As I was reading the prompt and scanning Youtube and Vimeo for Sound Art projects that interested me, I came upon this one, titled Beat Slicer by Amanda Ghassaei. I chose this one because it was simple and minimal, on a level where I would understand and not be too overwhelmed with a lot going on.

The Beat Slicer is an arduino-powered music controller. Each button manipulates the playback of the song programmed. And although, in the controller is a lot of physical computing aspects I am yet to understand, I can imagine that each button is programmed in its own way to produce its own unique manipulation of the song.

Amanda Ghassaei uses the same controller for other projects, and has published an instruction guide here: http://www.instructables.com/id/Sugarcube-MIDI-Controller/

sketch

function setup(){
    createCanvas(640,480);
}

function draw(){
    //as mouse moves to right, time in day advances in frame
    if(mouseX<=160){ 
        background(204,255,255); //early morning sky
    }else if(mouseX>160 & mouseX<320){
        background(153,255,255) //midday sky
    }else if(mouseX>320 && mouseX<480){
        background(0,0,153) //evening dusk
    }else if(mouseX>=480){
        background(64,64,64) //nighttime
    }

    noStroke();
    fill(0,153,0);
    rect(0,300,640,200) //grass
    fill(225);
    rect(175,125,300,200) //hunt library base
    fill(205)
    rect(175,125,300,15) //horizontal bars
    rect(175,175,300,15)
    rect(175,225,300,15)
    rect(175,275,300,15)
    

    if (mouseX<=480){
        fill(200)
        rect(175,125,20,200) //vertical bars
        rect(215,125,20,200)
        rect(255,125,20,200)
        rect(295,125,20,200)
        rect(335,125,20,200)
        rect(375,125,20,200)
        rect(415,125,20,200)
        rect(455,125,20,200)
    }else{
        fill(204,0,0) //red
        rect(175,125,20,200)
        fill(255,128,0) //orange
        rect(215,125,20,200)
        fill(255,255,0) //yellow
        rect(255,125,20,200)
        fill(0,255,0) //green
        rect(295,125,20,200)
        fill(0,0,255);
        rect(335,125,20,200)
        fill(0,255,255)//light blue
        rect(375,125,20,200)
        fill(102,0,204) //purple
        rect(415,125,20,200)
        fill(255,0,255) //pink
        rect(455,125,20,200)

    }

    fill(250)
    rect(300,250,50,75) //hunt door
    rect(287.5,250,75,5) //awning
    
    //this is the scottie doggo now

    fill(0)
    rect(341,375,150,55,25,25)//body
    ellipse(362,435,40,20) //left foot
    ellipse(470,435,40,20) //rightfoot
    rect(470,365,15,20,85,0,55,55) //tail
    ellipse(356,360,60,60) //head
    rect(315,365,50,25,5,5) //muzzle
    ellipse(330,365,30,20) //head muzzle connector
    rect(315,385,5,10,25,5,0,5) //beard
    rect(320,385,5,10,25,5,0,5)
    rect(325,385,5,10,25,5,0,5)
    rect(330,385,5,10,25,5,0,5)
    triangle(355,327.5,385,327.5,375,355) //ear
    fill(255)
    ellipse(340,350,10,10) //eye
    fill(0)
    ellipse(337.5,347.5,5,5) //pupil
    fill(215)
    ellipse(317.5,362.5,10,7) //nose

    fill(0,102,204)
    ellipse(200,435,80,25) //food bowl
    rect(160,420,80,20,25,25)


    if(mouseY<300){
        fill(255)
        push()
        rotate(radians(40)) //left bone
        rect(400,200,25,10,10,10,10,10)
        ellipse(400,200,10,10)
        ellipse(400,210,10,10)
        ellipse(425,200,10,10)
        ellipse(425,210,10,10)
        pop()
    }else{
//bone 2
        fill(255)
        push()
        rotate(radians(40)) //left bone
        rect(400,200,25,10,10,10,10,10)
        ellipse(400,200,10,10)
        ellipse(400,210,10,10)
        ellipse(425,200,10,10)
        ellipse(425,210,10,10)
        pop()
        rotate(radians(-30)) //right bone
        rect(-30,470,25,10,10,10,10,10)
        ellipse(-30,470,10,10)
        ellipse(-30,480,10,10)
        ellipse(-5,470,10,10)
        ellipse(-5,480,10,10)
        pop()
    }
}
    

For this project I decided to use let the mouse determine the daylight (as dragged to the right, it becomes night, as shown by the darkness and how Hunt light ups), and as the mouse goes closer to the food bowl, the scottie dog gets more food. My process first started by creating the simple drawing, and then adding if statements to allow the concept of daylight to change as well as the feeding of the dog.

