morning at Burning Man, on the top of Thunderdome. Journey to the End of the Night was an amazing way to experience the two cities I've played in - Oakland and San Francisco. An unfamiliar path through a familiar city took me to places I hadn't seen. I found connections I didn't know before. The game redefined what counted as a way out. I wrote about the Oakland game in June, so I won't retell the story here. I craved this experience in other cities. I wanted to play in Berlin, in Wien, in Praha, in every other city I might travel to someday. Once these thoughts spilled from my lips, they were on their way to becoming real. Slim, Valerie, and I in the quiet of dawn, before sleep. I'm not sure which one of us said the words. It had momentum before I had decided for sure to go to Berlin again. So this is what happens now!

Ok, so I've committed to going to Berlin again. That means, of course, going to 26C3. This year, I'm giving a talk. It's called "Photography and the Art of Doing it Wrong." One of my tasks for the next week is finishing the paper for it. If you're coming to Berlin, come listen to my talk! It's happening at 2pm on December 29th, in the big room! I hope to see you there!

Praha, for more than a day and a half. Perhaps the train will not catch fire. And this time, the stories and memories won't just be mine. More photographs of the city at night - some for a sculpture I'm building for Burning Man next year.

Speaking of Praha.... This game, Machinarium was made by the Czech based Amanita Design. It's the most beautiful game I've ever played. From the first screenshots I saw, I remembered walking the streets of Praha in January. The story is told without words. Puzzles are often solved in delightfully janky ways. It is charming and wonderful, and my words are not adequate for what I want to express. Play it. Do it now. You'll be happy you did.

This will be my third winter in Europe. I'm very excited to play a more active role this time, instead of just attending the Congress. I love listening to other people's talks. I love the experiences and games set up by others. But, I'm happiest when I'm creating also. The balance is important here. I'm so excited!

roll #16

roll #17

roll #18

Ok, the deal with any of these is this: It is a roll of film I shot in the recent past. Number 16 is the only one I have any definitive idea about, because it is the most recent one to come out of my camera. The other two? I'm pretty sure I bought the film sometime after returning from Burning Man, but I can't make any promises. We'll only know when it's been developed. That's where you come in. For $45, you help these be in the world. They'll be developed, scanned, and put online. And, you'll get a photograph that is a physical object - I will make an 11x14 print for you from your roll, using light and chemicals. Go to my etsy store and take your pick. I can't wait to share these with you!