Tom Estes
Crash Test Dummy
2012
Part of
Health & Safety Violation: A collaboration between
Ben Woodeson and Tom Estes

Health & Safety Violation is a project initiated at Lubomirov-Easton which brought together performance artist Tom Estes and sculptor Ben Woodeson in an experimental collaboration; neither knowing exactly what wouldl happen. The Health & Safety Violation collaboration was an evolving experiment documented by visitors to the exhibition; ephemeral performance art interacting with fragile sculpture, a world where every action has consequences both known and unknown.

In his practice Artist Tom Estes creates socially engaged performance work that is both participatory and immersive while at the same time a playful messing with habitual ways of thinking. Estes is interested in the relationship between machines and humans.  In his Live Art performance Estes stages an ‘action’ and then ask members of the audience to take pictures on a ‘communal camera’. In this way, the audience becomes part of the performance, and the pictures are then posted on on-line social networking sites and web sites for another, wider on-line audience.

At Health & Safety Violation, Estes performed his seemingly inconsequential action within the deliberately dangerous and fragile environment of Ben Woodeson’s sculpture in which ‘every action has an equal an opposite reaction’. Documentation of the evenings actions was performed by visitors to the exhibition using a communal camera; and on this occasion selected images were also displayed in the gallery space for the duration of the exhibition.

At the core of Estes’ work is an attention to digital platforms and new forms of interconnectivity. Estes’ performance- a form of intellectual mischief-making- is designed to question the relationship between life in real time and of reality as it is increasingly experienced online. We are being completely enveloped by abstract systems and inundated with information that we are struggling to come to terms with. And while machines enable us to do things they also do things to us and do things at us. Estes’ practice seems to  capture the strategic orientation and inescapable reflectiveness of cyberspace.  Whatever may be said about the internet one thing remains certain- as a primary means of global communication the internet is resulting in a massive social transformation. In  liberation-speak the internet favors private, unconditional, sovereign freedom over scientific, conditional and institutional freedom. Yet Estes’ performance work emits an aura of agitation that undermines the authority of this rhetoric. The truth is that cyberspace is an increasingly efficient tool of surveillance with which people have a voluntary relationship.

Formally, Estes’ action invites a dialogue between stasis and dynamism, and psychologically, between reason and feeling. His perceptually oriented thought-puzzles are infused with humour, but the real difference and impact of Estes performance work, is as a potentially critical gesture. Estes’ performance Crash Test Dummy offers a parallel and contextual reading of the fundamental ideological fantasies that sustain our late capitalist society. Woodeson’s work is inspired by mass, friction, balance, gravity, momentum, potential and kinetic energy; basic rules that deliberately straddle a line between stability and instability, action and inaction. Estes’ performance takes Woodeson’s work one step further by contributing a real human interaction into a implied symbiotic relationship of balanced equilibrium which has potentially catastrophic consequences. Poised treacherously, the work inhabits a moment of possible action and subsequent reaction.  So while this absurd yet playful performance toys in surprising ways with visual spectacle it is also nuanced enough to simultaneously traverse the Commodity Fetishism and popular Obscurantism of mainstream consumerist society.

Artist Tom Estes grew up on a small farm outside of Boston in the U.S.A. He moved to Paris and lived there for a couple of years before settling in London as a base of operations. His work has been shown nationally and internationally and he has regularly worked with collectives from the United Kingdom such as The Red Velvet Curtain Cult and Art Evict as well as The Biennial Project from Boston in the U.S.A.

lubomirov-easton.com
woodeson.co.uk
tomestesartist.com

The exhibition Health & Safety Violation took place from 26 October to 24 November, at Lubomirov-Easton, Enclave 8, 50 Resolution Way, Deptford, SE8 4AL

Over the summer I started working out again. I managed to drop quite a bit of weight, in addition to getting in the probably the best shape I’ve been in for a number of years. As a reward for being so diligent with working out and hitting a personal goal (K’s brother’s wedding), I decided to put in an order to HSV directly in late September. I couldn’t be happier with what I got.

