SectionE – Page 10 – [OLD FALL 2019] 15-104 • Introduction to Computing for Creative Practice

Angela Lee – Looking Outwards – 10

A video introducing the installation “Apparatum” by panGenerator.

A user situated within the installation space.

“Apparatum” is a sound installation with sound inspired by Bogusław Schaeffer and the aesthetics inspired by Oskar Hansen. The installation in general also draws inspiration from the heritage of the Polish Radio Experimental Studio. The project consists of analog sound generators which are controlled through a digitized sheet music touch pad. I admire the speculative nature of the piece. Because it’s not commercial music that has to appeal to a wide audience, it feels much more thoughtful and edgy, and I am drawn to the process of creating it. I think that the artistic sensibilities manifested in the visual design. The aesthetics complement the sound art without overpowering it, since it has minimal grayscale colors, limited use of textures, and consistent forms. The textures of the sound are also quite interesting, challenging you to think of new ways to weave sounds and tones together.

Jamie Park – LO – 10

Latetia Sonami is a sound artist and a performer based in San Francisco. The work that I will be discussing is called “Lady’s Glove,” an instrument that makes and manipulates sound in a live performance. The sensor within the glove measures the motion, speed, and proximity, sending the data into Sonami’s computer and thus creating music. This glove is will never make the same sound unless one replicates a completely same motion, meaning even Sonami might not know what the music will sound like until it actually happens. In that sense, I admire her artistic sensibility and knowledge on what to do to make the sound pleasing, especially in live performance settings. I am unfortunately unsure what algorithm she used to create music that would sense her motion. But I admire this project because it questions the definition of music and takes the concept of computational music to another level.

Joseph Zhang – Looking Outwards – 10

Sonic Arcade: Shaping Space with Design is a multi-component exhibition featuring interactive installations that experiment with the computations of Sound Design. The exhibition showcases several solo / collaborative works that, in one way or another, helps the audience feel more integrated into the spatial environment. The work utilizes electronic circuits, signals, radio waves, and resonant bodies to create these immersive experiences.

Though all these pieces are drastically different from each other, each utilize sound as a substance as the primary medium in each installation. In the exhibition above, Studio PSK uses body-activated MIDI sensors to detect when sounds should be triggered / altered. With these sensors installed throughout all the structures, the entire exhibition becomes a musical instrument itself, ultimately allowing viewers to both watch and participate in the art.

Caroline Song – Looking Outwards-11

LittleBits was created by Ayah Bdeir in 2010. Specifically, littleBits is a collection of modular electronics that snap together in order to make prototyping more efficient and easy. I admire this project because, being able to work with littleBits in one of my studio classes, I greatly appreciated the ease of being able to create and mimic low-fidelity electronic devices. Not having much knowledge on how certain devices work, I also enjoyed how I did not have to know much in order to work with littleBits, and I was also able to learn more about the general pattern of certain electronic devices along the way, using littleBits. It was a way of learning that is both hands-on and simplified enough as to not overwhelm the user.

Bdeir graduated from the American University of Beirut in 2004 in Computer and Communications Engineering, as well as Sociology. Her work has appeared in The New Museum, the Royal College of Art, and has taught at both NYU and Parsons. She is both an interactive artist and an engineer, founding littleBits, which joined MoMA’s permanent collection and has been partnered with industry companies like Disney, Pearson, and the New York Department of Education. Bdeir has led many initiatives to get young girls involved in STEM, partnering with the White House, and companies such as Disney, in order to do so. While she is originally from Beirut, she now resides in New York City.

Jamie Park – LO – 11

Kate Hartman is a professor and lab director at OCAD (Ontario College of Art and Design) and a designer of computational wearables. In 2014, she published a book called Make: Wearable Electronics — Design, prototype, and wear your own interactive garments.

This book provides a thorough knowledge of how to create a garment while incorporating electronics. Hartman kindly explains the science and technology behind each tool or concept, such as circuit or conductive thread, at the start of the book for the beginners. By having a circuit inside clothing, one can manipulate the clothing to make sound, record information, or emit light. The possibility of electronic clothing is endless. Although I am unsure if I will ever make my own electric clothing, as I suck at even making conventional clothing, I was entertained by this new concept. I would like to see how people can use this concept to potentially help people who are in needs.

