[Robotgroup] Bruce Shapiro 2nd attempt

[Def Egge]

At 09:51  2007-11-08, you wrote:
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 >Hi Rick,
 >
 >A friend of mine, from Minneapolis, was down at the Austin Maker
 >Faire.  He was surprised when he saw your sand and eggplotters, but 

 >not me.  He sent me a couple photos of your exhibit.
 >
 >First-- thank you for acknowledging my work as your inspiration.  I 

 >was hoping to do the Austin Faire (I presented at both San Mateo
 >events), but schedule conflicts prevented it.  I do, however, have 
a
 >couple comments:
 >
 >1) I consider my works to be art pieces.  You call my "Sisyphus" a
 >sculpture , and your "Sisyphus" a sculpture, so I assume that you
 >agree with this classification.  But by copying not only the action 

 >of the machine, but also its name, I believe you are crossing the
 >line.  I would ask you, respectfully, not to use this name to title 

 >your sand plotter(s).  You are hardly the first to copy my work:
 >http://www.carlsondesign.com/sandplotter.html is just one
 >example.  They credit my work, but do not copy the name.
 >
 >2) Your signage implied that in my Sisyphus sculpture, I hide the
 >mechanism.  Since 1998, I have made four versions.  Only the first
 >(Sisyphus I) has the mechanism enclosed within a wooden box.  The
 >"guts" are revealed, however, on my website:
 >http://www.taomc.com/art_machines/sisyphus.htm  All the subsequent
 >versions have the mechanism exposed-- Sisyphus II (at the Science
 >Museum of Minnesota and the Exploratorium in San Francisco), 
Sisyphus
 >
 >III (in Winterthur Switzerland, where the public can walk entirely
 >beneath the machine and inspect its mechanism), and Sisyphus IV,
 >which I built for travelling (NYC, Fort Worth, Dublin, London,
 >Belgium so far).  I had planned to show Sis IV at the Maker Faire 
in
 >San Mateo last May, but it had recently returned from Belgium, and
 >was damaged in transit.  With no time to fix it, I grabbed Sis I, 
and
 >
 >showed it instead.
 >
 >I am particularly sensitive to this last issue.  Throughout my 17+
 >years of involvement in developing motion control as an art medium, 
I
 >
 >have devoted a good deal of my time and energy toward education and 

 >the dissemination of the technical skills and information required
 >for beginners to enter the field (see the portion of my site
 >entitled, "teaching machines," and the
 >tutorial:  http://www.taomc.com/bits2bots/index.htm ).  It is very
 >disheartening to read: "Unlike Dr. Shapiro's design, The Robot 
Group
 >reveals its inner mechanism."
 >
 >I also see that you have built an egg plotter.  Congratulations.  I 

 >did not receive any pictures of your signage for it, but again, I
 >hope that you are not calling it "Eggbot."
 >
 >Thank you for your interest in my work, and I hope you will receive 

 >these comments in the spirit with which they are intended-- a 
simple
 >appeal for fairness.
 >
 >Bruce
 >
 >
 >ded message attached.
 >_______________________________________________
 >Robotgroup mailing list
 >Robotgroup at puremagic.com
 >http://lists.puremagic.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/robotgroup

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Not surprising nor unanticipated....

Thank him for his comments / constructive criticisms.  Change the 
names.  Continue to acknowledge him as the major inspiration for the 
projects.

Kick a little sand on the mess and the play ends happily.


-- 

All the best....

Mike