Pictured above we have:

• I (heart) HH hoodie – HH refers to Hauptstadt Hamburg
• 125 Jahre scarf – The team is currently celebrating their 125th anniversary
• Fan kit – Pen, button, key ring, wrist bracelet, mini scarf hanger (which is AWESOME)
• Van der Vaart away jersey – The best jersey I’ve owned

I love hoodies, so I had to get one of those. I didn’t really buy anything HSV related while we were over there, so I needed a scarf as well. The fan kit was included for free after spending so much. The jersey, mein Gott, is the crown jewel of my order. I love HSV’s away jerseys this season, but US retailers don’t carry it for some reason. I figured that if I were going to buy one, I should just spend a little more and get it personalized. Of course if I were going that far, I’d need the Bundesliga patch as well. It’s the best fitting and best looking jersey I’ve owned yet.

After a tight first-half the former Melbourne Victory forward sneaked his third goal of the season in just before the break.

Substitute Stefan Reisinger then secured the three points with a wonderful solo effort with still 26 minutes left on the clock, although Hamburg did have two goals ruled out, one, correctly, the other dubious.

F95 threatened early from out wide with whipped crosses from Tobias Levels and Axel Bellinghausen causing problems, although HSV comfortably dealt with the threat with Michael Mancienne in good early form.

But Fortuna’s passing game was letting them down, giving the ball to the visitors far too often and allowing Hamburg to take control of proceedings.

HSV though were dealt a massive blow just after the half-hour with Dutch International Rafael van der Vaart forced off with a suspected torn hamstring.

Four minutes before the break Fortuna too were forced to make a change because of injury as experienced defender Jens Langeneke came off after receiving a knock.

Mancienne thought he opened the scoring with a tap in from a rebound, but from the initial effort, the former Chelsea defender was correctly ruled to be offside.

Ex-Dusseldorf winger Maximilian Beister almost broke the deadlock just before the break, but the German U21’s strike was deflected inches wide.

Fortuna though from the resulting corner immediately pushed on the counter with Andreas Lambertz who found Kruse down the left.

The Socceroo then via a Mancienne deflected opened the scoring sneaking his effort into the bottom corner past Rene Adler.

HSV looked to have found the much needed urgency after the break and almost found an equaliser through Marcus Berg after Tolgay Arslan’s ball, but the Swede’s attempt was deflected just wide once again.

On 55 minutes Hamburg thought they found their much needed equaliser as Captain Heiko Westermann’s driven free-kick came off Kruse before beating Fabian Giefer.

But the referee ruled another goal out after Lambertz was fouled in the box before the free-kick was struck.

Hamburg kept pushing through Arslan and Beister, but they would pay the price for not converting their chances.

Six minutes after coming on Reisinger beat Westermann and Mancienne far too easily, before emphatically finishing into the top corner past Adler in a truly magical individual effort.

Huntsville police searching for man who entered family’s hotel room, took laptop and fled

By Kelly Kazek | kkazek@al.com
November 10, 2012 at 8:59 AM, updated November 10, 2012 at 10:39 AM

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama – A family was asleep in a hotel in the 3000 block of University Drive when a man entered the room at about 3:45 a.m., according to a Huntsville Police report.

Police are searching for a black male after a father stated he burglarized the room. The victim said his wife awoke as a man entered the room. The offender then told the woman he was a hotel manager and that a laptop computer in their room had been reported stolen. He grabbed the computer and fled.

After the victim verified the offender was not a manager he notified authorities.

Police said entry into the room was not forced.

The investigation is ongoing.

blog.al.com/breaking/2012/11/huntsville_police_searching_fo_6.html

—

The Huntsville Times is owned by the same privately-held publishing group Advance Publications/Newhouse News, which also owns the Birmingham News, Mobile Press-Register & New Orleans Times-Picayune… all which are now printed only on Sunday, Wednesday & Friday.

In other words, the “suits” can’t figure out how to make money.

1.) Headline is excessively lengthy

2.) Story is poorly written.
- The second sentence, which reads “Police are searching for a black male after a father stated he burglarized the room,” indicates that the father burgled the room, rather than “a black male,” as specifically stated in the story.
- The name of the hotel/motel is not stated. Why not? Motels/hotels in the 3000 block of University Drive are: a.) Red Carpet Inn; b.) Economy Inn, c.) Quality Inn; d.) La Quinta Inn; e.) Value Place.} http://goo.gl/maps/t2fDC

Y’know… it’s difficult to imagine that folks obtain a university education to write at or below the 5th grade level.

I’ve felt very reluctant to go public about this particular issue, for reasons which you will understand. Many readers may even think that this is just way too private and perhaps I should keep it to myself. But it’s part of my myeloma journey, and I want to be open about the whole experience. I’m also aware that other myeloma patients read this blog and it feels important to share so others can benefit, if only to know that they’re not alone and it’s ok to speak about.