For this topic I chose to look through Pinterest and picked this scaled 3D model of San Francisco.

I really am fascinated by this since it is quite literally a miniature model of San Francisco. It was made by members of Autodesk and Steelblue, by using, what I assume to be Autodesk’s Computer Aided Design (CAD) program (it is not clearly mentioned in the article). I particularly admire this since I have been exposed to CAD before, through my robotics team in high school. I was never quite proficient in it, but I managed to make and print some parts, though admittedly, the process of ensuring the right calculations and sizes and everything in CAD took me what seemed forever. That said, I cannot imagine how much time it would take to make a model of an entire city to scale. To make it to scale, the creators must have had to note somewhere all the sizes of actual buildings, roads, park, etc, and hen find the appropriate scaling measurements. Then they would actually have to CAD each individual building and part, which includes drawing and labeling several boxes and rectangles on CAD (as how I remember it). Then they would have to put it all together, to follow the shape of the actual city itself, and send it to the 3D printer. And although there isn’t an artistic value seen on the model, the art specific to the makers is in the hard work to make an accurate model through CAD and 3D printing.

Here is an article about the model:unveiling-the-largest-ever-3d-printed-model-of-san-francisco.html

For this assignment I chose Memo Akten’s Fight (2017). Fight uses Virtual Reality and Binocular Reality and transforms it into interpret art right in front of the eye. I chose this piece because virtual reality, to me, is one of the most fascinating advances in technology. I vividly remember my first experience with virtual reality, and always yearn to experience it again when possible. What I particularly like about this piece though, is its variability aspect in which each viewer has a different visual experience despite the images displayed being the same every time.

Though I’m not quite sure on how Atken made the images, I know that at a basic level, virtual reality works by using a stereoscopic display that allows eyes to see depth into the images projected. The images that Atken chooses for this piece are ones that do not directly match our expectations of the outside world.

Attached is a video of one of infinite visual experiences from Fight

In his interviews, Atken draws his main purpose of this piece is to think about perception. He writes, “perception, including vision, is an active process, it requires action and integration”. More information about Memo Atken’s Fight can be found here: http://www.memo.tv/fight/

my-sketch.js

var cheekWidth = 125
var cheekHeight = 125 
var leftEyeX = 285
var rightEyeX = 365
var leftEyeY = 170
var rightEyeY = 170
var toothHeight = 40

function setup() {
    createCanvas(640,480);
}
function draw() {
    background(255,217,223);
    noStroke();
    fill(139,69,19) //squirrel tail
    rect(345,150,200,325,90,10,95,0)    
    fill(153,102,51); //face and body color
    ellipse(320,200,200,200) //top head
    ellipse(320,280,160,190) //CHIN
    ellipse(260,275,cheekWidth,cheekHeight) //left cheek
    ellipse(380,275,cheekWidth,cheekHeight) //right cheek
    triangle(240,80,240,140,280,120) // left ear
    triangle(400,80,400,140,360,120) // right ear
    rect(250,335,140,225,10,10) //body
    fill(145,95,50) //color for feet
    ellipse(250,475,100,75) //left foot
    ellipse(385,475,100,75) //right foot
    ellipse(250,375,60,60) //left hand
    ellipse(385,375,60,60) //right hand

    fill(97,65,38) //acorn
    triangle(260,375,375,375,320,420)
    rect(310,355,20,20,5,5)
    fill(112,84,59)
    rect(260,365,115,15,10,10)

