Welcome to RAWWERKS! This site features the work of Raymond Weitekamp.
I mostly make materials and music. I run polySpectra and help scientists become entrepreneurs at PhD to CEO.
Some advice on your graduate school applications from someone who’s done it (thankfully only once) and advised other people to do it (a few times ;)): Get your applications in early. Most schools won’t admit it, but admissions are very often a rolling process. I know students who were admitted to schools 2 months before the deadline. Get in touch with the professors you think you’d like to work for. »
I just finished reading Michael Nielsen’s book, “Reinventing Discovery”, which I highly recommend. One of my favorite discussions in the book is also explored in his 2008 essay “The economics of scientific collaboration”. Nielsen’s concept of “expert attention” as a scare resource provides a unique lens through which to explore the economic aspects of scientific research, as a market in and of itself. While there are plenty of debates on the economics of science in the typical ‘discovery > technology > commercial products > quality of life’ arc, Nielsen explores the market aspects of doing science, as opposed to the output of science. »
“The turntable of the talking machines is comparable to the potter’s wheel: a tone-mass is formed upon them both, and for each the material is preexisting. But the finished tone/clay container that is produced in this manner remains empty. It is only filled by the hearer.” -Adorno I am often asked to describe how science has influenced my music (and sometimes vice verse). I often respond practically, pointing out particularly scientific aspects of my workflow: building instruments, writing code, neurotically tweaking parameters. »
The following is an interview I did for monome i. Instrument, Utensil, Implement, Machine, or Apparatus? which? why? where? Apparatus. To me, ‘apparatus’ implies a totality greater than the sum of the parts, imbued with some broad purpose, yet open-ended. An apparatus is a modular machine, an interchangeable instrument. In both my scientific and artistic experiments, designing the apparatus is often the core of the project. A musical instrument has a predictable timbre, a scientific instrument makes a pre-defined measurement - an apparatus, however, combines known elements to explore the unknown. »