It’s quite simple… my immune system has been suppressed due to the disease itself and even more so following two stem cell transplants. It is now and will continue to be compromised, so I am particularly prone to fungal, bacterial and viral infections. I now fall into the group of people who are entitled to an annual flu jab (which I’ve already had this year). I also have to take prophylactic antibiotics (Penicillin and Pentamidine) and antivirals (Aciclovir). While the antiviral medication will gradually decrease over time, I will be taking antibiotics for the rest of my life. These support mechanisms don’t eliminate my chances of catching an infection; they simply support my immune system and thereby lower the risk.

I became aware of the warts in April and mentioned them to my consultant. She was very keen that I have them treated and ‘get on top of them’ prior to the transplant, as they could readily proliferate and be harder to treat following the transplant, due to the lowered immunity. She referred me to the genitourinary medicine (GUM) clinic, otherwise known as the sexual health clinic. The doctor I saw is married to one of the haematology doctors, so she understands well the process I have gone through and the connection between my disease/treatment and my sexual health.

Initially, the doctor suggested using Warticon, which is a cream I could apply myself. They even provide a wee hand mirror so you can see what you’re doing. I didn’t see much of a response to the cream, so the doctor prescribed Aldara cream, which is used to stimulate the immune cells to manage the virus that causes the warts. That didn’t work either.

I had a gap in treatment while I went through the transplant and in the first few months of recovery from it. But since the end of September, I have been going for weekly treatments of freezing (cryosurgery) by a nurse. They spray liquid nitrogen directly onto the offending areas, using a ‘gun’. It don’t half sting!!! At last, it does seem to be working; they are vanishing. In fact, it’s working so well, that they gave me a week off!

Because freezing kills off all cells it touches, the healthy skin around the warts is also affected, and the nurse was concerned in case the skin broke or became painful, so she gave me some aqueous cream to use as a wash. It’s very greasy. In fact, when she advised me to ensure I washed it off after use, she explained that if I didn’t, I’d feel ready to swim the Channel… like being covered in goose fat!

I’ve asked questions and done a bit of online research too. Here are some of the answers that I wanted:

Many adults are likely to have encountered a range of viruses, but only a small percentage actually develop symptoms. This is the case with Human Papillomavirus (HPV) that causes genital warts. Most people are exposed to the virus during their life, but it has the ability to remain latent within the body over long periods – even years or decades before developing into warts, so it is usually not possible to determine exactly when, or from whom, an individual contracted the virus.

For most individuals the immune response appears to dominate and lesions (warts) never develop, or they develop but are suppressed by an immune response before the person ever realises their presence.

Other viruses that can lay dormant without causing any ill effects are Herpes Simplex (HSV) and Cytomegalovirus (CMV). I mentioned in my post “A walk in the park…” that both my donor and I were screened for CMV prior to transplant, as this can be life-threatening for the immunocompromised, whereas it typically goes unnoticed in healthy people.

I also read that persistent infections of HPV may lead to cervical cancer as a result of cellular transformation. The last thing I need is another cancer, FFS! So, it’s critical that to knock this thing on the head. I’m off for another bout of freezing on Thursday. Ouch!

So, it was 5am and the only thing I could think about was getting caffeine into my system; not if my friend was going to be late, not if it was going to rain in Motegi, not if the pole sitter would win, not if that girl last night actually liked me or was just being polite.  The only thing I cared about was coffee.  So I did what any normal person in Japan would do; walk across the street and buy one.

I ended up getting a warm Emerald Mountain Blend, as I usually do at this, or any, hour.  Well, that’s a lie, most of the time I buy it cold.  Anyway, I took a quick walk around the hood while I enjoyed my coffee and waited for my friend to pick me up to begin our journey to Twin Ring Motegi for the final round of 2012 Super GT.

Next door to my place was a shop that had a couple cats roam around every morning; this was one of them.  They always wandered the near sidewalks and alleys to make sure everything was how they left it the night before.  This guy had just got done eating some cat food the owner had left out.

My friend showed up soon after the cat photo session, and we began our trip to Motegi.  Weaving our way through the expressway, slowly making our way to the outskirts of the big metropolis that is Tokyo.  Just driving around gives you opportunities to find cool cars; like this RX-7 we tailed for a short while.

