The final requirement for this course is a reflection and documentation of your final project. This written reflection is a way to document your project, your process and your learning through this project.

Please create written reflection in response to each of the following prompts. Include some visual documentation (finished piece or process) in this reflection. (We will have video of the final performance, which you do not need to include in your reflection.)

1. Reflect and write about your final project and performance. Write about what it actually is, rather than what you intended it to be. In this section, do not write about mistakes, just write about what your project was as if you were to be seeing it for the first time.
2. Reflect and write about your team’s process for creating your project. How did you develop your idea? How did the project change as you made it?
3. What did you learn through this project? What was successful? What would you change in the future?

Our class calendar shows that we will hold Individual Technical Rehearsals on Thursday, April 18. For the Individual Technical Rehearsal each team will have a time slot to rig, present their performance, de-rig, and receive feedback (notes) from Olivia and Garth.  Each team’s tech rehearsal will last about 30 minutes (including the rigging, performance, de-rigging and discussion). We will video record the performances at the Individual Technical Rehearsal.

Expectations

Each team is expected to present their full performance during the Individual Technical Rehearsal. This performance must be at least 3 minutes and no longer than 10 minutes. The performance includes using the lighting, motors, rigging, performance fabrics or objects, and performance computer. Teams should rehearse using all of these elements together (at least in the VR-green-area in A5) prior to this Technical Rehearsal in Kresge.

What Will be Provided for You

For the Individual Technical Rehearsal, you will be provided with the items listed below. If you need additional equipment, you will need to bring it with you for the Individual Technical Rehearsal.

Provided Equipment:

• 4 C-Stands with sandbags
• 4 Capstan Motor Blocks (each with 4 motors per block) like what we have been using in the classroom. Each Capstan Motor Block will be attached to one of the four C-Stands and wired to a USB hub on the control computer.
• 6 DMX footlights set up with power, DMX cables and USB interface.
• 1 Computer connected to the Capstan Motor Blocks and DMX Lights. This computer will be set up next to the stage.
• 2 MIDI controller attached to the computer

What You Will Need to Provide

Teams will need to prepare for the Individual Technical Rehearsal.  We have created the following checklist of items for this Tech Rehearsal. This includes a few diagrams that you will need to make that show how you will set up particular elements of the performance (lighting, rigging, and the stage in general). These will be shared with Garth and Olivia.

Checklist:

• Lighting Diagram (due Tuesday Apr 16)
• Rigging Diagram (due Tuesday Apr 16)
• Stage Diagram (due Tuesday Apr 16)
• Your custom computer code
• Your fabric performance pieces and/or objects
• Full performance, lighting, and rigging rehearsed prior to the Individual Technical Rehearsal

For your final project you will work with a classmate as a team to create a live, public performance using cloth and robotics. This project is a realized performance for which you made a proposal in a previous assignment. Your team’s stage show will develop over the last seven weeks of the semester into a culminating collaborative concert with the Exploded Ensemble.

Performance Context

We will perform our final show on May 4 in the Kresge Theater in CFA in conjunction with the Exploded Ensemble. Our aim is that the visual composition of the fabric pieces work in a dialogue with the music, neither existing as visual rendition of the music (e.g. ‘music video’) or the music as a voicing of the visuals (e.g. ‘soundtrack’).

We will also be scaling up our technical hardware from the lab to a stage setting, including lighting and possibly fans. We will have limited access to the Kresge stage on the day of the performance, so we anticipate using a portable set of rigging based on C-stands. There is some potential for using the box seats in Kresge in addition to the stage. You will have access to more motor channels and digitally-controlled stage uplighting.

Upcoming Deadline

As stated in the proposal assignment, our aim is that each project be completely prototyped and moving by April 9 so the final weeks can focus on choreography, improvisation practice, and minor technical revisions.

Assessment Rubric

A project of this scale is complex and utilizes many of your skills to actualize it. We have developed this rubric to help communicate the elements that we believe are important for your project and for your learning from this experience:

Concept/Rigor: The team challenged itself to cultivate the concept within the project as part of the process of becoming more precise with the project’s goal and outcome. The concept matured over time and showed qualities such as: being resolved, articulating an idea, posing questions, follow-through with an intuited idea, and general development as the project progressed.

Experimentation/Risk-taking/Play: The maker’s willingness to take risks (in composition, formal choices, materials, and content) are evident. Also important is the team’s openness to new ideas, chance occurrences, and feedback and suggestions from peers and instructors throughout the creative process.

Development/Execution: The project demonstrates the team’s investment and effort in developing the initial idea into a realized work. Samples and prototypes, explorations with techniques and materials, and other forms of research were an integral part of the process. The resulting material and behavioral elements of the project were fully considered, and the finished project transcends the elemental parts used. The choices made within the project support the concept. Enough time was invested into iterations of the project to arrive at a matured, engaging resolution within the project and its elements (looks, sounds, movements).

