Exhibit 52 - March 8 TOP ▲
Marketing
Dedicated to Paven Bratch - moo!
Dan Zen cares deeply about society and builds things he hopes will lead to creativity and wonder. He has created a number of ways to promote his products so that he can spend more time making them! Let's take a look at Zen's thoughts on the current market for interactive works followed by innovative techniques for spreading the word.
VISIT MARKETING
Exhibit 51 - March 1 TOP ▲
Code 3
Dedicated to Stephan Powell
Dan Zen has been coding since he studied Engineering in the mid 1980's. This exhibit looks at the early years of coding on Vax, early PC's, CD ROM multimedia and the dawn of the Internet.
VISIT CODE 3
Exhibit 50 - February 23 TOP ▲
Outdoor Creations
Dedicated to Mike and Leasa and Family
Continuing from the Physical Creations and the Indoor Games exhibits comes Dan Zen creations for the great outdoors. Dedicated to the Steadmans remembering fun times throwing snowballs.
VISIT OUTDOOR CREATIONS
Exhibit 49 - February 16 TOP ▲
Gadgets
Dedicated to Jim Ruxton - maybe we will make some together
Here is a look primarily at digital gadgets. A number of Dan Zen features are hard to categorize any other way!
VISIT GADGETS
Exhibit 48 - February 9 TOP ▲
Songs
Dedicated to Dianda, Medocovich and Bryden
Dan Zen has written about seventy songs. This exhibit shows some of them during his main song writing times written down on paper. Once the Internet came along in the mid nineties, Zen switched artistic direction to work primarily in the Interactive Media world.
VISIT SONGS
Exhibit 47 - February 2 TOP ▲
Interfaces
Dedicated to Wayne McPhail
The Dan Zen site is filled with experimental interfaces. Zen graduated from Engineering specializing in ergonomics and interface. He teaches Interactive Coding and Interface Design at Sheridan College in Canada. This exhibit focuses on how people use the Dan Zen applications to create, communicate and play.
VISIT INTERFACES
Exhibit 46 - January 26 TOP ▲
Sketches 3
Dedicated to Dave and Teresa Kuruc at Mixed Media
The third exhibit of Dan Zen sketches includes a few old and a few new. The other two exhibits can be found in the Expo Archives and the three Exhibits show about 100 sketches out of approximately 1500 spanning a period of twenty years.
VISIT SKETCHES 3
Exhibit 45 - January 19 TOP ▲
Words
Dedicated to RoseAnne Prevec - word lover
Words are symbols for objects and ideas and as such are paramount in all the Exhibits. Word-play and creation interest Dan Zen perhaps due to heredity but also to help understand creativity and communicate ideas. Let us see how someone with a name of ZEN departs from ZEN with his love for symbols.
VISIT WORDS
Exhibit 44 - January 12 TOP ▲
Video
Dedicated to Uncle Jim, an early chronicler
Since the VHS tape and camera, Dan Zen has been recording moving into High 8, Digital Tapes, Disks and then harddrives. From about fifty VHS tapes to a hundred digital tapes and on to thousands of video clips Dan Zen has been recording his creations as well as ideas in philosophy, recreational ravines, interactive media, etc. Let's take a look!
VISIT VIDEO
Exhibit 43 - January 5 TOP ▲
Business Cards
Dedicated to Jim Rudnick at FundHamOnt for the $100
This collection of business cards are all from the Hamilton region where Dan Zen lives. There is a collection of industry cards from Toronto as well... but, hey, you get the idea. Note that many of the cards may have out-of-date information as they have been collected over the last twenty years or so. But that is part of the fun - enjoy!
VISIT BUSINESS CARDS 1
Exhibit 42 - December 29 TOP ▲
Future
Madeline and Elliot who will be there...
Dan Zen often quotes a philosopher of our times... "I don' care about history - cause that's not where I wanna be." It is the future - well... that and a touch of the future is now. Zen writes stories, works with advanced technologies, and sketches the future. Of course, being an Inventor, Zen takes active part in creating the future. Let's see!
VISIT FUTURE
Exhibit 41 - December 22 TOP ▲
ZIM Bits
Dedicated to Adrian, Pablo and Mark at JAM3
Zim Bits is a collection of interactive media samples / tutorials. These will help creators make interactive media on the HTML Canvas with JavaScript, CreateJS and ZIMjs. They are also fun to look at if you are at all interested in how games and apps are made. ZIM BITS is the latest project by Dan Zen and he hopes it will grow to be well used!