There is one particular Parking Area off the expressway that we usually stop at.  There is a Starbucks there that has some pretty cool architecture.

The lot also provides a good place to find cool cars.  This ER34 GTR looks great!  Almost as great as the new Taylor Swift album.

As we got closer to Twin Ring, we ran into a little traffic due to some construction that turned the already narrow road into one lane.  The forecast that day called for light rain off and on; I was hoping it wouldn’t at all, but at this point it looked inevitable.  It seems like every Super GT race I go to it rains.  I don’t really mind, because it makes for good photos, but it’s pretty bothersome in every other aspect.

Made it! ~

My buddy and I, who runs JDM Clips, both skipped breakfast that morning, so after parking the first order of business was getting a healthy meal…so we both got takoyaki; probably not the best choice for breakfast, but whatever.  It was delicious, and hot.  Very hot.

After we got done eating our junk food, practice was just getting underway.  Before the Porsche Cup support race, the Super GT cars go out for about an hour long practice session.  We decided to watch the entire practice at the Dunlop Corner, so we made the hike over there.  Along the way we got treated to nice views like this between the trees that surround the track.

The cars carry quite a bit of speed on the straight leading to this corner, so it’s neat to see them get hard on the brakes.  Most cars had a similar breaking point, but you could definitely see a difference between the 300 and 500 cars.  Here is the pole sitter, ZENT SC430, heading into Dunlop.

One of the BMW GT300 teams – this car unfortunately ended up going off in the gravel towards the end of the race and had to be towed off.  It looked great during practice though.

Another Lexus of the WedsSport persuasion.  This car has cool livery.

The D-Station GTR.

Drag race of epicness.  The S Road GTR of course had no problem passing the GT300 Ferrari.  The S Road team had, at the last round, already captured the series championship.

Another shot of the ZENT.  If this car comes up often I apologize, as it is my favorite team; I may be a bit biased.

I’m sure you’re all familiar with this track thanks to Gran Turismo, so you all should know about the tunnel after the Dunlop Corner.  The engines emit an awesome noise as the drivers rocket through the tunnel at full throttle.

Before getting on throttle though, you’ve got to brake. Hard.  The brake rotors burn, and the catalyzer shoots flames in protest as the driver commands the car to slow.  Head over to the wallpaper page to see how hot these brakes can really get on this turn.

You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make them drink.  Some of the kids were more absorbed in catching pokemon than the screaming cars fighting it out on the track.  I thought this was hilarious.

In the scheme of things, the Audi R8′s do relatively well in this series.  One consistent top 5 finisher is the GT300 Gainer R8.

SC430 dog fight!

The upside of running two classes simultaneously is that, even on the more boring tracks, there is always overtaking.

The CR-Z was pretty healthy sounding all day.  I look forward to see what this car is capable of in the next season.

I was sure to take many pictures of the HSV competitors, as this may be the last year we get to see them competing in Super GT, due to some regulation changes.  These cars were actually already an exception to the rule.

After the quick practice session, we took a stroll over to the Honda Collection Hall where they were having a tribute to 90′s racing, specifically the NSX.  It was a few hours before the beginning of the race, so I also took a stroll through some of the parking lots on the hunt for hidden treasure.  I’ll have more on that later, as well as full coverage of the race.  Stay tuned, and thanks for visiting!

• Alteration of conscious (97%)
• CSF Pleocytosis (97%)
• Fever (90%),
• Personality Change (85%)
• Headache (81%)
• Seizures(67%)
• Vomiting (46%)

In newborns it typically presents 6-12 days after birth with general lethargy, poor feeding, and/or seizures and is HSV-2.

Diagnosis

CSF should be taken immediately when HSE is suspected and sent for a PCR study. This is the gold standard and is sensitive 94-98% and specific 98-100%.

Lab studies are non-specific. Imaging (CT and MRI) and Electroencephalography abnormalities can take days to a week to appear on scans.

• CSF in patient with HSE will have elevated WBC, RBC, elevated protein, and normal glucose level with lymphocytic pleocytosis
• MRI findings if present would demonstrate temporal lobe lesions
• Electroencephalography (EEG) has characteristic periodic high-voltage spike wave activity emanating from the temporal lobes and slow wave complexes are highly suggestive of HSE.