Performance/Execution: The project demonstrates the team’s careful consideration of the ways in which the work is presented at the public performance (including site, location in space, relationship to the viewers, relationship to musicians, etc). The team is present and focused throughout the set-up, performance, and strike of the performance. During the performance, the team remains focused, fluid, and improvises smoothly through any surprises or “mistakes”. The team is supportive of other team’s performances and assists where they are able if needed.

Management/Production: The team internally functions with clear communication and mutual respect. The team is on schedule with ordering parts, meeting personal deadlines, finishing mechanisms, producing sculptural elements, and resolving software. The team is disciplined about its own weekly progress and allows for time for iteration and revision. The team clearly communicates with other classmates and instructors.

Documentation/Reflection: The team creates a thoughtful reflection and documentation of their project. This includes photos and video of the finished project as well as the process. The reflection includes a thoughtful statement that describes the project and also a discussion about the process, what they learned, what went well, what they would do differently, and what does this project inspire next.

Here is a link to the rubric spreadsheet.

For this sixth assignment, we are preparing the first stage of developing the final performance. It will serve as a project proposal, a proof-of-concept test, and an exploration into incorporating music with motion.

Performance Context

We will perform our final show on May 4 in the Kresge Theater in CFA in conjunction with the Exploded Ensemble. Our aim is that the visual composition of the fabric pieces work in a dialogue with the music, neither existing as visual rendition of the music (e.g. ‘music video’) or the music as a voicing of the visuals (e.g. ‘soundtrack’).

We will also be scaling up our technical hardware from the lab to a stage setting, including lighting and possibly fans. We will have limited access to the Kresge stage on the day of the performance, so we anticipate using a portable set of rigging based on C-stands. There is some potential for using the box seats in Kresge in addition to the stage. For now, we encourage you to think more broadly about using a large space, allowing for more motor channels, and using digitally-controlled stage uplighting.

Proposal

As a proposal, we would like you to consider the complete course of the project over seven weeks leading to a live performance. The course calendar has a rough breakdown showing how we envision using this time: three weeks of iterative development and testing prior to Carnival, followed by three weeks of technical and creative rehearsal. Our aim is that each project be completely prototyped and moving by April 9 so the final weeks can focus on choreography, improvisation practice, and minor technical revisions.

The main elements of the proposal itself are as follows:

1. Storyboard drawing showing the overall visual concept and movement narrative.
2. Detailed sketches highlighting the proposed textile structures and techniques.
3. A paragraph of text describing the performance concept.
4. A brief discussion of any specific roles assumed by individuals within the group.
5. A listing of specific milestones. We will be looking to see identifiable progress each week. Please carefully consider the ordering so that the greatest uncertainties are resolved early.
6. An estimated “Bill of Materials” listing expected material usage and any special materials or parts to be acquired. We would prefer you work from our textile supply as much wherever possible, but there may be accessories you need.

Proof of Concept

For this assignment, we would also like to choose a physical element to rapidly prototype and animate which will help resolve some element of the plan. Our goal is for you to identify the area of greatest uncertainty and develop a first test to prove the concept. Some possible approaches are making an experiment toward working out an unknown technique, creating one prototype for a series of multiples, or testing a visual textile effect.

The Exploded Ensemble has both improvisatory and scored performance styles, and so it would be best if we explored both. For now, the closest proxy we have is to improvise or score against the ensemble’s previously recorded tracks. As a proof-of-concept test, we would like you to choose an excerpt from a 2018 performance and create choreography which works in coordination with it (without necessarily articulating it). Given the generally ambient character of this performance, this likely means creating movements with a pacing and tone that either coordinates, contrasts or complements what we hear.

As before, please begin by manually puppeting the fabric pieces to explore movement ideas, working with your selected musical excerpt. You are encouraged but not required to rig and automate the movement. Please carefully document your performance on video. Please make sure the musical soundtrack is audible, we recommend overdubbing the audio track with a time-aligned clean sound file.

Resources

Music excerpts are available on Google Drive in Audio Samples.

Deliverables

To be uploaded as a post to the course blog:

1. Each element described under proposal: storyboard images, textile sketches, concept text, milestone list, bill of materials.
2. A brief paragraph outlining your proof-of-concept explorations: intended effect, surprises, discoveries, successes.
3. Any modified code samples, posted using syntax highlighting.
4. Rigging drawings needed.
5. Short video clip (no more than a minute) of proof of concept portion. Please shoot from a stable camera, not handheld; we have tripods and Magic Arms available at Lending, or you may use a laptop resting on a table. Please embed the video so it can be directly viewed; you may either upload an MP4 file to our server (up to 16 MB) or use supported third-party hosting. N.B. hosted .mov files cannot be embedded; please convert to MP4.