VISIT ZIM BITS
Exhibit 40 - December 15 TOP ▲
Cards
Dedicated to RoseAnne who makes most clever cards!
Dan Zen has made custom cards all his life. In the early days he used fold-out techniques, pull strips and good old seventies custom bubble fonts. Moving into the digital world, he still keeps an inventive edge. Most of his cards have been given away, of course, but check these out!
VISIT CARDS
Exhibit 39 - December 8 TOP ▲
Workshop
Dedicated to Mr. Ross who made the shelves
Once every couple years Dan Zen must clean the workshop. Projects are created and nests of scraps start to appear. Eventually the workshop is overrun and then it stays like that for a year or so. Let's find out if it is possible to make it tidy again.
VISIT WORKSHOP
Exhibit 38 - December 1 TOP ▲
Moog
Dedicated to John Schustyk - and of course Thee Gnostics
This exhibit includes various Gnostics and solo Moog recordings. Dan Zen has a 1974 Moog Satellite which he played through a delay pedal and a chorus pedal. Enjoy and space out!VISIT MOOG
Exhibit 37 - November 24 TOP ▲
Code 2
Dedicated to Lee Brimelow and the Flash Team
Coding or programming is how the logic and interactivity of a system like a game or an app are applied. The Code 1 Exhibit showed Dan Zen coding from 2014-2015 as he moved over to JavaScript with CreateJS and ZIMjs. This exhibit explores Zen's years coding in Adobe Flash 2002-2014. NOTE: make sure to press the SEE CODE buttons! VISIT CODE 2
Exhibit 36 - November 17 TOP ▲
Indoor Games
Dedicated to Mike and Sandra
Here is an exhibit of Dan Zen's indoor games (non computer). Some games are certainly missing including one where you had to guess which happening came first in time based on random songs, movies and events flipped over from a deck in pairs. But many of the New Year games are here as well as others. Try some!
VISIT INDOOR GAMES
Exhibit 35 - November 10 TOP ▲
Icons
Dedicated to Mark Byk - print monster!
The Icons Exhibit presents the history of the many site and app icons presented in reverse chronological order. Icons are usually related to logos so you may also be interested in the Dan Zen Expo Logos Exhibit. On with the show!
VISIT ICONS
Exhibit 34 - November 3 TOP ▲
One Week
Dedicated to Dave Hind and Darryl Gold
Here is a busy week in the life of Dan Zen. Most weeks would be about half as busy, but the Halloween season is always and exciting time! Let's take a look at the projects that Zen worked on this week.
VISIT ONE WEEK
Exhibit 33 - October 27 TOP ▲
Scraps
Dedicated to Brian Kelly
Scraps are like an eco system. Big scraps get used to make smaller projects and the smaller projects' scraps get used to make even smaller projects, etc. Dan Zen generally keeps all his scraps to the dismay of some... let's take a look!
VISIT SCRAPS
Exhibit 32 - October 20 TOP ▲
Physical Creations
Dedicated Brother Jim - may he continue to make
In this exhibit we look at Dan Zen's physical creations as opposed to digital or theoretical creations. We review art and fashion but then quickly move to creations of general craft. Many physical creations have been given away by Zen as gifts and are not shown in the exhibit nor are outdoor creations.
VISIT PHYSICAL CREATIONS
Exhibit 31 - October 13 TOP ▲
Code 1
Dedicated to Grant Skinner and the CreateJS Team
Coding or programming is how the logic and interactivity of a system like a game or an app are applied. Dan Zen has been programming since 1982 as chronicled in the Museum Coding Tour introduced below. In this first code exhibit we follow with a look at Zen's most recent code from 2014 to 2015.
VISIT CODE 1
Exhibit 30 - October 6 TOP ▲
Blogs
Dedicated to Automattic and Wordpress
Dan Zen has been blogging since 2005 where he started on Blogger. In 2006 he moved over to Wordpress due to Blogger's lack of keywords. Zen primarily uses the articles to announce new projects and discuss the creative process. Let's see some posts!
VISIT BLOGS
Exhibit 29 - September 29 TOP ▲
Sketches 2
Dedicated to Dave and Teresa Kuruc at Mixed Media
Dan Zen has a dozen plus sketch books filled with drawings and ideas. Many of the early Dan Zen games were hand drawn and we will show some originals in this exhibit. Here is a SECOND set of sample sketches from a few of the books - a half dozen or so from each.
VISIT SKETCHES 2
Exhibit 28 - September 22 TOP ▲
Logos
Dedicated to Frank Melendez for his Touchy logo love!