Treatment

IV acyclovir should be started immediately , before PCR results confirm, because its toxicity is rather low and HSE prognosis is poor untreated. In adults 10-15mg/kg q8h x14-21days, 3 months-12years 20mg/kg x10 days, neonates 30mg/kg/day.

In keeping with the theme of turning what basic science we are learning in class into clinical scenarios, Sakib suggested I write up a piece on HSE relating to our Infectious Disease class. Struggling to stay focused through learning tons of boring viral info, bacteria, fungi, etc. I wondered what we’ll ever need to know again, especially in emergency medicine. There are actually quite a lot of emergencies that can arise, and HSE is one.

HSE is the most common cause of sporadic fatal encephalitis in the US (Meyer). HSV is a dsDNA virus in the Herpesviridae family, of which there are 8 types that affect humans. HSV-1 and HSV-2 are spread when an infected person is shedding virus during the primary infection or a secondary infection. The viron fuses with a cell’s plasma membrane where it uncoats and a Viral Host Shutoff protein is expressed. Herpesvirus then replicates using sequential control of protein synthesis expressing mRNA for first alpha, then beta, then gamma proteins. Herpes is well known for its characteristic of viral latency, where it remains dormant in cell bodies of neurons, safe from immune cell destruction.

Primary illness with HSV1&2 is typically the most severe illness, latent ones not as severe. 90% are symptomless, 9% minor illness, 1% have severe illness with gingivostomatitis, the most common symptom. Infections “above the belt” are usually (but not always) HSV-1 and “below” HSV-2.

PCR is used diagnostically to differentiate 1&2 and is the gold standard, because the viruses differ in 50% of their DNA. Immunocytochemistry and Western Blot can be used but are less accurate.

HSE

In regards to diagnosis, the presentation is described above. It has a somewhat non-specific presentation, but needs to be treated immediately. Untreated, death can occur in 7 days, which can vary with severity. The pathogenicity is not known, neither is the mechanism of cell damage leading to encephalopathy.

A short list of differential should include:

• Meningitis
• Infective encephalitis causes
• Abscesses
• Intracranial tumors

CSF analysis is used to diagnose. CT and MRI don’t show abnormalities for several days. On CT changes in temporal or frontal lobe are seen as low density lesions after 3-4 days. In T2 MRI, early involvement of white matter is seen. The inferomedial portion of the temporal lobe is most commonly affected on MRI (Anderson).

62-year-old woman with confusion and herpes encephalitis shows T2 hyperintensity involving right temporal lobe:

source = eMedicine

Acyclovir is used to treat. When HSE is suspected it should be started immediately, however in one study at an academic emergency medicine institution showed only 29% of patients were given acyclovir with presentation of HSE1 (Benson).

What better way to end this post than to get a quick review on serious CNS infections from Scott Weingart at EMCrit podcast

• Podcast on serious CNS infections = http://emcrit.org/podcasts/meningitis/
• http://crashingpatient.com/medical-surgical/cns-infections.htm/

References

Anderson, DO, Wayne. “Herpes Simplex Encephalitis Treatment & Management.” Medscape Reference. 07 2011

Benson PC, Swadron SP. Empiric acyclovir is infrequently initiated in the emergency department to patients ultimately diagnosed with encephalitis. Ann Emerg Med. Jan 2006;47(1):100-5. [Medline].

Meyer Jr., M.H. et al., 1960. CNS Syndroms of “Viral” Etiology. Am. J. Med. 29, 334-247.

Compiled by: Nick Mancuso, M1

Miss anything? Forgot to include something important? Leave a comment and help us improve our knowledge base for medical students!

This past Sunday marked the end of the 2012 Super GT season with the final race at Twin Ring Motegi; and despite the cold, rainy weather, the action was as hot as ever.  While it may not have been the case for the drivers, the 250km race was over before I knew it.  I get so lost in capturing the moment that I forget about the pouring rain, the time, my aching legs, and just about everything else.  Turns out my favorite team, the Zent SC430, ended up taking first place from pole position; resulting in a second place finish in the championship.

Stay tuned because I’ve got some great coverage and articles for you all about Super GT, and the final round of 2012.  I won’t be able to post much in the coming days, but be patient because it’s definitely worth it.

This post adds to the example, by using the mouse wheel to control the Value portion of the color (which ranges from 0.0 to 1.0).

