Matt and Lujia are down in Guangzhou checking out the progress of Laoban. The project is almost complete. It really just needs the final sponsors to come through, get the lovely chinese broken ice grills, then it will be on a shipment up to Beijing!

The following image is a bit big, but shows the size of half of the stack. Note, there are two columns to the Laoban 2.0. We can of course make more on-demand.

Remember the original plans.

You can see that the images above are only half of the full stack, and that stack doesn't have the grillz on the front of the case.

This project in distance fabrication has gone quite well. All the sponsors I think will be quite happy, especially once we start doing events with the Laoban. New sponsors and event promoters please do contact us.

If you aren't following @rejon on twitter or identi.ca, then you might have missed the most recent pictures of Laoban 2.0 from the factory in Guangzhou. Here is a sampling:

From Drop Box

From Drop Box

Check out more images at picasa and don't forget, not too late to get in on the sponsorship action.

We are seeking sponsorships for the Laoban Soundsystem 2.0 being built in Guangzhou, China right now. It is to be used all summer in China for events. It is a custom engineered Chinese sound system, a research project, and a vehicle to connect sponsors with a large web-based and live audience connected to music, art, media, china, and web culture. Every time the system is used will be a media event, generating massive traffic and attention to the project and sponsors.

We are seeking sponsors in Da (large, $1000), Zhong (medium, $500), and Xiao (small, $250) increments to our goal of $8,000 to build this complete sound system in time for summer.

Da Sponsor (large, $1000)

• Logo/Image + web link to website


• Will receive pair Xiaoban Small DJ/Desktop Speakers from first production run of limited edition 88 speakers


• Announced in all press as a sponsor


• Invited to Special Events

Zhong Sponsor (medium, $500)

• Logo/Image + web link to website


• Announced in all press as a sponsor


• Invited to Special Events

Xiao Sponsor (small, $250)

• Logo/Image + web link to website on sponsors page


• Announced in group announcement

To start off this sponsorship push, Kude Labs and Fabricatorz have both sponsored the initial monies to begin fabrication on the Laoban Sound System. More than just sponsoring the development of the soundsystem, by contributing to the project, you will increase your connection to China media, art, culture and youth, as well as page views to the world's largest population of Internet users.

Contact us to be a sponsor and lets get this built!

About Laoban Soundsystems

Laoban Soundsystem is an open sound system. The plans for all speakers are available on-line under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 license. The events the soundsystem participates in are media events that generate further viral media. Anyone who attends the events, creates the speakers through the plans, or produces content for them is encouraged to tag media they make with laoban.

The Laoban Soundsystem events are a new type of media event where all are welcome to join, bring media, laptops, video players, cameras, and other recording devices. The goal is to mix media, explore what artists, DJs, musicians, designers, and architects are working on RIGHT NOW — successes, failures, and rough edges are welcome at Laoban events! The ultimate plan is for consumers to be producers by both mixing media, and by tagging any recordings they have with "laoban" when posting onto twitter.com, flickr.com, or other places.

Check out Tanner's review of Fabricatorz powered Cantocore website and project, which I summarized on the Cantocore website:

Tanner Menard looked at the Cantocore project from a distance stating:

I have been reading about Cantocore for a number of days totally obsessed by the complexity of the concepts presented on its site http://cantocore.com/, but it was not until I read the following statement that I was really sold on the idea; ‘Cantocore is the reality of life versus the theory set forth by jurisdictions where people live.’ As an artists who’s personal world view leans towards ontological anarchy, this statement elevates Cantocore from a link on Jon Phillip’s website to the top of the bookmark list on my favorite web browser.

I then waxed poetic about it on my website stating:

When people ask me to explain what exactly Cantocore is, I often dance around the similarities between Guangzhou and San Francisco. Both are at the far extremes from the political centers of power in China and the United States respectively. I also usually talk about the lifestyle of lowered barriers of the 3 P’s: property, privacy, and prices. These combined increase one’s state, or feeling of, personal freedom. However, this concept of the reality of life versus the theory set forth explains exactly how I feel about Cantocore: Just do it! Don’t have a meeting. Don’t make a committee. Don’t whine. Just make your project wherever you are at with what resources you have. Get it off the ground and sort out the pieces as you go.

Please check out the full text of both Tanner's post and my re-follow-up. Please consider adding your own thoughts as your own review out there on your site, or feel free to blog here or in the comments on this site. We are eager to hear what you think about Cantocore and the latest show on in San Francisco until April 18, Cantocore Free On Board.

I'm hopeful that others will take the review challenge. If you'd like to sit down and talk about the projects, get a feel for the show and ideas, email me and we can sit down or setup a phone call.

For both Chinese and English speakers, check out the smart work of Cantocore artist, Guy Overfelt.

Guy Overfelt is a San Francisco-based an artist whose work has been exhibited internationally. With humor and a mystic hammering, Overfelt furthers the conceptual art movement by mediating the influence of contemporaneous sociopolitical, cultural and economic conditions embodied by his 1977 “Smokey and the Bandit” Trans-AM muscle car. Overfelt plays with laughable notions of American-ness. Through a convergence of artistic practices, Overfelt re-imagines by-products of desire. He modifies his iconic Hollywood styled, Detroit-powered ideas to create mono-prints, peel-out paintings and a life-sized inflatable Trans-AM. His high performance actions shift cultural objects from the familiar to a more obscure metaphoric output.

Guy Overfelt是一名美国旧金山艺术家，作品多次在国际上展出。他以幽默和神秘的方式，通过调停社会政治、文化和经济的同构性影响，深化观念艺术。这一理念包涵在他1977年创作的肌肉车Smokey和Bandit Trans AM。Overflet以可笑的美国主义式见解，通过聚合的艺术实践，重新想像欲望的副产品。他改变好莱坞式的明星风格，用底特律的方式创作单色版画、原地烧胎绘画和实物尺寸的充气跑车。他高强度的行为作品把文化物品从熟悉转变为含糊和富于寓意。
Project

Untitled (Up in Smoke), inflatable nylon installation, 2008

Guy Overfelt furthers his obsession with American muscle cars. This time the inflatable Smoke is fabricated in Guangzhou, factory direct. Beyond Paul McCarthy-like reductive shapes coming off the assembly line or the Chinese Olympic team leaving the others’ in the dust, the simple shape raises questions about what these factories are pumping out in Guangzhou.

无题 (烟雾中)，充气尼龙装置，2008

Guy Overfelt进一步推进他对美国肌肉车的狂热，这次Overfelt在广州本地工厂制作了可充气的汽车烟雾。除了无数像Paul McCarthy式的从生产线来的复制形状和中国奥运队给其他国家运动员留下的一骑绝尘，这个简单的雕塑形式向我们提出的问题是这些工厂在广州的空气中排放了什么。

From my website, I just posted about:

Guy just sent me the brilliant video documenting the installation of his "Untitled (Up in Smoke)" which Fabricatorz facilitated in getting fabricated. Click the image above or follow the link to see the video.

Don't forget tomorrow, Sat, Feb 28 from 4-6 PM is the Cantocore FOB Artists Talk at Mission 17. Come discuss the project with Guy, JD Beltran, David Johnson, Kathrine Worel, Justin Hoover, and myself.