Only a Dino
Quote of the day “It’s only a Dino.” Wha!? In the course of my day yesterday I fell into talking with a man about some tools that he needed to break loose some cylinders on an old car he was working on. Me being interested in these sorts of things, I asked “Oh, what kind of car?”
“It’s a Ferrari.” Was his reply.
“In that case, I guess there are a lot of cylinders to loosen up.” My thinking is the average is like twelve. That’s when he said it.
“Well, It’s only a Dino.” Now I have never been much into Italian exotic cars. My experience with Lamborghini is that they are ugly and uncomfortable to sit in, and Maserati’s are beautiful and richly appointed on the inside but stiff to drive and so low to the ground that on the first pothole you are liable to rip off the oil pan. But a Ferrari is a Ferrari, except for the Dino. Which to my limited understanding is an early Pininfarina design and exists today in very limited numbers. Perhaps the most highly prized individual car in the collector car world.
What does this have to do with creativity? Well upon further discussion with this guy I find that in addition to being a Ferrari mechanic flown in from California to restore this mere Dino. He is also a drummer of experimental art music. Say it with me, Wha!? I am thinking Jazz, avante gaurde, Stan Getz in his later years. But no, he tells me that it more performance art music. I could never get a satisfactory explanation from him. I pictured The Flying Karamazov Brothers and their rhythmic juggling routines that included digital drum pads on their persons and infrared sensors in the floor. So that as the passed juggling clubs through the air the floor sensors would track them through space and play a preassigned note, and of course they would beat the drum pads to create rhythm. The effect was quite dazzling, lights, movement and music choreographed yet some how random. Observed from a jugglers perspective that any mishandling of a club, not just a bauble or a drop, but a mistimed or misplaced pass would be noticeable by the playing of a false note or ill triggered light. Thus requiring exacting attention to time and space.
And what occurs to me as I write this is that digital sensors applied to clothing interfacing with computers to make music is fairly doable, I think you can get them as hoodies from Old Navy, and infrared sensors that map three dimensional space and track movement is child’s play (Xbox Kenect, anyone?). But this was a performance that I saw in 1989. Third time is the charm Wha!? Yes it turns out these jugglers are also geniuses and worked with MIT to develop this equipment. Engineer? Artist? Musician? Mechanic? Creative problem solver thinkers, but you know, it’s only a Dino.
“It’s a Ferrari.” Was his reply.
“In that case, I guess there are a lot of cylinders to loosen up.” My thinking is the average is like twelve. That’s when he said it.
“Well, It’s only a Dino.” Now I have never been much into Italian exotic cars. My experience with Lamborghini is that they are ugly and uncomfortable to sit in, and Maserati’s are beautiful and richly appointed on the inside but stiff to drive and so low to the ground that on the first pothole you are liable to rip off the oil pan. But a Ferrari is a Ferrari, except for the Dino. Which to my limited understanding is an early Pininfarina design and exists today in very limited numbers. Perhaps the most highly prized individual car in the collector car world.
What does this have to do with creativity? Well upon further discussion with this guy I find that in addition to being a Ferrari mechanic flown in from California to restore this mere Dino. He is also a drummer of experimental art music. Say it with me, Wha!? I am thinking Jazz, avante gaurde, Stan Getz in his later years. But no, he tells me that it more performance art music. I could never get a satisfactory explanation from him. I pictured The Flying Karamazov Brothers and their rhythmic juggling routines that included digital drum pads on their persons and infrared sensors in the floor. So that as the passed juggling clubs through the air the floor sensors would track them through space and play a preassigned note, and of course they would beat the drum pads to create rhythm. The effect was quite dazzling, lights, movement and music choreographed yet some how random. Observed from a jugglers perspective that any mishandling of a club, not just a bauble or a drop, but a mistimed or misplaced pass would be noticeable by the playing of a false note or ill triggered light. Thus requiring exacting attention to time and space.
And what occurs to me as I write this is that digital sensors applied to clothing interfacing with computers to make music is fairly doable, I think you can get them as hoodies from Old Navy, and infrared sensors that map three dimensional space and track movement is child’s play (Xbox Kenect, anyone?). But this was a performance that I saw in 1989. Third time is the charm Wha!? Yes it turns out these jugglers are also geniuses and worked with MIT to develop this equipment. Engineer? Artist? Musician? Mechanic? Creative problem solver thinkers, but you know, it’s only a Dino.
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