Jonathan Perez Looking Outwards 4

 

Yuri Suzuki’s Sonic Pendulum

Earlier this year, Yuri Suzuki collaborated with QOSMO — one of the worlds leading AI experts — to create a “Sonic Pendulum”. This installation generates a calming soundscape that is continuously generated by the AI system in response to its surroundings.

The actual installation itself is comprised of three swing-set-like rigs, with a series of speakers hanging as pendulums. These pendulums swing back in forth in different, organic patterns that are regulated by the central algorithm. In this way, not only is the installation aural, but visual. Viewers experience the sound as an observable motion in space, and furthermore, as a physical feeling in their bodies. The swinging motion generates a doppler effect, changing the pitch of the perceived sound, and thus oscillating the resonation in the viewers body.

The central algorithm controls all the aspects of this system, creating a unique interaction, a conversation, with the viewers. A number of cameras and microphones are set up to register the sound level and population of the viewers. The central algorithm takes in this input and adjusts the oscillation pattern of the pendulums as well as the music being generated to match and respond to the environment.

I admire this projects interdisciplinary and inter-sensory nature. Yuri Suzuki seamlessly bridges music composition, design, and AI computer science in a way so that each informs the other. As a result the viewer can receive a much fuller experience… a much more impactful one, too. Suzuki intended this project to calm and relax its viewers, and he could not have achieved that goal to the same degree without the implementation of visual with audio, and the audio with physical sensation, all of which are conducted by the AI.

One last note about this project. I really admire Suzuki’s intent for the Sonic Pendulums to create a mindful space. I would like to see more and more of this kind of art in the future, using human advancements to further mental health.

For more information, and a cool demonstration of the project, here’s a link.

https://vimeo.com/214206048

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Jonathan Perez Project 4

sketch

//Jonathan Perez
//Section B
//jdperez@andrew.cmu.edu
//Project-4

function setup() {
    createCanvas(400, 300);
    background(0);
    pixelDensity(5.0);
    noStroke();
    colorMode(HSB, 360, 100, 100);
}

function draw() {
    background(0);
    noStroke();
    var x1;
    var x2;
    var y1;
    var y2;
    var r = 90; //radius of iris
    var eyeBright; //variable used to fade iris background to black
    for (var i = 0; i < 100; i++) { //iris faded background
        eyeBright = i;
        fill(213, 20, eyeBright);
        ellipse(width/2, height/2, 2.5*r - i*2.5*r/100, 2.5*r - i*2.5*r/100);
    }

    //blue iris coloring
    translate(width/2, height/2);
    for (var i = 0; i < 4; i++) { //for loop to create four foci by which to fill in the iris
        push();
        angleMode(RADIANS);
        rotate(i*PI/2); //rotates 90 degrees between foci
        for (var j = -14; j < 15; j++) { //21 strings from each foci are used to fill in circle
            if(j == -1 || j == -2 || j == 1 || j ==2 || j == -14 || j == -13 || j == 13 || j == 14) {
              continue; //skip center lines for both star visual effect, and to
                        //concentrate blue color to the outside of the iris
            }
            angleMode(DEGREES);
            x1 = -r;
            y1 = sqrt(sq(r)-sq(x1)); //uses equation for a circle to calculate y coordinate
            x2 = r*cos(12*j); //makes and end point every 12 degrees
            y2 = r*sin(12*j);
            stroke(199, 46, 80); //blue
            strokeWeight(1);
            line(x1, y1, x2, y2);
        }
        pop();
    }
    
    //green center iris
    var r2 = 5*r/12;
    for (var i = 0; i < 4; i++) { //for loop to create for foci by which to fill in the circle
        push();
        angleMode(RADIANS);
        rotate(i*PI/2); //rotates 90 degrees between foci
        for (var j = -12; j < 13; j++) { //21 strings from each foci are used to fill in circle
            if(j == -1 || j == -2 || j == 1 || j ==2) {
              continue;
            }
            x1 = -r/2;
            y1 = sqrt(sq(r/2)-sq(x1)); //uses r/2 to create a star shape
            angleMode(DEGREES);
            x2 = r2*cos(15*j); //makes and end point every 15 degrees
            y2 = r2*sin(15*j);
            stroke(77, 93, 48);//pale yellow/green
            strokeWeight(.5);
            line(x1, y1, x2, y2);
        }
        pop();
    }
    fill(0);
    ellipse(0, 0, r/2, r/2); //pupil
    fill(100); 
    ellipse(r/7, -r/8, r/9, r/9); //pupil light reflection

