Author: Aisha Dev

adev_Looking_Outwards_05

 

Lucy Hardcastle

I really enjoy the work of Lucy Hardcastle. She studied textiles and has moved on to 3D computer graphics and works specifically with Cinema4D. I think her work is almost too perfect and otherworldly, it has this strange, hyper realistic quality about it. She recently worked with Chanel/i-D magazine in the Fifth Sense campaign for which she created an animation meant to convey scent. She did this through textures in an almost dimension-less space and I thought that work was brilliant.

Even thought it seems to perfect and serene and sterile, it has a very human quality to it because it related back to touch, which is a constant in our lives.

adev_Project_05_Wallpaper

sketch

// Aisha Dev
// 15-104 Section D
// adev@andrew.cmu.edu
// Project 5

var i; //y
var sW = 0.1;
var spacingOne;
var spacingTwo;
var spacingThree;

var lineX1 = 1;

var lineWdith;

var n; // x

function setup() {
   createCanvas (480,480);
  background (206,193,164);
  noFill();
  stroke(6,7,0);
  spacingOne = random (15,23);
  spacingTwo = random (10,15);
   spacingThree = random (15,23);
   
 lineWdith = 48;

}

function draw() {
var lineX2 = n+lineX1;
 for (n = 0; n < width; n = n+1){
 for (i = 0; i < height; i = i + 1){

 	
    strokeWeight (sW*i);
    line (lineX1, i*spacingOne,lineWdith ,i*spacingOne);    
    strokeWeight ((sW*2)*i);
    line (lineWdith, i*spacingTwo, lineWdith*1.5,i*spacingTwo);
    line (lineWdith*1.7, i*spacingTwo, (lineWdith*1.7)+i*2,i*spacingTwo);
    line ((lineWdith*2)+(i*2), i*spacingOne, width/2.5,i*spacingOne);
     strokeWeight ((sW*1.6)*i/2);
     line ((width/2.5) + 10, i*spacingThree,(width/2.5) + 58 ,(i*spacingThree));
      strokeWeight ((sW*2)*i);
    line ((width/2.5) + 64, i*spacingTwo,(width/2.5) + (lineWdith*3),i*spacingTwo);
    line (345, i*spacingTwo, 345 + i*2,i*spacingTwo);
    strokeWeight (sW*i);
      line (365 + i*2, i*spacingOne, 425,i*spacingOne);
       strokeWeight ((sW*1.3)*i);
        line (430, i*spacingThree, width ,i*spacingThree);  
	}
     }




   

 }

I was really inspired by Nasreen Mohamedi’s work. I think her patterns and textiles are so amazing an intricate and I have been a fan of her work for so long. She did all these delicate lines and geometries by hand and I thought it would be interesting to see how to take that into a digital space.

adev_Looking Outwards 04_Sound Art

Intersection, 1993

Don Ritter

This art installation has a lot of interesting things going on in it. It is essentially a group of eight speakers, spread out to create four “lanes” in a dark room with no light. The sound is of cars rushing past and when a visitor walks between these speakers, or in one of these lanes, these cars react and come to a screeching halt. If a visitor stays stationary for longer than eight seconds, more cars pile up and then zip off once the visitor leaves.

I think this is extremely thought provoking. It uses sound to create this feeling of rush and fear from car collision experience, one we imagine to be more about our physiological, visual experiences. It uses sound to affectively get that feeling across. It also provides this dark room where this interaction takes place, something that feeds into the fear while also making the experience much more visceral. I think the process makes you and other people so much more aware of you, in spite of the darkness. The screeching of a car is such a convergence of lives and people. In the moment of a car halt, we recognise each other, a very human feature of our inner nature comes out, its this strange act of survival in one’s everyday life, an average red flag.

adev_Project 04_String Art

adev_Project04

var spacing = 1; 
var x1 = 0; 
var y1 = 100; 
var x2 = 200; 
var y2 = 0; 
var rectWidth = 10;
var sw;

function setup(){
    createCanvas(400, 300);

    noFill();
	stroke (255);
	strokeWeight (0.5);

   }

function draw() {
     background(232, 221, 199);

    spacing = map(mouseX, 0, 400, 3, 20);
    sw = map(mouseX, 0, 400, 0.3, 0.7);

   

	for(var i = 0; i < width; i += 1) {
		strokeWeight(sw);
		stroke(255); 
		line(x2, spacing * i, spacing * i , y2);
		line(x1, spacing * i, spacing * i , y1);
		

		strokeWeight(sw*2);
		stroke(255); 
		line(x2/2, spacing * i+2, spacing * i+2, y2/2);
		line(x1*2, spacing * i+2, spacing * i+2 , y1*2);


		strokeWeight(sw*2.7);
		stroke(255); 
		line(x2*2, spacing * i+2, spacing * i+2, y2*2);
		line(x1/2, spacing * i+2, spacing * i+2 , y1/2);

        strokeWeight(sw*3.2);
		line(x1/3, spacing * i+2, spacing * i+2 , y1*3);	
		
	}
}

I really liked playing with the layered quality of the “strings”. Instead of using colour, I used varying stroke weights to highlight that. The strings also really reminded me of fishnet, and I made a fish-like abstracted shape out of the curved lines.

adev_looking outwards_03

Living Mushtari

This piece is by the Mediated Matter Group at the MIT Media Lab. I find there work to be extremely groundbreaking and extremely relevant. They play with biology and synthetic fabrication, how the synthetic and the organic can come together to augment the way we live. I think this is a crucial part of sustainable innovation.

