The this weeks focus on women and non-binary people in tech, I am looking at the work of Adrien Segal, specifically her series on Wildfire Progression. What I really like about it, and about all Segal’s work, is that her art says something as well as just being a beautiful thing. Her Wildfire progression series is meant to share details on how destructive the California wildfires have been. The pieces seem abstract but they are actually modeled using the data of where and how a notable wildfire grew. It’s haunting seeing these and understanding they are representations of thousands of acres burned, countless lives ruined, displaced, or even some sadly lost. Adrien herself is from Oakland, California so this work in particular is very close to home. She studied at the California College of Arts and is now currently a teacher there as well. Her other activist related art includes pieces on water rights and the polar ice caps.
An interactive installation, Computer Orchestra, was first composed by Fragment.in, which is a Switzerland-based artist collective of Laura Nieder, David Colombini, and Marc Dubois. This crowdsourcing platform enables the audience to participate and lead their own orchestra by either uploading their own or downloading music samples to incorporate into the arrangement with the computers. People can simply use their hand gestures to direct and conduct the orchestra. I was really fascinated by how the Kinect motion controller detects the body movements of the conductor and transfers information to Processing through SimpleOpenNI library, where these signals are delivered to the remaining computers with the help of wifi. I think this style of generating art is really creative as it uses each assigned samples to further create an aesthetic visual feedback obtained from the generated sounds. I absolutely admire how this project enriches the experience of the user in both auditory and visual manners. Fragment.in’s artistic sensibilities significantly arises for offering the sense to the audience of being able to take control of the digital technology within one’s hands.
Filipa Valente is an exhibit designer and architect who specializes I the development of designs for experiences, exhibits, and architecture. She has a background in architecture and a practice as a media artist. I think that her work on mobility is particularly intriguing. Mobility is a field that has a lot of potential with innovative design. I’m really interested in how mobility plays a role into redefining spatial design.
Volvo Pure Tensions Pavilion
I was fascinated by Filipa Valente’s “The Pure Tension Pavilion” for Volvo Italia. This project is a design of a portable charger for the new Volvo V6 plug-in hybrid electric car which not only charges the car but also flat-packs to fit in the trunk of the car and assembles in less than one hour. It is also very aesthetically pleasing with its organic design, also serving as a structure that roofs the vehicle.
First reading the instructions for this project, I was reminded of mosaic effect on images.
I proceeded to work with square pixels, but I realized that using a rounded shape like an ellipse could create a more organic jittery effect on my animated portrait.
The artist that I wanted to research this week was Claudia Hart. Hart attended NYU and was an early adopter of virtual imaging, using 3D animation to make media installations and projections. She creates work that discusses digital technology and critiques media through a feminist lens. One project in particular that I found interesting is titled “Alice XR: A Machine For Thinking”. This work is a room installation that consists of projections and is accessed using a VR headset. One thing I find particularly interesting is that this room is a room for thinking, repose, and contemplation. Often with these works, artists want to create an experience for users that is interesting and unique, but with this work, she wants to create an experience that allows people to contemplate their life. The combination of motion, music, and visuals in this virtual space merges to create a very visceral experience. In terms of design, I think that the use of color and imagery that Hart created is very beautiful because of how bright and vivid it is.
Out of all the women artists in the list that was provided, the one the caught my attention the most was Milica Zec and her work in VR filmmaking. I watched some of her work and was hypnotized by the beautiful shots and imagery that she created in her work. I was fascinated by her work because I had never thought that VR could extend its way into the film industry. I have a VR setup at home, and I feel like the future of video games and media is flowing in the direction of Virtual reality, so to see Zec’s interesting work with VR film makes me excited to see where the future of VR will take us.
When we talk about technology or computer science, and specifically about games or software developers, many always imagine them to be men. It is true since only 20% of computer science professionals are women thus it is understandable that many may assume that some specific developer will be a man and not a woman.
For this Looking Outwards writing assignment I chose an incredible woman, a woman thanks to whom this class of 15-104 even exists. It is Lauren Lee McCarthy, lead developer of p5.js! The project that obviously fascinates me is the development of p5.js but for this week’s I chose a McCarthy’s project called “I’m Glad You Asked”. “Commissioned for the NRW Forum AR Biennale in Düsseldorf, “I’m glad you asked” spreads over the museum grounds, augmenting the social landscape of the park.” I admire this project because it was created with an intention to bring people together, to create new acquaintances, friendships, relationships. On the museum grounds there were multiple benches that were virtually labeled with many different phrases that would pop up on your phone screen after scanning the bench. Some of these phrases were: “This bench is reserved for people who are feeling overwhelmed”, “This bench is reserved for people who have a lot of questions”, “This bench is reserved for people who are missing someone”, “This bench is reserved for someone who enjoys quiet”. People who identified themselves with some specific phrases would sit on the bench and another person could come up and ask them something like: “Hi, excuse me but do you also miss someone?” or “Are you also feeling overwhelmed”. It’s always easier to talk to strangers about your problems since their opinion about you won’t be biased and will most likely be true. The aspect of this project that I admire is the fact that such small talks could grow into big friendships and maybe even potential romantic relationships. If two people have something in common then this spontaneous conversation will start on its own.