    //outside iris
    for (var i = 0; i < 30; i++) { //upper right accent
        x1 = i*(r+r/4)/29
        y1 = -r - r/4
        x2 = r+ r/4
        y2 = -r - r/4 + i*(r)/29
        stroke(80);
        line(x1, y1, x2, y2);
    }
    for (var i = 0; i < 30; i++) { // lower left accent
        x1 = -i*(r+r/4)/29
        y1 = r + r/4
        x2 = -r - r/4
        y2 = r + r/4 - i*(r)/29
        stroke(80);
        line(x1, y1, x2, y2);
    }
 

    //eyelid
    translate(-width/2, -height/2)
    for (var j = 0; j < 45; j++) { //fills in quarter circle with 45 lines
        x1 = 0
        y1 = height - j*height/45
        x2 = j * width/45
        y2 = 0
        stroke(100 + j*4, 60, 77); //slowly changes color from green to purple from left to right
        line(x1, y1, x2, y2);
    }
    for (var j = 0; j < 45; j++) { //fills in quarter circle with 45 lines
        x1 = width
        y1 = height - j*height/45
        x2 = j * width/45
        y2 = height
        stroke(100 + j*4, 60, 77); //slowly changes color from green to purple from left to right
        line(x1,y1,x2,y2);
    }

}

This project was pretty difficult for me to wrap my head around at first… I had never done any sort of string art before, nor could I quite get the feel for it. So, the way I started this project was pretty much playing around with the string art form: trying to make different shapes, and seeing what different loops I could use to accomplish drawing efficiently.

Somewhere along the lines, I ended up deciding on an eye as the theme for my drawing. Once I got going, I discovered some of the advantages of using string art, mainly, its ability to create compositional lines. After deciding on the shapes and composition, the next thing was the color and negative space. Negative space was definitely something that I realized later on was a very important part of the string drawing. Originally, all of the space was filled with strings, and the drawing became quickly cluttered. I had to decide on what to remove, and where perhaps I should use less strings to render the shapes.

As for the finished product, I enjoy how the strings led to a reptilian aesthetic. The spaces between the lines give the image texture and curvature that would be hard to do otherwise. The iris of the lizard’s eye plays off the geometric qualities of drawing with string art, creating different polygons with the lines and shapes where lines are removed.

LookingOutwards-04

For this particular Looking-Outwards post, I looked at an artistic piece of Otobong Nkanga named Wetin You Go Do?. In this particular artistic piece, a distinctive sound can be heard from three of the balls. The sound is very carefully edited and layered in a specific way. The sound is edited to portray a part narrative and part song, with shifts between stream of consciousness and profound statements in English, French and Nigerian Pidgin, an English-based Creole language widely spoken across Nigeria.

Symbolism plays a part where each sphere represents a different imaginary character. The ropes connecting the spheres suggest networks within society.

I admire the simplicity yet the strong importance of symbolism behind this artistic piece. Additionally, the sound editing plays an essential role in conveying this symbolic message. The algorithms behind the sound editing is a bit hard for me to guess but I assume that there is definitely a distinct pattern between the usage of different languages and sounds.

The artist’s artistic sensibility especially shines in the simple way he successfully conveys a very distinct, clear, and “loud” message. The message can be loud without having to be physically loud by sound.

