November 2018 – [OLD FALL 2018] 15-104 • Introduction to Computing for Creative Practice

Looking Outwards 12 rrandell

http://www.liaworks.com/category/theprojects/

Lia’s direct page^

http://www.liaworks.com/videos/animal-imagination/

Lia’s animal imagination video^

Sputniko!’s direct page ^

http://sputniko.com/2016/04/redsilkfate/

For my project I am kind of interested in combining generative and interactive art that uses the webcam. I was looking at some artists that do similar things and I saw the artist Lia. She uses interesting tools to generate art, but she doesn’t combine these projects with people very much (in the sense that I would like to) but I am still very intrigued in her methods, like the mechanical plotter drawings. But her most interesting piece to me is her generative video called ‘animal imagination’. This video is essentially a moving drawing which is very soothing (at some points) and hectic (at other points). It looks almost like animated turtle graphics with spirals and almost slinky looking patterns. I am interested in possibly exploring these shapes to use as part of my final project and am interested in learning more about how they move and work. I am also interested in Japanese artist Sputniko! who uses video art to convey her ideas, like in her video red silk of fate, which was based on a project that she made. The video acted as supplemental to her project, and it was interesting to see how she could use video as apart of her work– as I am thinking of using video the way she does in my project.

Han Yu Project 12 Proposal

For the final project of this class, I’m going to collaborate with Min Jun Kim. We are thinking about doing a simple video game which draws inspiration from Gradius. We are planning to make three different stages of the game: first two are competing against small enemies and the last stage will be against the boss, a black hole. We use be using objects and interactive background and sound. The game will be set in a carefully designed galaxy theme that varies with each stage. There will be multiple different characters to choose from and about 10 kinds of enemy ships.

A simple draft of the first two stages of our game.

Min Jun Kim- Project 12 Proposal

I am using my first grace day for this post.
For this semester’s project proposal, I’ve decided to work together with Han Yu from the same class on a simple generative video game. We decided to work on a spaceship game inspired by Gradius, where numerous spaceship enemies appear to attack the main protagonist. For our version of this project, we are going to be incorporating three rounds of fighting. The first two will have various enemies that appear in random but also planned times, and the last round will consist of a boss character which will be a black hole. In the last round, the character will constantly be gravitationally pulled toward the enemy while being attacked by missiles and laser shots. The stages will be determined by how many enemy spaceships the user destroys, and the boss will have a health-bar to show how far the user is from winning the game. In the end, the user’s spaceship will do a simple celebratory dance, and a caption that says, “You saved the Universe!” I think that this project will be difficult in that there will be at least 4 objects used- Stage1 Enemies, Stage2 Enemies, and Boss, and projectiles. I think figuring out the logistics of dealing damage will be the most difficult part of this project.

Kevin Riordan and Sharon Yang – Looking Outwards 12

We are using grace days on this assignment.

Time by Inception being played on a piano app

A song being played on ‘Cool Piano’ app

The following videos are piano apps currently available on Apple app store. Though they are not computational art projects, we find these apps and how they operate highly inspiring. For our final project, we are thinking of creating a virtual piano with realistic graphics of the piano. The first video has inspired us to add more graphics such as the notes of the keys pressed, or we could also recreate the graphics of the app; when a song is uploaded the keys in the song can be obtained to be displayed on the screen with graphics. The second video has inspired us to append engaging visual effects to the notes such as the staff as well as having them float around. They could also have glowing effects. This could also be developed into a game, where the users can tap the graphics of the notes. We would like to try to make our project as engaging and useful as these apps in the videos.

Sources of the videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5RmYEd1N9I

Kevin Riordan Sharon Yang-Project 12-Proposal

We are using one of the grace days on this assignment.

Our final project proposal is making a program that simulates a piano, like the apps available on iPhones. When keys are pressed, sound comes out, and maybe a note floats up to the top out of the key. The size of the notes or movement could be based on how long the key is pressed for or something. Creating the visual of pressing down the key and making the piano look realistic will be challenging, and making the sounds realistic and reactive will also be something we have to figure out. We have not really done much with sound in this class, so working more with sound will be challenging. Below are some sketches of what we plan to try and make visually. The basic program to make it work seems to be something realistic to try and work towards, but making it visually more appealing is something we want to work on more.

I will be working with Sharon Yang (also in Section C) on this project.

Min Jun Kim- Looking Outwards 12

D20160112B not as easy by David Mollinger

For this week’s looking outwards, I wanted to compare two projects that are generative in nature. One is called Wall Explorer A by an artist named Moka. I was very drawn to the bold and impactful drawing. And in a lot of sense, it reminded me of Pittsburgh. The premise of the artwork is that the artist drew certain items using software, then drew them again in real life using artist tape. I admire the fact that this project is very multifaceted, and uses creative resources to complete. Usually a lot of art is done on one medium, but by incorporating multiple sources, one can create what normally and usually can’t be done with extreme precision. I think creator could have improved upon this were he to use varying thickness of the tapes.