This project in particular involves microbes attached —via a 3D printed belt— to the body. Once these microbes are exposed to sunlight, they create by products that are supposed to compliment the human body. I think synthetic symbiosis is a very poetic lens through which we can solve very real problems. The organic and the inorganic fuse to create something that helps sustain life, by replicating mechanisms of life. I think that is a very evolved, nuanced relationship.

adev_Project 03_Dynamic Drawing

project_03

var angle = 0;

var rectX = 0;

var r = 255;
var g = 0;
var b = 0;

var col = 0;

function setup() {
    createCanvas(640, 480);  
    background(255,225,53);
    fill(255);
    noStroke();
    rect(0,0,320,4800);
    angleMode(DEGREES);
    rectMode(CENTER);
    
}

function draw() {
    
    //rotating rectangle1
     push();
    translate (130,100);
        rotate (angle);
    fill (r,g,b);
    stroke(255);
    strokeWeight(2)
;        rect(rectX, 0,100,30);
     rect(rectX+50, 20,100,30);
    rect(rectX+100, 40,100,30);
    rect(rectX+150, 60,100,30);
    angle = mouseY + 2;
        pop();
    
    //rotating rectangle 2
     push();
    translate (300,300);
        rotate (angle);
    fill (r,g,b);
    stroke(255);
    strokeWeight(2);
        rect(rectX, 0,100,30);
     rect(rectX+50, 20,100,30);
    rect(rectX+100, 40,100,30);
    rect(rectX+150, 60,100,30);
    angle = mouseY + 2;
        pop();
    
       //rotating rectangle 3
      push();
    translate (50,400);
        rotate (angle);
    fill (r,g,b);
    stroke(255);
    strokeWeight(2);
        rect(rectX, 0,100,30);
     rect(rectX+50, 20,100,30);
    rect(rectX+100, 40,100,30);
    rect(rectX+150, 60,100,30);
    angle = mouseY + 2;
        pop();
    
    //yellow half of the composition
    fill(255,225,53);
    noStroke();
    rect(160+320,240,320,480);  
    
    //white rectangle
      if (mouseX > 480){
        fill(col);
        noStroke();
        rect(480,240,200,380);
          
          col = col +2;
    }
      
    var height1 = map(mouseY,0, 480, 0, 240);
    
    //semicricles
    fill(244, 148, 4);
    noStroke();
    arc(480, 0, 320, height1, 0,0, OPEN);
    arc(480, 480, 320, -height1 , 0,0, OPEN);
    
    //pink lines
    stroke(255, 63, 232);
    strokeWeight(20);
    line(20,0,20,mouseY);
   line(106,0,106,mouseY);
    line(212,0,212,mouseY);
    line(310,0,310,mouseY);
    
  
  
    
}

adev—Project 03—Variable—Face

adev_Project_02

var skinR = 201;
var skinG = 143;
var skinB = 101;

var rectX = 350;
var rectY = 200;
var rectWidth = 150;
var rectHeight = 230;

var mouthW = 50;
var mouthH = 50;

var eyeW = 40;
var eyeH = 20;

var pt = 18;

var personas = ["JOE likes raw vegetables and long walks on the beach", "JOEY like iced green tea and planning weddings", "JOESEPH likes tofu turkey and Nathan Lane movies", "JOLENE likes peanut butter cups and Tibetan arts and crafts", "JOANNE likes lavendar hand cream and red neon lights", "JOESEPHINE likes spicy oats and museum gift shops", "JOAN likes candied pineapple and matcha espresso fusions", "JOEL likes caramel custard and hot wheels", "JOHANNES likes exposed red brick walls and blue turtlenecks"];

var index = 0;
 
function setup() {
 createCanvas (640,480);    
 background(255,233,10);
}

function draw() {
    
    background(255,233,10); 
    
    //body
    fill(skinR, skinG, skinB);
  stroke (220,120,40);
    strokeWeight(10);
    rect(rectX, rectY, rectWidth, rectHeight);
    
    //mouth
     fill (255,0,0); 
    noStroke();
  arc(rectX + 40, rectY+50, 
  mouthW + 10, mouthH +40, 0, 2*HALF_PI);
    
    //teeth
     fill (240); 
  arc(rectX + 40, rectY+50, 
  mouthW + 10, mouthH - 20, 0, 2*HALF_PI);
    
    //eye1
    fill(255);
    noStroke();
    ellipse(rectX+30, rectY+20, eyeW, eyeH);
    fill(0);
    noStroke();
    ellipse(rectX+30, rectY+20, eyeH, 15);
    
    //eye2 
    fill(255);
    noStroke();
    ellipse(rectX+90, rectY+20, eyeW, eyeH);
    fill(0);
    noStroke();
    ellipse(rectX+90, rectY+20, eyeH, 15);
    