Nayeon_Project04_String Art

nayeonk1

//Na-yeon Kim
//15-104, B section
//nayeonk1@andrew.cmu.edu
//Project-04_ (String Art)


function setup() {
    createCanvas(300, 400);
    background(0);
    angleMode(DEGREES);
}

function draw() {
    var x = 0;
    var y = 0;
    var x1 = 300;
    var y1 = 400;
    var xspacing = 7.5;
    var yspacing = 10;
    var i;

    var r = map(mouseX, 0, width, 100, 200);
    var g = map(mouseX, 0, width, 0, 100);
    var b = map(mouseY, 0, height, 200, 250);

    for (i = 0; i < 50; i++) {
      stroke(r, g, b);
      strokeWeight(0.5);
      line(x, y + i * yspacing, x + i * xspacing, y1);
      line(x + i * xspacing, y, x1, y + i * yspacing);

      stroke(b, r, g);
      line(x + i * xspacing, y, x, y1 - i * yspacing);
      line(x + i * xspacing, y1, x1, y1 - i * yspacing);
    }
}

I found that string art is simple yet so aesthetic. Numberless lines drawn by mathematics create beautiful composition which makes you just zone into.
I wish I could figure out more complicated formulas.

Draft for string art

nayeonk1-LookingOutwards-04

Ryoji Ikeda is a famous japanese sound and media artist. He crosses the boundary between visual media and audio media and creates mesmerizing performances.  He focuses on very detailed sound like super sound and frequency using high digital technology. Developing his unique way, he gained world wide fame. In his work, sound, time and space are composed by mathematical way so that physical features of sound could reach to audience’s perception and feeling. Many of his work are consist of variable materials such as visual media, sound, installation object and new fabrications which lead his work to new area of art. I admire his work as he create new dimension to audience with very detailed sound and installation art. I always have interested in different perception to the world, his work gave me a glimpse of new world!

The transfinite

Ryoji Ikeda Website

Project-04-String-Art

sketch

//Hanna Jang 
//Section B 
//hannajan@andrew.cmu.edu 
//Project 04

function setup() {
	createCanvas (400, 300); 
    strokeWeight(1); 
    
}

function draw() {
	background(0); 
	var x1= 200; 
	var accum= 2; 
	var space= 40; 
	
 	for (var i = 0; i < 300; i += 40) {
    	//white lines start on left and spread out
    	stroke(255); 
      line (0, 0, width, i); 
      //white lines start on right and spread out 
      line(width, 0, 0, i)
      
      //pink lines start on left and spread out
      stroke(255, 183, 221); 
      line(0, space, width, i); 
      //pink lines start on right and spread out 
     line(width, space, 0, i); 
     
      //yellow lines start on left and spread out 
      stroke(255, 241, 150); 
      line(0, space*2, width, i); 
      //yellow lines start on right and spread out 
      line(width, space*2, 0, i); 
      
      //blue lines start on left and spread out 
      stroke(183, 222, 255); 
      line(0, space*3, width, i); 
      //blue lines start on right and spread out 
      line(width, space*3, 0, i); 
      
      //aqua lines start on left and spread out
      stroke(183, 253, 255); 
      line(0, space*4, width, i); 
      //aqua lines start on right and spread out
      line(width, space*4, 0, i); 
      
      //green lines start on left and spread out
      stroke(151, 231, 182); 
      line(0, space*5, width, i); 
      //green  lines start on right and spread out
      line(width, space*5, 0, i); 
      
      //purple lines start on left and spread out
      stroke(161, 170, 245); 
      line(0, space*6, width, i); 
      //purple  lines start on right and spread out
       line(width, space*6, 0, i); 
       
       //hot pink line starts on left and spreads out
       stroke(243, 62, 150); 
       line(0, space*7, width, i); 
        //hot pink line starts on right and spreads out
      line(width, space*7, 0, i); 
      
    }
    
  
      

}

	

For this particular project, I was stuck at first on what I should do. I then wanted to try to make a visual illusion. The curves in my project are seen in the middle of the canvas where there are black spots. If you concentrate on the black spots only and move your eyes hori

Brandonhyun- Project-04-String-Art

I was trying to emulate wave shapes and the movement of waves in this project. When the mouse is moved through the x axis, the strings are elongating towards the right of the canvas and when the mouse is moved through the y axis then the strings elongating downwards.