Here’s the updated XAML:

<Window Name="win1" x:Class="WpfApplication1.MainWindow"
        xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
        xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
        Title="Color from Mouse Position"
        SizeToContent="WidthAndHeight"
        MouseMove="win1_MouseMove_1" MouseWheel="win1_MouseWheel_1">

    <Canvas x:Name="canv1" Width="400" Height="400">
        <Label x:Name="lblInfo" Content="{Binding RGBInfo}" HorizontalAlignment="Center" />
        <Ellipse x:Name="ellipseCenter" Stroke="Black" Width="2" Height="2" Fill="Black" Canvas.Left="199" Canvas.Top="199"/>
    </Canvas>
</Window>

And the updated code-behind:

    public partial class MainWindow : Window, INotifyPropertyChanged
    {
        SolidColorBrush backBrush = new SolidColorBrush();
        double value = 1.0;

        public MainWindow()
        {
            InitializeComponent();

            this.DataContext = this;
            win1.Background = backBrush;
        }

        private string rgbInfo;
        public string RGBInfo
        {
            get { return rgbInfo; }
            set
            {
                if (value != rgbInfo)
                {
                    rgbInfo = value;
                    RaisePropertyChanged("RGBInfo");
                }
            }
        }

        private void win1_MouseMove_1(object sender, MouseEventArgs e)
        {
            RecalcColor(e.GetPosition(canv1));
        }

        private void win1_MouseWheel_1(object sender, MouseWheelEventArgs e)
        {
            if ((e.Delta > 0) && (value < 1.0))
                value += 0.1;
            else if ((e.Delta < 0) && (value > 0.0))
                value -= 0.1;

            RecalcColor(Mouse.GetPosition(canv1));
        }

        private void RecalcColor(Point mousePos)
        {
            double radius = (canv1.ActualWidth / 2);

            double hue;
            double saturation;
            Color c = ColorFromMousePosition(mousePos, radius, out hue, out saturation);
            backBrush.Color = c;
            RGBInfo = string.Format("R={0}, G={1}, B={2}.  H={3:F1}, S={4:F1}, V={5:F1}",
                c.R, c.G, c.B,
                hue, saturation, value);

            if (value < 0.5)
            {
                lblInfo.Foreground = Brushes.White;
                ellipseCenter.Stroke = Brushes.White;
            }
            else
            {
                lblInfo.Foreground = Brushes.Black;
                ellipseCenter.Stroke = Brushes.Black;
            }
        }

        private Color ColorFromMousePosition(Point mousePos, double radius, out double hue, out double saturation)
        {
            // Position relative to center of canvas
            double xRel = mousePos.X - radius;
            double yRel = mousePos.Y - radius;

            // Hue is angle in deg, 0-360
            double angleRadians = Math.Atan2(yRel, xRel);
            hue = angleRadians * (180 / Math.PI);
            if (hue < 0)
                hue = 360 + hue;

            // Saturation is distance from center
            saturation = Math.Min(Math.Sqrt(xRel * xRel + yRel * yRel) / radius, 1.0);

            byte r, g, b;
            ColorUtil.HsvToRgb(hue, saturation, value, out r, out g, out b);
            return Color.FromRgb(r, g, b);
        }

        public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;

        private void RaisePropertyChanged(string prop)
        {
            if (PropertyChanged != null)
                PropertyChanged(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(prop));
        }
    }

(See the earlier post for the ColorUtil code).
We can now roll the mouse wheel down to reduce the value, making the colors darker.

So we want to map a mouse position against a color wheel like the following:

In WPF, we’ll just create a Canvas, with a Label that will be used to dump out the RGB values.

<Window Name="win1" x:Class="WpfApplication1.MainWindow"
        xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
        xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
        Title="Color from Mouse Position"
        SizeToContent="WidthAndHeight"
        MouseMove="win1_MouseMove_1">

    <Canvas x:Name="canv1" Width="400" Height="400">
        <Label Content="{Binding RGBInfo}" HorizontalAlignment="Center" />
    </Canvas>
</Window>

In the code-behind, we’ll handle the MouseMove event for the window and re-calculate the color of the window’s background brush, based on the mouse position.