    //squirrel face
    fill(256);
    ellipse(280,180,65,65)
    ellipse(360,180,65,65) //white eyes
    fill(0);
    ellipse(285,180,55,60) //left color eye
    ellipse(365,180,55,60) //right color eye
    fill(256);
    ellipse(leftEyeX,leftEyeY,30,30) //left pupil
    ellipse(rightEyeX,rightEyeY,30,30) //right pupil
    fill(0) //nose
    ellipse(320,250,75,25) //round nose
    rect(315,250,10,40,5,5) //nose vertical line
    ellipse(320,290,125,5) //mouth
    fill(256) //teeth
    rect(290,292,29,toothHeight,5,5) //left tooth
    rect(320,292,29,toothHeight,5,5) //right tooth

}

function mousePressed() {
   
    cheekHeight = random(100,150);
    cheekWidth = random(100,150); //cheeks change
    leftEyeX = random(275,295) //now eyes change
    rightEyeX = random (355,375) 
    leftEyeY = random(170,190)
    rightEyeY = random(165,190)
    toothHeight =random(30,50)


}

I decided to use a squirrel for my variable-changing face project. To begin, I sketched out an idea of the main head and face onto notebook paper as shown here:

As I started coding, I got more confident with the axes and began to do a fast guess and check as my program got more detailed. I then chose to have the variables of the teeth, pupils, and cheeks change.

sketch

function setup() {
    resizeCanvas(500, 400);
    }

function draw() {

    background(255,192,203); //pink background
    fill(252,175,135); //skin color
    noStroke();
    ellipse(250,200,110,130); //head

    fill(256);
    ellipse(230,200,25,25);
    ellipse(270,200,25,25); //eyes white

    fill(48,32,19);
    ellipse(235,200,15,20);
    ellipse(275,200,15,20); //brown pupils

    fill(0); //eyelashes
    rect(235,190,7,2,5,5); //left eyes
    rect(240,195,5,2,5,5);
    rect(240,200,6,2,5,5);
    rect(275,190,7,2,5,5); //right eyes
    rect(280,195,5,2,5,5);
    rect(280,200,6,2,5,5);


    fill(0);
    arc(250,180,100,90,PI,TWO_PI); // top bangs
    rect(200,175,10,70,10,10); //left side long bang
    rect(290,175,10,70,10,10); //right side long bang
    rect(280,175,10,15,90,30); //middle bangs
    rect(270,175,10,15,90,30);
    rect(260,175,10,15,90,30);
    rect(250,175,10,15,90,30);
    rect(240,175,10,15,90,30);
    rect(230,175,10,15,90,30);
    rect(220,175,10,15,90,30);
    rect(210,175,10,15,90,30);

    fill(0);
    ellipse(250,125,50,50); //top bun

    fill(256); //coffee cup
    ellipse(250,250,150,45) //coffee top lid  
    ellipse(325,310,30,100) //handle outside
    fill(255,192,203);
    ellipse(325,310,10,85) //handle inside
    fill(256);
    rect(175,250,150,130,0,5); //cup body

    fill(40,26,13); //brown
    ellipse(250,250,140,35); //coffee liquid

}

For my self-portrait I decided to picture my head with an even bigger mug of coffee since I felt that represents me and my lifestyle. I used a lot of ellipses and arc for rounded objects (head, eyes, top of the mug, handle of the mug, etc) and rectangles (bangs from my hair, eyelashes, body of the mug). My process began with a lot of guess and check but once I figured out the coordinates I wanted it was easy to finish with more speed.

One of my favorite installation art pieces is one by the name of “Having Fun/Good Life, Symptoms” by Bruce Nauman. The work is actually located in the Carnegie Museum of Art, and having grown up in Pittsburgh I have seen this particular display several times in the past couple of years. Each time I go to the CMOA, I’ve been drawn in by the flashing neon lights of this piece. The sign itself alternates sayings, so that not all words are illuminated at once, causing the visitor to stay and look for a while.. I never really thought about this piece deeply until this assignment, but given this assignment, I’ve come to realize the technological influence and pieces this work has, which, coincidentally, are reasons I admire this piece. The flashing lights of different sayings that go on and off at different times are what draws attention, and attached is a video that shows just that.