August 2019 – Page 13 – [OLD FALL 2019] 15-104 • Introduction to Computing for Creative Practice

Siwei Xie-Project-01-Face

//Siwei Xie
//Section 1-B
//sxie1@andrew.cmu.edu
//Project-01-self portrait

function setup() {
    createCanvas(500,500);
    background(220);
    text("p5.js vers 0.9.0 test.", 10, 15);
}

function draw() {
	//hair
	fill(0);
	rect(115,120,270,300);

	//clothes
	fill(122,35,76);
	noStroke();
	quad(150, 391, 345, 390, 450, 500,100, 500);

	//face
	fill(232,196,131);
	noStroke();
	ellipse(250,250,250,300);

	//left eye
	fill(3,3,3);
	ellipse(200,250,40,20);

	//right eye
	fill(3,3,3);
	ellipse(300,250,40,20);

	//nose
	fill(179,149,85);
	triangle(250,260,240,300,260,300);

	//mouth
	fill(208,68,61);
	ellipse(250,345,35,15);

	//eyebrow
	stroke(0);
    push();
    strokeWeight(5)
    line(180, 230, 215, 230);
    line(320, 230, 280, 230);
    pop();

	// left eye white
	fill(255)
	noStroke();
	square(195, 245, 8);

	// right eye white
	fill(255)
	noStroke();
	square(295, 245, 8);

	// right earring
	fill(128,194,233);
	arc(370, 300, 60, 60, 15, HALF_PI);

	// left earring
	fill(128,194,233);
	arc(120, 300, 60, 60, 15, HALF_PI);

	//hat
	fill(0,0,196);
	ellipse(250,135,285,125);

	
}

I think my sketch captures my facial features. Although I don’t have an artistic background, it was fun to add accessories such as hat & earrings to my portrait.

Project-01-Face

Project-01 Face

/* Chelsea Fan
Section 1B
chelseaf@andrew.cmu.edu
Assignment-01
*/

function setup() {
    createCanvas(400, 600);
    background(230,230,250);
}

function draw() {
	//head
    fill(245,222,179);
    ellipse(200,300,300,400);
    //eyes
    fill(255,250,205);
    ellipse(130,300,30,30);
    ellipse(270, 300, 30, 30);
    fill(70,120,180);
    ellipse(130, 300, 20,20);
    ellipse(270, 300, 20,20);
    //eyebrows
    fill(2040,128,128);
    rect(110,250,50,7);
    rect(240, 250, 50, 7);
    //nose
    fill(173,216,230);
    rect(195, 325, 10, 30);
    //mouth
    fill(255,255,255);
    triangle(250,400,150,400,200,440);
    //hair
    strokeWeight(0);
    fill(0);
    rect(50, 170, 35, 400);
    rect(315, 170, 35,400);
    triangle(50, 170, 200, 80, 350, 170);
    

}

This product took me a long time to figure out coordinates for shapes and colors. However, I am happy I figured it out.

“Light Barrier Third Edition” is a multimedia light installation work from Kimchi and Chips, a studio based in Seoul founded by artists, Mimi Son (KR) and Elliot Woods (EN). This installation is an ongoing developmental series since 2014, the latest edition has been presented in Asian Cultural Centre, Gwangju, South Korea in 2016.

The work consists of projection beams, concave mirrors, haze, and some scanning/interactive coding work to animate lights. This work requires precise calculation between the projection beams and the structure of concave mirrors to create a volumetric images or “light sculpture” through haze. They use materialized physical objects to create a non-materialistic object, light. It is interesting because we normally see and use light as a source of material to support our physical objects within space, however; Kimchi and Chips used it the other way around – having light as the object of imagery, shown as a geometric floating objects in this installation.

Their art practices have been inspired by the values from the Impressionist movement in the 19th century and the first introduction to photography. Presenting their work as “viewerless images” as they focus on the visible brush strokes and emphasize on the depiction of light, rather than the contextual subjectivity of the work. I have been fascinated by their works and the use of their mediums, which consists of video projection, light, and coding in 3d softwares to create digital light installation art.

Light Barrier Third Edition [2016] (4K) from Mimi Son on Vimeo.

Siwei Xie – Looking Outwards – 01

Library Street Collective presents Detroit artist Charles McGee’s “Unity” in mural

Since 2012, Library Street Collective of Detroit is a local organization that brings artworks and murals to downtown areas, where the artworks can engage local audiences publicly.

What inspires me about the project is that, the founders are able to partner with local museums to share artworks, and attract visitors from traditional museums. Their efforts to increase the accessibility of arts is admirable. To be more effective, the project can host various art-related activities to increase the popularity. For example, artistic competitions, guest artist lectures, class on painting, etc.

The founders do not come from an artistic background, yet they were inspired when Detroit Institute of Art’s prized artworks to help the city exit bankruptcy. They related social responsibility with artworks, and reimagine the way residents can be involved with arts (outside the old-fashioned museums, and more than reading descriptions online).

*Library Street Collective presents Detroit artist Charles McGee’s “Still Searching” in mural*

Original source here.

Fanjie Jin: Looking Outwards – 01

Pipilotti Rist is an installation artist from Switzerland. Her work is often described as surreal, intimate and abstract.

Over the summer, I have gotten chance to visit the Louisiana Museum in Copenhagen, Denmark, in which the installation ‘Åbn min lysning (Open My Glade)’ by Pipilotti Rist was exhibited. There are two galleries and people interact with the technological art in different manners. The first installation took place in a living room setting where people can circulate in the space and sit on the couches and chairs. There are a number of projectors in the room and the projected videos almost have covered every corner in the room even on the moving audiences. The progressive videos have transferred the room into a very surreal environment in that it blurs the boundary of the objects in the room. The second installation takes place in a room full of lanterns. It has transform the architectural space into a massive dreamlike environment enhanced by the mysterious music. When people entering into the space the light will change rhythmically according to the people that have passed by.

Ankitha Vasudev – LookingOutwards – 01

An interactive and computational project that I find inspirational is Subtitled Public by electronic artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, completed in 2005. This installation consists of an empty space equipped with projectors and a computerized surveillance system that detects visitors who enter into this space. The system generates a random verb for each person who enters and projects it onto him/her. If a person touches another, their words get exchanged; hence encouraging people to interact with one another and the art.

Image of verbs getting exchanged between two visitors in contact

I admire this project because of its purpose/intention. The piece comments on society’s excessive use of surveillance systems for safety and its profiling of the public based on ethnic groups and other characteristics. It also makes a statement on the branding of individuals by assigning them random words.

Many other projects by Lozano-Hemmer also involve words to describe a viewer. The arbitrary placement of text on the viewers allow them to experience the positive and negative connotations of the words places upon them.

Video of the visitors within the technological installation

Joanne Chui: Looking Outwards – 01

http://artasiapacific.com/Magazine/WebExclusives/SyntheticSeductionShihChiehHuang

installation view of “Synthetic Seduction” at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco

“Synthetic Seduction” is an installation made by Taiwanese artist Shih Chieh Huang to investigate bioluminescence. The installation consists of many miscellaneous objects assembled together to create forms similar to creatures in the deep sea, and portrays movement through mechanical installations that try to mimic the movement of bioluminescent creatures. These objects come to life through glowing neon colors and the audible sounds of the continuous motions of the mechanics. This project is interesting in how it seeks to mimic nature, but a part of nature that we do not really understand. Huang exploits the methodology in which bioluminescent creatures use their lights to seduce and captivate prey to similarly captivate visitors to his installation. A critique that I would have is that the individual pieces seem extremely robotic and angular, contrary to the fluidity and curving nature of nature in the deep sea. However, that may be his interpretation of bioluminescent life, because he purposefully makes the mechanical sounds obvious to visitors.

Sean Meng – Looking Outwards 01

TeamLab is a collective group that explores the connection between human and nature by applying technology to art field to create “digital art”.

One of their project called “Paper Plane Music Airfield” engages with sound and light technology. This project is created collaboratively by the whole teamLab group. It is an interactive art installation that consists of multiple layers of sensors which can sense the motion of paper planes. The light and sound of the space are connected to the flight of the paper airplane, when the airplane touches light it influences the entire space causing it to change color and emit a sound tone. The project aims to evoke children’s curiosity of how the flight works by provides them interaction with technological installation. They work with coding to produce and manipulate the variation of the light and sound. This innovating interaction between digital art and humanity opens up a bright future for a broader overlap between technology and art.

https://www.teamlab.art/w/paper-plane-music-airfield/

Sean Leo – Looking Outwards – 01

4/20/18 Algorave at PS122, Codie Live Code

An Algorave is a niche subset of the live club scene. It’s the portmanteau of Algorithms and Raves, where the music and visuals are generated by code. Rather than mixing sounds or performing instruments, everything is created in real-time and improvised by changing the code live. Normally a VJ would mix and composite collected media elements, whereas a Live Coder would create and generate their own visuals and effects through the code they are writing.

Often coding is thought of a as a published medium. It is written, drafted, edited, and then finalized. Updates are scheduled and versioned. Algoraves directly contrast that. By performing live, the code is always changing, and has the opportunity to be influenced by the crowd and the music in the room.

Joseph Zhang – Looking Outwards – 01

As I browsed projects online, I couldn’t help but stop and admire Murasaki Uma’s Impressionist Blobs – Starry Night. Murasaki Uma is a freelance artist based in Japan who specializes in Computational Design. This digital installation is an individual project by Uma that showcases flowing particles made up of Vincent van Gogh’s Starry Night. When in motion the visuals flow in an organic fashion that mimics the wind patterns in Starry Night. As seen when clicking the link, Impressionist Blobs is built with HTML, CSS, and Javascript.

Project’s Title, Uma’s Twitter Handle, and a few functionality options

Uma implements a “Start” and “Restart” functionality that allows the viewer some control over the animation. Clicking anywhere on the interface shifts the camera perspective to an arbitrary angle. If I were to iterate on Uma’s project, I would offer more control to the user with the ability to fully control camera shifts and movement.

Despite scouring the web, I failed to find any biographies or summaries about his background. However, I did find the few sites he is active on: Github, Twitter, CodePen, and his personal site. Impressionist Blobs really reflects his other pieces of work, that is, its sense of unity and order whole that holds together chaotically random pieces. This project really points to the future of visual design, that is creating generated graphics through coded algorithms.

Month: August 2019