The Logo Exhibit presents the history of the many site and app logos presented in reverse chronological order although we start with a comparison of the Dan Zen totem signature logos.
VISIT LOGOS
Exhibit 27 - September 15 TOP ▲
Tools
Dedicated to Dan Zen for all his hard work!
Tools help the world go round! Dan Zen's philosophy is that if you are going to make a creation... then also make the tools for the creation available to everyone else. Some of the tools have unusual interfaces, but Zen promises they are easy to use once you get used to them. Have fun producing if you dare!
VISIT TOOLS
Exhibit 26 - September 8 TOP ▲
Fashion 2
Dedicated to Ava Henry and a successful career!
In the first Fashion Exhibit (see Archives), the history of Dan Zen style was presented through the early years often relating to musical genres of interest. Part 2 shows examples of constructed fashion and brings us up to the current Dan Zen style ala 2015.
VISIT FASHION 2
Exhibit 25 - September 1 TOP ▲
Fashion 1
Dedicated to Ava Henry and a successful career!
Here is a look at the progression of Dan Zen's styles leading up to the last ten years. Part 2 will look at fashion creations, videos, accessories and the current state of fashion affairs.
VISIT FASHION 1
Exhibit 24 - August 25 TOP ▲
Creativity
Dedicated to Jeff Zabudsky and Sheridan's Creatives
Creativity is very important to Dan Zen. Zen has already collected his thoughts on creativity and invention, let's take a look at some of these collections.
VISIT CREATIVITY
Exhibit 23 - August 18 TOP ▲
Sketches 1
Dedicated to Dave and Teresa Kuruc at Mixed Media
Dan Zen has a dozen plus sketch books filled with drawings and ideas. The sketchbooks are generally a combination of ideas for apps and games, environmental and social ideas, and philosophy. Here is a first set of sample sketches from a few of the books - a half dozen or so from each.
VISIT SKETCHES 1
Exhibit 22 - August 11 TOP ▲
Talks
Dedicated to Rick Mason for his years of curating
Inventor Dan Zen is a futurist who works with creative technology and storytelling to advance invention. He uses philosophy as a creativity framework and gives talks, presentations and classes concerning creativity and advanced interface technologies. Here is a summary of his presentations over the last five years.
VISIT TALKS
Exhibit 21 - August 4 TOP ▲
Light Shows
Dedicated to Steel City Surplus
Dan Zen started with mechanical light shows in the nineties and then moved to digital light shows in the twenty-tens. For years, he projected on his own bands and now does a show a couple times a year for friends. Let there be light!
VISIT LIGHT SHOWS
Exhibit 20 - July 28 TOP ▲
Posters
Dedicated to Mark and Mac for their poster help
Dan Zen came from the music scene into the new media scene so brought with him the usage of posters to advertise his wares. He may be one of the first to poster for Interactive Media features. Let's see what there was to see!
VISIT POSTERS
Exhibit 19 - July 21 TOP ▲
Psychedelic Dancing
Dedicated to Grant Avenue - the happening!
For ten years, Dan Zen held the top position on Google for "psychedelic dancing" and currently has three of top ten entries and ten photos on the first page of Google images. This is for Zen's slightly tongue in cheek series called Psychedelic Dancing as Exercise. Zen loves to dance - let's get down!
VISIT PYSCHEDELIC DANCING
Exhibit 18 - July 14 TOP ▲
Recreational Ravines
Dedicated to Jon'Gordon Odegaard
Dan Zen lives in Dundas (Hamilton), Ontario, Canada and is surrounded by ravines as Hamilton is the Waterfall Capital of the world. Zen is often in the woods thinking about how we could make use of the ravines for recreation. Let's see some of the many videos and view a few private sketches of ideas.
VISIT RECREATIONAL RAVINES
Exhibit 17 - July 7 TOP ▲
Photography
Dedicated to Rose Petersen
They say, he is Hollander Maui! Yes... Dan Zen takes on the pseudonym of Hollander Maui (being part Dutch and born in Hawaii) when presenting photographs en Focuso (out of focus). Zen's in-focus shots are posted on Flickr. Let's see some shots!
VISIT PHOTOGRAPHY
Exhibit 16 - June 30 TOP ▲
Polls
Dedicated to the curious
Here are a number of Dan Zen Polls. The polls included are from Tapoll and are live - so please do as many as you like! Other survey tools that Zen has created and used over the years are also featured.
VISIT POLLS
Exhibit 15 - June 23 TOP ▲
Facebook
Dedicated to Aron West for early Facebook works
Dan Zen joined Facebook in the early days and started posting in 2006. One of Zen's games is called Primals where you try and order your friends by the order they joined Facebook. Let's take a look at what Zen has been up to since then.