The other project that I admire a lot would be David Bollinger’s D20160112B. The project is a graphic illusion type of art that gives the impression of a 3d gaming background/map. I thought that this project was very interesting because it is able to portray such complex 3d structure in a simple and non-invasive way. Also it is very detailed and have no parts that defy the 3d space. I think the artist could have improved on this if he were to add other interesting elements such as trees and other landscapes like stones.

Link to Wall Expolorer A by Moka produced in 2011: http://mariuswatz.com/2011/03/11/wall-exploder-a/
Link to D20160112B not as easy by David Bollinger produced in 2016: https://www.flickr.com/photos/davebollinger/24252153771/

Final Project Proposal rrandell

For my final project I would like to make some sort of interactive art using the camera and possibly emotion recognition. I thought that the camera assignment was really interesting and totally rewarding as it was so different from the previous assignments. I was thinking that it may be interesting to make some interactive art when the person in the camera is smiling or frowning or making a face that is clearly some type of emotion. For example, really colorful fireworks when the person in the frame is smiling or raindrops when the person is frowning. I believe that I could make some really interesting forms that generate based off of the expression that a person has on their face and that it will be interesting to explore human emotion further with code. Some resources on this campus that may be able to help me with this may be a teacher at the School of Art, Angela Washko, who has a lot of experience in New Media art and may possibly be a good resource for researching this further.

below is a small sketch to demonstrate, apologies for the poor drawing skills!

Han Yu Looking Outwards 12

Inspiration 1: Lighting Changes with SoundThe Company by Nocte at Bring to Light Festival NYC

Nocte is a London-based team of expert that creates and designs light installations for different kinds of situations. They have been commissioned by multiple famous bands and exhibitions to create interactive visual connections that amplify the overall effects of the event. The Company is made up of 76 tungsten lamps the the brightness and on/off switch of each light bulb is interactive with the background music. The overall effect of this project is magnificent and I’d love to see it in person one day.

I think Nocte’s interactive lighting installation will be a good inspiration for my project because it will help me to build a more atmospheric background for my game-based project. I want to make the lighting and graphics of my project change along with the progression the game.

Inspiration 2: City Icon by Marcin Ignac at the Sustainable City Initiative at London in 2012.

Marcin Ignac is a Polish Artist and Programmer based in London. His work often involves visualizing data, creating artificial life forms and combining technology with art. City Icon is a series of six simulations representing different representation of London. This project is very relevant to my project because it can be incorporated into making themes and backgrounds of the game I’m making which is supposedly galaxy based.

Looking Outwards 12 Liz Maday

I am using one of my late days for this post.

One exciting project that I found was the live visuals performed by Mary Franck which accompanied electronic music performed by an assortment of artists, including Holly Herndon, Mike Gao, Luke Dahl, Colin Sullivan, Jennifer Hsu & Locky. This took place at the Modulations showcase in 2013 (an annual event that is hosted by Stanford’s Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics).

The performance involved a large screen which was placed behind the musicians on stage, and displayed on the screen was a progression of colorful, moving, geometric designs and dream-like images. The live visuals were created using a TouchDesigner program that Franck developed, known as Rouge, which is used for video performance and creating realtime 3D compositions.

I think this kind of audiovisual performance is really cool because of the way that it feels liberating – all the artists involved are able to realize spontaneous ideas and bring these dynamic ideas to life. This project is relevant to my final project because it uses both sound and visuals to create a whole experience.

Another project that is inspiring to me is the tape bow violin, invented by Laurie Anderson in 1977, which had a large influence in the processes of integrating music and technology. She replaced the horsehair on the violin bow with magnetic tape, and put a tape head on the bridge of the violin. Using this technology, she was able to create non-traditional sounds using the violin by manipulating the sounds captured with the tape (for example, sound could be played backwards or forwards, and rearrange parts of the sound). I think that this project is relevant to my final project because of the way in which it deals with changing conceptions of the sound that can be produced using a traditional instrument. In my project, I intend to use a visual concept of an instrument that has some traditional characteristics, and pair it with non traditional sounds (produced by the user’s keyboard).

A visual representation of the tape bow violin.

I think both of these artists works are interesting to compare because they come from different eras, but both advance the ways in which technology can be integrated with music.

Xiaoying Meng – Project 12

I’m thinking about creating an interactive visual program with sound effects. The project will have simple geometries falling from the top of the screen. The big black letters in my name are arranged randomly on the screen. The direction of the movement of the geometries is determined by the movement of the mouse. The geometries can bounce off, spin, or be contained by the letters. Music will respond to the bouncing of the geometries. When the users click on the geometries, they will enter different visuals, music, and mood according to the color of the geometries. For example, red will be passionate, blue will be calm and peaceful, and yellow will be lively. I’m interested in the interactive visuals and combining them with music in a harmonious way. I hope to practice my skills on working with sounds and visual effects since I did not work much with sounds during the class.