Lauren Lee McCarthy (she/they) is an artist examining social relationships in the midst of surveillance, automation, and algorithmic living. Lauren has a BS Computer Science and BS Art and Design degrees from MIT and MFA degree from UCLA where she currently works as an Associate Professor for UCLA Design Media Arts. She is working with performance, software, electronics, internet, film, photography and installation. As it was stated before, Lauren is the lead developer of the p5.js, “an open-source art and education platform that prioritizes access and diversity in learning to code, with over 1.5 million users. She expands on this work in her role on the Board of Directors for the Processing Foundation, whose mission is to serve those who have historically not had access to the fields of technology, code, and art in learning software and visual literacy.” (https://lauren-mccarthy.com/Info) In many of her computational projects, Lauren uses the idea of communication and interaction with other people or where new people meet other new people due to her social anxiety. Lauren once stated that she felt jealous of how Amazon Alexa has an intimate place in people’s lives without even trying. McCarthy uses her knowledge of computer science and her unique thinking and creativity to help people socialize and learn more about technology, especially if people didn’t have a chance or opportunity to do so before. Her actions are very honorable and I respect Lauren as a human being and as a programmer. “I create performances inviting viewers to engage. To remote control my dates. To be followed. To welcome me in as their human smart home… Each work feels like an attempt to hack my way out of myself and into closeness with others. I am embodying machines, trying to understand that distance between the algorithm and myself, the distance between others and me. There’s humor in the breakdown, and also moments of clarity. Who builds these artificial systems, what values do they embody? Who is prioritized and who is targeted as race, gender, disability, and class are programmatically encoded? Where are the boundaries around our intimate spaces? In the midst of always on networked interfaces, what does it mean to be truly present?” These excerpts from Lauren’s personal statement show us that she truly cares for people and that she truly loves what she does.
A particular work that I find interesting is “US Oil Fix” by Brooke Singer. Made in 2006, Singer was asked to contribute to the book “The Atlas of Radical Cartography” which was a collection of “10 maps and 10 essays about social issues from globalization to garbage”. Her contribution “is a look at the work through the lens of US oil consumption. The mission for this generative art piece is what I admire so much about it. It touches on the idea that art can create change within our world. Using art also enables a larger audience to understand and take action against a complicated idea like Oil Consumption. Brooke Singer’s artistic sensibilities manifest in this piece as they are trying to persuade a larger audience on an issue. With this mission, it forces the artists to portray their art a very specific way making them use their artistic sensibilities. In conclusion, I really enjoy looking at this piece and the message that it has to offer. The creator Brooke Singer is an Associate Professor of New Media at Purchase College at State University of New York. She works with technoscience as an artist, educator, nonspecialist and collaborator.
I looked at the work of Kate Hollenbach for this week’s blog. Hollenbach works professionally as a programmer, artist, and educator. Most of her art projects focused on users’ relationships with digital interfaces and information. I especially admired one of her projects called USER_IS_PRESENT, which uses original software to explore user habits when interacting with their smart devices. The software developed by Hollenback allowed devices to simultaneously record video from the front and back cameras and screen record. The artist later used rendering techniques to layer those recordings together into one channel. The outcome gave viewers a new perspective to look at users and their habits on digital platforms. I think the result is artistic but informative at the same time. By layering three interfaces that we usually only experience separately, Hollenbach created a new visual environment for interaction and research.
The female artist I chose to look into is Jenny Sabin, who investigates the intersections of architecture and science and applies insights and theories from biology and mathematics to the design of material structures. One of her works called PolyForm catches my attention immediately when I see it. It is a permanent interactive installation which from a distance and from within, passersby can explore the square structure’s laminated glass walls and jewel-like stainless-steel modules, whose colors and reflections change depending on the time of day, weather and a viewer’s orientation. What’s fascinating about this project is not only its changing colors and beautiful forms, but also the theme embodied in it. By placing an installation like this to make people stop by and interact with it, this sculpture thereby creates an atmosphere in that place to represents the great minds coming together for new possibilities and hope for the future. It is not interpreting human ecology literally but representing it by itself. Like Sabin herself says “this project promotes communication and active exchange across disciplines”.
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