VISIT FACEBOOK
Exhibit 14 - June 16 TOP ▲
Artificial Intelligence
Dedicated to Isaac Asimov
Growing up on sci-fi during the personal computer revolution, it is no surprise that Dan Zen has created AI. Let us take a look through some projects and interests of the IMAT AI Special Interest Group co-founder.
VISIT AI
Exhibit 13 - June 9 TOP ▲
Art
Dedicated to Think Tank and the Hamilton Art Scene
Dan Zen is an Inventor first and foremost but his creations are often art. This exhibit explores the more traditional side of art such as drawing, painting and sculpture. Other exhibits will showcase photography, music, performance, storytelling, interactive works, etc.
VISIT ART
Exhibit 12 - June 2 TOP ▲
E-learning
Dedicated Bob Jones, Song and Ian for all their care at Sheridan
Dan Zen has been teaching at Sheridan for over a dozen years. He teaches interactive media where students and grads make among other things, e-learning apps. Here is a brief history of some of the apps Zen has made and used.
VISIT E-LEARNING
Exhibit 11 - May 26 TOP ▲
Parties
Dedicated to Randle Nelsen
Dan Zen loves parties! He has been holding events since he was little - Haunted Houses, Magic Shows and then going absolutely crazy after schooling with dozens of theme parties such as Medieval Feast, Beatnik Feast, Space Feast, dances waving psychedelic ties in strobe lights and many odd events. Let's Party!
VISIT PARTIES
Exhibit 10 - May 19 TOP ▲
Storytelling
Dedicated to Gran Gran
Dan Zen loves telling stories as exemplified in the Purple Box series and the Moustache Mysteries series. In his early party days, Zen and friends would tell communal stories. He has also made many interactive story telling tools and used these to tell stories. Gather 'round children and listen (or make) a story!
VISIT STORYTELLING
Exhibit 09 - May 12 TOP ▲
Memes
Dedicated to Paul Benedetti and Nancy DeHart and McLuhan crew
Dan Zen was introduced to Memes in his 1995 work on Understanding McLuhan. A meme is a thought or phrase that moves virally through society. Zen uses memes to be silly!
VISIT MEMES
Exhibit 08 - May 5 TOP ▲
Friends
Dedicated to us all
Friends? Yes... Dan Zen has a few. Friends help hold the world together and most likely have helped Dan Zen hold together. Let's meet a few from University on (family not included).
VISIT FRIENDS
Exhibit 07 - April 28 TOP ▲
Food
Dedicated to Chefs of the world
Inventing in the Kitchen has always been one of the most rewarding experiences for Dan Zen as he gets to eat his creations!
VISIT FOOD
Exhibit 06 - April 21 TOP ▲
Environment
Dedicated to the activist in us all
Dan Zen is a little different when it comes to being an environmentalist. Along with the natural environment, Zen cares dearly for the social and creative environments in which we live.
VISIT ENVIRONMENT
Exhibit 05 - April 14 TOP ▲
Philosophy
Dedicated to all Programmers
Dan Zen has spent the last ten years developing a philosophy called Nodism which explores the connection between physical and virtual worlds.
VISIT PHILOSOPHY
Exhibit 05 - April 7 TOP ▲
Mysteries
Dedicated to Madeline Rose
It is whispered in the shadows that Dan Zen is none other than... the Moustache!
VISIT MYSTERIES
Exhibit 04 - March 31 TOP ▲
Action Games
Dedicated to all the students...
Dan Zen is a peaceful person so tends towards social games and tools. He has made some action games but usually with a twist - let's twist!
VISIT ACTION GAMES
Exhibit 03 - March 24 TOP ▲
Dress-up
Dedicated to the parents - who never said no to a costume!
Dan Zen has been dressing up every day of his life even if it is just his mismatch socks ;-). Let's take a look at some costuming!
VISIT DRESS-UP
Exhibit 02 - March 17 TOP ▲
Magic
Dedicated to the siblings and their kids
Magic and wonder are at the heart of all inventors - how can we make things possible... how can we make things impossible? Dan Zen started magic at an early age developing a few tricks of his own and well...
VISIT MAGIC
Exhibit 01 - March 10 TOP ▲
Music
Dedicated to Rick, Ada and RoseAnne
Dan Zen is involved in a number of musical endeavours and has written about 70 songs (which is how many hats he has). Here is a collection of Dan Zen digging it.
VISIT MUSIC
