Presentation: Inside CBM 8032 AV

Robert Henke presents the ideas and processes behind his new work CBM 8032 AV. Turning five computers from 1980 into an audiovisual live performance environment required a deep occupation with its hardware and ancient programming techniques using machine language and assembler. The talk gives insight into the struggles, happy accidents and magical moments that arose as a result. How to get sound and video out of those machines? How to network them? How do you create complex structures in an environment that only has 32kbyte of RAM and 8 bit CPU? What artistic merits can such a constrained scenario provide? Can anything learned from this project be re-used in other more contemporary setups?

The project is a part of Unsound Lab, financed by Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.