Author: sransom@andrew.cmu.edu

Sarah Ransom-Looking Outwards-03

The Silk Pavilion (2013 – CNC Deposited Silk Fiber & Silkworm Construction; MIT Media Lab) is a fascinating project inspired by the natural constructive habits of actual silk worms. The basic premise of this project was to study the silk worm’s ability to create relatively large scale fiber structures starting with a single multi-property silk thread in an attempt to create a structure in which the surface varies in density based on outside stimuli such as sunlight. The algorithms used to create this structure were derived from documenting actual silk worms placed in a controlled environment where they were allowed to do what they do best. I thought the final product of this structure was especially fascinating when you considered how the algorithms accounted for what  silk worms might have wanted to accomplish by leaving gaps or creating more dense patches of silk based on exposure to sunlight and heat. The ultimate goal of this project may have been to explore “the formation of non-woven fiber structures generated by the silkworms as a computational schema for determining shape and material optimization of fiber-based surface structures” but resulting structures look like works of art in their own right.

Silk Pavilion

SILK PAVILION from Mediated Matter Group on Vimeo.

Sarah Ransom Looking Outwards-02

Quayola – Pleasant Places/Familiar Landscapes – 2015

This project stuck out to me as soon as I came across the artists page from the list provided in the assignment. The artist uses, or rather plays with, image-analysis and manipulation algorithms to turn candid landscape photos into works of art not far removed from the work of Van Gogh himself. The project was initially inspired by the 17th century landscape prints by Van Gogh and I feel like they could not have done a more complete job of capturing his style. The artist uses custom software to reduce Ultra-High-Definition film/images from landscapes with detailed texture to two-dimensional masses of volume, thus creating the sweeping brush strokes you might see in a painting. What I think is the most inspiring aspect of this project is that by simply creating/playing with image-analysis and manipulation algorithms applied to videos and images of landscapes they can almost exactly replicate the color schemes and even brush strokes of a successful artist from so long ago. The videos, in particular, show exactly what you might see if you brought an authentic Van Gogh painting to life.

Quayola – Pleasant Places/Familiar Landscapes

Sarah Ransom Project-02-Variable-Face

sketch

//Sarah Ransom
//Section C 
//sransom@andrew.cmu.edu
//Self Portrait

var lefteyeHeight = 20
var righteyeHeight = 20
var faceHeight = 220
var noseHeight = 30
var mouthWidth = 30



function setup() {
    createCanvas(640, 480);
    background(255,204,150);
}

function draw() {
	noStroke();
	fill("brown");
	ellipse(200,280,60,300); //ponytail in the background

	noStroke();
	fill(255, 240, 173);
	ellipse(200,250,200,faceHeight); //face
	
	noStroke();
	fill("brown");
	arc(200, 230, 200, 180, PI, TWO_PI, OPEN); //bangs

	noStroke();
	fill("brown");
	ellipse(200,140,50,50); //"ponytail bump"

	noStroke();
	fill('#222222');
	ellipse(160,250,lefteyeHeight,30); // left eye

	noStroke();
	fill('#222222');
	ellipse(240,250,righteyeHeight,30); // right eye

	noStroke();
	fill("red");
	arc(200,280,noseHeight,40,0,PI); // nose

	noFill();
	stroke(0);
	strokeWeight(3);
	arc(210,320,mouthWidth,10,0,HALF_PI); //mouth

	noFill();
	stroke(0);
	strokeWeight(2);
	arc(160,265,20,7,0,PI); // left eye bag

	noFill(); // right eye bag
	stroke(0);
	strokeWeight(2);
	arc(240,265,20,7,0,PI);
}

function mousePressed() {
	lefteyeHeight = random(10,50);
	righteyeHeight = random(10,50);
	noseHeight = random(20,40);
	mouthWidth = random(10,70);
	

}

I wanted to avoid changing the head size since it fit perfectly with the hair so, instead, I went for making the facial features as variable as possible without changing their original colors. This resulted in eyes that change size independently of each other as well as the width of the nose and mouth changing at random.

Sarah Ransom-Self Portrait

sketch

//Sarah Ransom
//Section C 
//sransom@andrew.cmu.edu
//Self Portrait


function setup() {
    createCanvas(600, 600);
    background(255,204,150);
}

function draw() {
	noStroke();
	fill("brown");
	ellipse(200,280,60,300); //ponytail in the background

	noStroke();
	fill(255, 240, 173);
	ellipse(200,250,200,220); //face
	
	noStroke();
	fill("brown");
	arc(200, 230, 200, 180, PI, TWO_PI, OPEN); //bangs

	noStroke();
	fill("brown");
	ellipse(200,140,50,50); //"ponytail bump"

	noStroke();
	fill('#222222');
	ellipse(160,250,20,30); // left eye

	noStroke();
	fill('#222222');
	ellipse(240,250,20,30); // right eye

	noStroke();
	fill("red");
	arc(200,280,30,40,0,PI); // nose

	noFill();
	stroke(0);
	strokeWeight(3);
	arc(210,320,30,10,0,HALF_PI); //mouth

	noFill();
	stroke(0);
	strokeWeight(2);
	arc(160,265,20,7,0,PI);

	noFill();
	stroke(0);
	strokeWeight(2);
	arc(240,265,20,7,0,PI);


}

 

This portrait went in a lot of different directions before I settled on the simplest idea. I tried to make it look like I had a ponytail in the background without going for a side angle but I’m not totally happy with how it looks. Finally, I gave myself a red nose and eye bags because I have really bad year-round allergies and I thought it would be a funny/honest depiction of me on a normal day.

Sarah Ransom – Looking Outward – 01

The Automatic Orchestra project is an audio installation created from a collaboration of students of the University of the Arts, Bremen and the Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design which explores a unique marriage of algorithmic composition and networked music. Before the audio installation was created the project existed as several software prototypes, developed in Processing and Java, designed to simulate the network logic and behavior of what would eventually become the final framework. Now the final product consists of 12 pods/MIDI devices wired together to form a circular network transmitting and responding to musical data uniquely from one another. More specifically, all of the pods are synchronized and exchange encoded musical messages on a shared framework. Each pod, however, interprets and alters the data it receives based on its individual algorithmic rule set.  The result is a unique musical performance where the composition has a lot of room for variability.

This project was so fascinating to me as a musician because of its seemingly random nature. It seems to be based on the Indeterminacy movement of music from the early 1950’s while also recreating the feel of a live ensemble performance where musicians are still collaborating with each other in real time. The responses that each MIDI device constructs, however, seem more solid and well crafted than you might find in most indeterminate music performed by live musicians. While some professional musicians might take issue with this kind of simulation and how it could effect the music industry in the future, I think it presents an exciting new possibility for  music performance where the decisions of the “performers” are more unique, unconventional, and less prone to human error.

More Examples of music produced by The Automatic Orchestra: