Category: LookingOutwards-09

Gretchen Kupferschmid-Looking Outward-09

For this looking outwards post, I will be analyzing Angela Lee’s Looking Outward-07 post. Like Angela described, I also am intrigued by this project’s large focus on emotion and how it relates to humans as well as how emotion can be created into a data visualization even though its not necessarily quantitive data. I thought a couple other things were interesting about this project, like how it was asked to be created by the Dalai Lama and the circles/shapes themselves represent much more complex ideas than the shape would suggest. Each emotion is represented as its own “continent” and the movement of these continents reflects how emotion varies in strength and frequency in other people’s lives. This project is also an attempt to express ideas visually and crisply even though the data has varying levels and accuracy and reliability. In relation to the Dalai Lama, he hopes that in order to reach a level of calm, we must map the emotions. I appreciate this entire work towards looking deeper at our emotions, especially in a way in which we can see them interactively and comparatively next to each other.

https://stamen.com/work/atlas-of-emotions/

 

Aaron Lee-Looking Outwards-09

For this week’s looking outward post, I decided to find inspiration from CJ’s post on computational fabrication. Although I do not know CJ personally, this post about the design studio called Nervous System looked very interesting to me.

While generative design system is pretty much ubiquitous these days including architecture field, finding a form making specifically inspired by flowers was interesting to me. When I visited the studio’s website, I was drawn to their past project, especially the kinematic clothing.

Commissioned by the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, the project shows how digital fabrication is not limited to only certain field. The interconnected system of tessellated triangular panels adjusts accordingly to the user’s posture. Emerged from 3d printer fully assembled, the project perhaps shows the glimpse of next generation of customized production.

Original LO post: https://courses.ideate.cmu.edu/15-104/f2019/2019/09/14/cj-walsh-looking-outward-03-computational-fabrication/

Creator’s website: https://n-e-r-v-o-u-s.com/projects/tags/3dprint/albums/kinematic-petals-dress/

by nervous system in 2016

Rachel Shin – LO 9

I decided to do this week’s Looking Outwards on my friend Joseph Zhang’s LO-7 which was on the eCloud project in the San Jose Airport. Coming from the same hometown as Joseph, I’ve also passed by this computational data visualization project several times, admiring it, but not thinking much of it.

Like Joseph, I also found out that the project took into account real-time weather reports of cities all around the country which would be helpful particularly for people in the airport. 

After coding arrays the past weeks, I was able to make an observation that the projects that I see around me like eCloud in the San Jose airport is one that utilizes arrays of several compilations of data to create a visual that translates numbers into better communication methods for consumers like me.

Joseph Zhang – Looking Outwards – 07

Minjae Jeong-Looking Outwards-09

For this looking outwards post, I found Jenny Lee’s post on “eCLOUD”, created by artist Aaron Koblin. I think this interactive installation is interesting in a way that it replicates the shape and volume of a cloud real time. I agree with Jenny’s assessment on the cloud that the installation gives the audience chance to feel the different weather from different locations. I personally like this project more because it is installed at San Jose international airport, which makes the audience more relative to the project since they are in weather-sensitive situation. I also think this project has major potential in expanding the installation, by implementing weather elements that are important to travelers, like precipitation and wind.

Looking Outwards 09

Building hopes- a generative rock sculpture

For this Looking Outwards post, I found Yoshi’s looking outwards-0 5 post really intriguing. This project is called Building hopes by Giorgia Lupi at Accurat for Google and it is an experimental AR app that is powered by Google trends data to explore the user’s hopes. It is interesting how each rock , which is digitally generated, represents a topic and varies in size and color depending on the user’s desired intensity. Then they are stacked to create a physical representation of the user’s hopes. Like Yoshi, I admire how it is inspired by traditional balancing rock art and how she is available to use generative 3d art to humanize data trends rooted in tradition. Additionally I like how this project incorporates a sense of physicality to hopes which are intangible to enhance a more natural interaction. This project reminds us that there are so many more ways to interpret data.

Ar generated rock sculptures

CJ Walsh – Looking Outwards 09

Mass Windwalk in Sydney 2013

After looking through the reflections of several other students, I found a post from Julia Nishizaki that she wrote for the Week 6 Looking Outwards on randomness. It was the series of images that she included that really attracted me to wanting to learn more about this project.

The project is called Windwalks, created by British artist Tim Knowles. A lot of his work is focused on movement and creating images through the movement of forms and objects that he can not control. This project utilizes the movement of the wind to create line drawings. Participants in the project are made to wear helmets with large arrows affixed to them. As the participant moves, the arrow is pushed by the wind, and the direction of the arrow determines where they will move next. Knowles collects data from the helmet about the path that the wearer took and uses that to create drawings.

  • Map of Movement
  • Map of Movement

I appreciate that Julia mentions that the project is not directly related to computation, but it definitely has to do with random image generation. The path that the wind creates cannot be expected. But it is not just the wind that is random. The wind then informs random movement of the wearers and then informs a randomly generated line drawing. I find the different layers of this project to be super intriguing. The other element that I really enjoy about the project is that we often dont think about the winds affect in our daily movement (except when its super strong…then people notice). But generally, the movement of the wind doesnt usually determine our pathways through an environment, so it is interesting to see the wind being the controlling force in this instance. I also really appreciate the line drawings. You can see the map like qualities in them, but they are also simple line forms that draw attention.

One point of Julia’s that I thought was very interesting was pointing out the ways that the line drawings suggest the environment that the walks take place in. The buildings and other structures inform the movement of the wind and therefore also determine the map that is translated for the drawings.

Overall I found this project super intriguing and Im glad I was able to find something really interesting by looking through someone else’s reflections. Im really interested in learning more about this artist and his other work.

Sarah Choi – Looking Outwards – 09

A series of walks directed by the wind using an array of mechanisms, filmed and plotted by GPS.

50 wind walks simultaneously depart Taylor Square, Sydney and walk guided solely by the wind for 1 hr, dispersing through the city their routes [recorded live via a tailor-made smartphone app] create a live drawing.

Browsing through the Looking Outwards assignments, I chose Julia Nishizaki’s Looking Outwards-06 about Tim Knowles’ Windwalks project. This London based artist focuses on using different mechanisms to form wind patterns directed by a series of walks. Filmed and plotted with a GPS, the line drawing below was the outcome of the design. This immediately stood out to me given my interest in art portraying natural forms of our world. I completely concur with my peer’s assessment of Knowles’ art as she explains the incorporation of the randomness of wind patterns and how this creates a more meaningful experience for the audience.

However, I feel this creates more than just “deeper relationships between individuals, their cities, and the wind itself.” I believe Knowles was trying to recreate and appreciate impalpable aspects of nature such as the wind by involving people in his project. He creates a series of walks starting in Taylor Square, Sydney and allowing people to disperse and walk through city routes for a full hour. By creating this interactive but calculated schema, he was able to bring people not only closer to their environment and nature but also gave them more an appreciation of art in general. Most of the time, people are unaware of the empirical research involved in creating art forms to a wider audience. Knowles was able to use his greatest passion to depict aspects of life that often gets forgotten and underappreciated in the nature of a physically focused group of people.

7 channel video projection, mixed media object and route plot as wall drawing, 2009

http://www.timknowles.co.uk/Work/Windwalks/tabid/496/Default.aspx

Fallon Creech-LookingOutwards-09

Video demonstrating the wind map’s abilities, including examples of updates every hour

I am reflecting on Crystal Xue’s study of a wind map created by collaborators Martin Wattenberg and Fernanda Veigas from Looking Outwards-07. The collaborators both co-lead Google’s PAIR initiative and specialize in information visualization, which is highly evident in their work. Their wind map generates delicate strokes of wind across a flattened map of the U.S., informing the direction and intensity of wind; the map updates every hour and even allows users to zoom in, allowing the wind to describe smaller locations more easily.

As Crystal mentioned, the map visualizes complex information in a simplistic and legible manner, giving a wide spectrum of users with different interests useful information. Wattenberg explained, “Bird watchers have tracked migration patterns, bicyclists have planned their trips and conspiracy theorists use it to track mysterious chemicals in the air.”

While the map is highly informative and demonstrates several layers of information through lines, I appreciate its ability to also act as a purely artistic piece. The changes in wind patterns and stroke thickness have the ability to evoke different emotions, which in many ways directly correlate with the weather experienced during that hour and in certain locations.

Snapshot of wind map in zoomed-in location, demonstrating wind patterns at a point in time

Nadia Susanto – Looking Outwards – 09

I looked at Ammar Hassonjee’s LO 2. He studied a generative art project called “Breathing Wall II” by Behnaz Farahi in 2014, a USC architecture professor. The installation is made out of wood, PVC, and fabric. To capture the hand motions and signals they use many systems like Leap Motion system and DC systems then project contour lines on the wall.

Video demonstrating the Breathing Wall installation

Ammar liked the relationship between movement, light, and color and how it gave power to users to interact with that environment. He also says his favorite types of art are ones that are adaptive and involves user activity. I can agree that this is my favorite type of art as well because involving human behavior brings extra beauty to the artwork.

What I love about this project is that it seems so simple and has a deeper meaning to it. Farahi mentioned how mobile devices used touch and gesture-based languages like swiping, clicking, or dragging for natural control. With the rise of technology and social media, we are entranced by this environment of likes and scrolling through people’s photos with meaningless connections. We forget the real surrounding environment around us, so this project sets a great reminder that those basic controls can be used to control the surrounding environment.

Farahi interacting with installation
A closer look at a user interacting with the wall. Notice also the contour lines on the wall.

To learn more about this installation, click the link below:

http://behnazfarahi.com/breathing-wall-ii/

Nawon Choi— Looking Outward 09


Mark Kirkpatrick’s commission piece for Apple, Inc. 2017

For this week’s Looking Outward I will be responding to CJ Walsh’s post from week 5.

He analyzes works by digital artist and designer Mark Kirkpatrick. These works also caught my eye because of how serene and beautifully they represent scenes in nature through a highly digital medium. I agree with CJ’s noting the cohesive color palettes that really do a great job at setting the overall mood of each image. To add to this point, the use of the soft gradients in the background (sky and sun) in contrast with the geometric shapes also creates interesting textures.

I also really appreciate how CJ researched and mentioned the artist’s background (or lack of) in the arts. Kirkpatrick has received no formal training in artistic practices, yet he was commissioned by Apple in 2017 to create the above image. I think this point goes to show how far discipline and self-learning can take a person.