    /// <summary>
    ///
    /// Interaction logic for MainWindow.xaml
    /// </summary>
    public partial class MainWindow : Window, INotifyPropertyChanged
    {
        SolidColorBrush backBrush = new SolidColorBrush();

        public MainWindow()
        {
            InitializeComponent();

            this.DataContext = this;
            win1.Background = backBrush;
        }

        private string rgbInfo;
        public string RGBInfo
        {
            get { return rgbInfo; }
            set
            {
                if (value != rgbInfo)
                {
                    rgbInfo = value;
                    RaisePropertyChanged("RGBInfo");
                }
            }
        }

        private void win1_MouseMove_1(object sender, MouseEventArgs e)
        {
            double radius = (canv1.ActualWidth / 2);

            Color c = ColorFromMousePosition(e.GetPosition(canv1), radius);
            backBrush.Color = c;
            RGBInfo = string.Format("R={0}, G={1}, B={2}", c.R, c.G, c.B);
        }

        Color ColorFromMousePosition(Point mousePos, double radius)
        {
            // Position relative to center of canvas
            double xRel = mousePos.X - radius;
            double yRel = mousePos.Y - radius;

            // Hue is angle in deg, 0-360
            double angleRadians = Math.Atan2(yRel, xRel);
            double hue = angleRadians * (180 / Math.PI);
            if (hue < 0)
                hue = 360 + hue;

            // Saturation is distance from center
            double saturation = Math.Min(Math.Sqrt(xRel * xRel + yRel * yRel) / radius, 1.0);

            byte r, g, b;
            ColorUtil.HsvToRgb(hue, saturation, 1.0, out r, out g, out b);
            return Color.FromRgb(r, g, b);
        }

        public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;

        private void RaisePropertyChanged(string prop)
        {
            if (PropertyChanged != null)
                PropertyChanged(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(prop));
        }
    }

Notice that we make use of an HSV to RGB conversion function, found at http://www.splinter.com.au/converting-hsv-to-rgb-colour-using-c/. Below is the function as we’re using it.

    public static class ColorUtil
    {
        /// <summary>
        /// Convert HSV to RGB
        /// h is from 0-360
        /// s,v values are 0-1
        /// r,g,b values are 0-255
        /// Based upon http://ilab.usc.edu/wiki/index.php/HSV_And_H2SV_Color_Space#HSV_Transformation_C_.2F_C.2B.2B_Code_2
        /// </summary>
        public static void HsvToRgb(double h, double S, double V, out byte r, out byte g, out byte b)
        {
            // ######################################################################
            // T. Nathan Mundhenk
            // mundhenk@usc.edu
            // C/C++ Macro HSV to RGB

            double H = h;
            while (H < 0) { H += 360; };
            while (H >= 360) { H -= 360; };
            double R, G, B;
            if (V <= 0)
            { R = G = B = 0; }
            else if (S <= 0)
            {
                R = G = B = V;
            }
            else
            {
                double hf = H / 60.0;
                int i = (int)Math.Floor(hf);
                double f = hf - i;
                double pv = V * (1 - S);
                double qv = V * (1 - S * f);
                double tv = V * (1 - S * (1 - f));
                switch (i)
                {

                    // Red is the dominant color

                    case 0:
                        R = V;
                        G = tv;
                        B = pv;
                        break;

                    // Green is the dominant color

                    case 1:
                        R = qv;
                        G = V;
                        B = pv;
                        break;
                    case 2:
                        R = pv;
                        G = V;
                        B = tv;
                        break;

                    // Blue is the dominant color

                    case 3:
                        R = pv;
                        G = qv;
                        B = V;
                        break;
                    case 4:
                        R = tv;
                        G = pv;
                        B = V;
                        break;

                    // Red is the dominant color

                    case 5:
                        R = V;
                        G = pv;
                        B = qv;
                        break;

                    // Just in case we overshoot on our math by a little, we put these here. Since its a switch it won't slow us down at all to put these here.

                    case 6:
                        R = V;
                        G = tv;
                        B = pv;
                        break;
                    case -1:
                        R = V;
                        G = pv;
                        B = qv;
                        break;

                    // The color is not defined, we should throw an error.

                    default:
                        //LFATAL("i Value error in Pixel conversion, Value is %d", i);
                        R = G = B = V; // Just pretend its black/white
                        break;
                }
            }
            r = Clamp((byte)(R * 255.0));
            g = Clamp((byte)(G * 255.0));
            b = Clamp((byte)(B * 255.0));
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Clamp a value to 0-255
        /// </summary>
        private static byte Clamp(byte i)
        {
            if (i < 0) return 0;
            if (i > 255) return 255;
            return i;
        }
    }

The final result is a window whose background color changes as we move the mouse around.