When the mouse is clicked the background color changes.

sketch

// Brandon Hyun
// 15-104 Section B
// bhyun1@andrew.cmu.edu
// Project 04

var increase = 15;
var xInt = 15;

var x1 = 0;
var y1 = 550;
var x2 = 550;
var y2 = 0;
var red;
var green;
var blue;

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

function draw() {
  background (red,green,blue);
  var m = 400/25;
	for(var i = 0; i < m; i += 1) {
        strokeWeight(1);
		    stroke(40,40,40);


        for(var j =0; j<10; j+=1){
          line(mouseX+40*j, increase * i, increase * i +40*j, y1);
        }

		    for(var z =0; z<10; z+=1){
          line(mouseY+ x2 - increase * i, y2+40*z, x1, increase * i+ 40*z);
        }

	}
}

function mousePressed() {
  red = random(0,255);
  green = random (0,255);
  blue = random (0,255);
}

nahyunk1-Project04-String Art

sketch

function setup() {
    createCanvas(400, 300);
    background("lavender");
}
function draw() {
    for (var i = 1; i < 300; i += 6) { // first set of chrome lines;
      strokeWeight(2);
      stroke(mouseX-1, mouseX-5, mouseY-10);
      line(i, 0, i*10, 500);
    }
    for (y = 10; y < 300; y += 10) { //the yellow lines;
      stroke(255,250,205);
      strokeWeight(1.2);
      line(-i, y/400 + 30, 400, y*2);
    }
    for (i =0; i < 40; i++) { // white beams and orange beams;
      stroke("white");
      strokeWeight(0.2);
      line(1, i*1.5, i+200, 400);
      stroke("orange");
      line(i+400, 300, i*1.5, i*3.5);
    }
    for (i = 10; i <300; i += 3) { // coral pink lines at the bottom;
      var y1 = i*(30/400);
      stroke("pink");
      strokeWeight(0.5);
      line(i, y1*9, 90, 400);
    }
    for (h =0; h < 100;h +=8) { // floating blue lines;
      stroke("skyblue");
      var y1 = 170;
      var y2 = 23;
      line(h+20, y1, h*5 ,y2);
      y2 += y2
    }
}

I basically played around with the codes to get a better understanding of how each of the equations affect the shape and size of each set of line drawings. I also used color to identify each set of strings to show more distinction from one another.

jamieh-Looking-Outwards-04

Volume, designed by Softlab, consists of a grid of 100 mirror panels that respond and redirect light and sound, as well as interact with human movement through depth cameras. The mirrors panels rotate to face the nearest person. Based on the volume of the ambient sound in the space, LEDs on the sides of the panels light up and the panels move vertically. The interface of the project was coded and built in Processing. Cameras are placed overhead to track people’s positions. The data is then managed with OCP and Arduino microcontrollers.

What I like about this project is how they took sound, which is intangible, and gave it spacial qualities through the rotation towards the person as well as quantitative information of the volume of the sound through the LED lights. Light and sound, which doesn’t seem to move, now visually circulate through space. I like that it reacts to human movement, but based on their description of the interface using the weighted average to find the closest person to the cube of mirrors makes me wonder what happens when there are more people who are standing close to the installation.

jiaxinw-SectionB-LookingOutwards 04

Cloud Piano

Cloud Piano was an installation created by David Brown in 2014. In this installation, a piano would be played based on the shapes and movements of the clouds. A camera was used to record the real-time cloud and a software articulated a device to press the keys on the piano according to the moving images from the video. I think the customized software analyzed the real-time images and transferred them into black and white pictures. According to the portion of black and white, the strength and position to press the piano keys were decided.

I like how the artist combined the unpredictable movements of nature and the artificial instrument together. It created an unusual yet romantic feeling for the music. This was a new way of turning nature into artistic sounds. Using the computing skills to analyze the real-time data, the artist turned his feeling of nature into an interesting art installation.

For more information: http://www.dwbowen.com/cloud-piano/