Link to the book on Amazon

YouieCho-LookingOutwards-11

“The Storm Laboratory ” in London by Loop.pH, 2016

This project is a transparent pneumatic toroiodal form that shows turbulent geophysical air dynamics with thousands of animated carbon particles. This shows the global airflow at a very small scale, at which people can experience the whole scheme. I thought this project was interesting because the idea of physically displaying numerous particles seemed very novel, and I liked that it was rather a realistic portrayal of aerodynamics, not a representation that has been overly manipulated to be aesthetic.

Rachel Wingfield is the female designer, researcher, and educator who founded Loop.pH in 2003. She specialized in responsive environments inspired by the study of living systems while she was in the Royal College of Art in London. She looks at both near and far future scenarios about biological and technological futures. Like in this project, she creates amazing public engagement initiatives, as well as other multidisciplinary visionary environments and experiences.

loop.ph

Zee Salman- Looking Outwards-09

I took a look at Aarons Looking Outwards and I agree with his post from week 4. With Widows, they use a strong sound to attract users. Even when decades have passed, it is still memorable. This is good design in the sense that it makes people connect to Windows brand when they hear the tone.

Aaron Lee – Looking Outwards – 04

William Su – LookingOutwards – 09

Lungs in Silico 2019 – Alexey Kashpersky

I was also really intrigued by Danny Cho’s topic in Looking Outwards 05. The animation by Alexey Kashpersky was very beautiful and mesmerizing to look at. It was more like a performance or visual story than a scientific, informational animation that one would’ve expected from just looking at the topic.

I do wonder what the purpose of doing such a visually beautiful animation of the respiratory system is. While very interesting to look at, I can’t imagine it being useful for “education” with its lack of hard information. For example, What do these molecules do?, What are they called?, etc. But then again, its cool af and who cares at that point right?

William Su – Project – 09 – Portrait

sketch

// William Su
// Section E
// wsu1@andrew.cmu.edu
// Porject 09

var underlyingImage;

function preload() {
    var myImageURL = "https://i.imgur.com/zvGQCAe.jpg"; //My image
    underlyingImage = loadImage(myImageURL);
}

function setup() {
    createCanvas(384, 480);
    background(0);
    underlyingImage.resize(384,480); //resize portrait image to fit the canvas
    underlyingImage.loadPixels();
    frameRate(1000); //Increased framerate
}

function draw() {
    //All similar to example
    var px = random(width);
    var py = random(height);
    var ix = constrain(floor(px), 0, width-1);
    var iy = constrain(floor(py), 0, height-1);
    var theColorAtLocationXY = underlyingImage.get(ix, iy);

    //random number generator from 0 - 2
    let r = int(random(0,2));

    strokeWeight(r);
    stroke(100 * r);
    fill(theColorAtLocationXY);
    rect(px, py, 10, 10); //Fill rectangle at location of sampled color.

    var theColorAtTheMouse = underlyingImage.get(mouseX, mouseY);

    var HiImWill = ["Hi", "I'm", "Will"]; //Initializing a simple list of words.

    fill(theColorAtTheMouse); //fill color at mouse location
    textSize(16);
    //draws random words from list
    text(HiImWill[r],mouseX, mouseY); 
}

For this project, I used a combination of squares, strokes, and words to generate a portrait of myself. I added variability

Gretchen Kupferschmid- Project 09- Portrait

sketch

 // Gretchen Kupferschmid
 // gkupfers@andrew.cmu.edu
 // Section E
 // Project-09 

 var underlyingImage;
 var myText = ['egg','on','toast']
 function preload() {
     //loading the image
     var myPic = "https://i.imgur.com/bgyIRdv.jpg";
     underlyingImage = loadImage(myPic);
 }
 
 function setup() {
     createCanvas(480, 320);
     background(0);
     underlyingImage.loadPixels();
     //changing how fast loaded
     frameRate(1000);
 }
 
 function draw() {
    //variable to fill photo
    var px = random(width);
    var py = random(height);
    var ix = constrain(floor(px), 0, width-1);
    var iy = constrain(floor(py), 0, height-1);
    //color at current pixel
    var ColorAtLocationXY = underlyingImage.get(ix, iy);
     
    //text at mouseX & mouseY
    var ColorAtTheMouse = underlyingImage.get(mouseX, mouseY);
    fill(ColorAtTheMouse);
    //fill image with text based off mouse
    textSize(random(8));
    text(random(myText), mouseX, mouseY);

    //ellipse at random
    noStroke();
    fill(ColorAtLocationXY);
    //ellipses to fill photo with random sizes
    ellipse(px, py, random(2,4), random(2,4));
    

 }

In this project, I want to work with two different shapes that come together at different times to make a portrait. I also want to make my portrait in colors that were different than a traditional photo.