    //personas
  fill(50);
  textFont("Georgia");
  textSize(pt);
   
  text(personas[index], 100,  100);
    
}
    
    
function mousePressed (){
    //changing skin colour
    skinR = random(200,80);
    skinG = random (90,90);
    skinB = random (101,40);
    
    //changing body proportions
    rectX = random(150,450);
    rectY = random(150,300);
    rectWidth = random (150,200);
    rectHeight = random (150, 400);
    
    //changing eye proportions
    eyeW = random (30,70);
    eyeH = random (20,30);
    
    //changing mouth proportions
    mouthH = random (10,200);
    mouthW = random (10,200);
    
    //persona generator 
    index = index + 1;
    if (index == personas.length) {
    index = 0;
  }
    
  }

I wanted to have fun with the Project and so I decided to make characters out of my different faces. I like how each face has a fun, kind of weird but unique personality. I thought they all looked like “Joes” so I made them all pretty similar. I started off wanting to do really complicated things that I had to simplify but it was a good opportunity to play with p5.js, experiment and learn about arrays.

adev—Looking Outwards 01

 

SENTIENT CHAMBER, Philip Beesley, 2015

Philip Beesley is a groundbreaking architect who does extremely experimental, research-based work with organic forms and inorganic materials. His work lies at the cross-section between architecture, art, microbiology, ecology, engineering and machine learning. This particular project is a responsive ecology-like pavilion that is built extremely efficiently, with synthetic materials and built-in sensors. This ecology has micro processors and micro sensors through which it carries out pre-scripted behaviours. This particular installation is being used to research a curiosity-based learning system.

I find this work to be riveting not just because of the technology but because of the possibilities it makes me think of. I find biology fascinating and it is really interesting to see how the organic and inorganic are fusing to create the intelligent systems that are extremely aware of their environments. These pieces don’t just exist in isolation, they are very much a part of the space they’re in. On a phenomenological level, I think this work is a vital insight into the anthropocene as it sheds an almost optimistic light on the future of things, materials, spaces and how we will interact with them. I also attended one of Philip Beesley’s lectures and his take on the philosophy of his work was really inspiring.

adev—Project 01—face

self_portrait_aisha

//Aisha Dev
//Project 1
//Self-portrait

function setup() {
  createCanvas(600,600);
    background(211,156,110);
    
}

function draw() {
    
   //face
    fill(15,0,68);
    noStroke();
    triangle(0,0,0,300,100,0);
    
    quad(0,400,110,400,170,600,0,600);
    
    triangle (600,470,600,600,550,600);
    
    //hair
    noFill();
   stroke(255,6,255);
    strokeWeight(15);
    bezier(400 - 90,0,500 -70,40 +50,450 -50,120 +100,600,180 +80);
    bezier(400 - 50,0,500 -50,40 +20,450 -30,120 +50,600,180 +40);
   bezier(400,0,500,40,450,120,600,180);
   bezier(400 + 50,0,500 +40,40 -20,450 +30,120 -50,600,180 -40);
    bezier(400 + 100,0,500 +60,40 -25,450 +60,120 -100,600,180 -80);
     bezier(400 + 150,0,500 +80,40,450 +130,120 -150,600,180 -120);
    
    //nose
    stroke(190,130,90);
    strokeWeight(15);
    line(110,0,5,310);
    line(0,395,130,395);
    
    fill(190,130,90);
    noStroke();
    ellipse(100,370,60,60);
     ellipse(30,380,40,40);
    
    //lips
    fill(234,42,42);
    noStroke();
    arc(160,515,100,70,PI,0,CHORD);
    arc(225,515,100,70,PI,0,CHORD);
    fill(209,90,90);
    noStroke();
    arc(193,515,160,90,0,PI,CHORD);
    
    
     //earring
    noFill();
    stroke(250,230,0);
    strokeWeight(5);
    ellipse(580,380,60,60);
    fill(250,230,0);
    noStroke();
    ellipse(580,420,20,20);
    ellipse(561,415,20-3,20-3);
    ellipse(599,415,20-3,20-3);
    
    //eye1 
    fill(0);
    noStroke();
    ellipse(200,223,130,70);
    fill(255);
    noStroke();
    ellipse(200,230,130,70);
    
    fill(0);
    stroke(61,31,31);
    strokeWeight(15);
    ellipse(200,230,40,40);
    
     //eye2
    fill(0);
    noStroke();
    ellipse(400,223,130,70);
    fill(255);
    noStroke();
    ellipse(400,230,130,70);
    
    fill(0);
    stroke(61,31,31);
    strokeWeight(15);
    ellipse(400,230,40,40);
    
    //eyebrows
    noStroke();
    quad(270,150,267,170,150,160,150,90+50);
    quad(270+80,150,267+80,170,170+300,160,170+300,90+50);
    

}

I wanted to create something simple and bold, while playing with fun elements like colour. I didn’t want it to be a literal portrait, but a more abstract graphic illustration. I wanted each of the elements to be quite distinct so I could have fun playing with them later next week.