For next class period, each student will brainstorm and storyboard 5 different ideas for a final performance to take place in Kresge Concert Hall at the end of the semester. Each storyboard should have 4 frames to develop the movement idea over time. Your final performance will be 3-5 minutes, so your storyboard should represent that time frame. Your storyboards can be digitally created or physically created. If they are digitally created, bring them printed onto paper for class. Please use paper or board no bigger than 9×12 inches for your storyboarding. We will share the storyboards in class. The main goal of this mini-assignment is to generate a few different low-stakes ideas that might seed your final project. You will have time to develop and change these ideas over the rest of the semester.

Deliverable:

• 5 storyboards on paper or board
• each storyboard should have four frames
• paper or board should be no bigger than 9×12 inches
• the storyboards should represent 3-5 minutes of performance

Storyboarding Examples:

• Storyboard Example 1
• Storyboard Example 2

Audio Examples:

• Excerpts from Exploded Ensemble from 2018

For this fifth assignment, we are going to consider not only the fabric structure and rigging, but the software which provides the affordances for animation. Our expectation is that fully realizing the kinetic potential of the fabric and rigging will require customizing the human interface and automation. In this way we hope you can create a kinetic instrument a human can both perform and choreograph.

The assignment will also be performed in assigned pairings. We would like each member of the pair to make their own fabric structure, then compose them into a single animated scene in which the movement considers the relation between the pieces. You are welcome to use the samples we pleated together in class as your fabric pieces or to create new fabric samples on your own.

The emphasis is on the possibilities of pleating, but all previous techniques (boning, cordage, shirring, etc.) are also available.

As before, please begin by manually puppeting the fabric pieces to explore movement ideas. Then carefully consider both a rigging design and the kinds of motor movements which will activate it. Using the software simulator, create a customized input mapping to enable your choreography. After the choreography has evolved, please move to the capstan bench and create an automated version. Please carefully document the resulting performance.

Please document your discoveries and points of interest.

Interface Inspirations

Here are a couple of ideas for performance interface improvements to stimulate your thinking:

1. Map particular pads to parameter presets, e.g., one that configures the motors for slow, smooth motion, and one for fast oscillations.
2. Map a pad to randomize the parameters.
3. Map one or more pads to produce coordinated motions, e.g. simultaneous move multiple motors in some fixed ratio.
4. Map a pad to start playing back a fixed sequence of motion commands over time.
5. Map knobs to set the frequency and damping for individual motors rather than just the whole ensemble.
6. Map a pad to trigger a rhythmic sequence of motions that ‘pumps’ the oscillatory motion, along with a knob to adjust the pumping frequency and a knob to adjust the oscillator resonant frequency.
7. Add an algorithmic pattern generator to produce movement patterns, then map knobs and pads to adjust the algorithm parameters and trigger modes.

Resources

Sample code is now available incorporating both the hardware interface and the simulator, please download exercise5.zip. The course software is documented under Software Resources.

Assignment Specifics

For this exercise, please:

1. create a fabric sample using pleating techniques
2. create two, three or four tendon attachment points for actuation
3. experiment to find movement points of interest
4. record a short (no more than a minute) demo video of the effect of the movement (s) using the capstan bench
5. post a short blog entry with the video and a paragraph or two explaining your explorations.
6. new this time: please include a drawing of your rigging design.
7. new this time: please post your modified code. You must use the correct syntax highlighting so it is legible, please see below. Please omit as much of the standard code as is reasonable, e.g., if you modify the ControlLogic class, please just include the full definition for the class but leave out the GUI and MainApp classes.

Deliverables

To be uploaded as a post to the course blog:

1. A brief paragraph outlining your explorations: intended effect, surprises, discoveries, successes.
2. Modified code samples, posted using syntax highlighting (see example below).
3. Rigging drawing.
4. Short video clip (no more than a minute). Please shoot from a stable camera, not handheld; we have tripods and Magic Arms available at Lending, or you may use a laptop resting on a table. Please embed the video so it can be directly viewed; you may either upload an MP4 file to our server (up to 16 MB) or use supported third-party hosting. N.B. hosted .mov files cannot be embedded; please convert to MP4.

We will review your posts prior to class and select one or more to discuss at the start of our next class.

Grading rubric.

When you go to run the hardware, the exercise 1 lab notes will help.

Syntax Highlighting Example

The following code sample was included by inserting a block of type “SyntaxHighlighter Code”, selecting Python from the Code Language combo box under Settings on the right panel, then inserting the plain text of the code using cut and paste. It is important that indentation and original line lengths be preserved for legibility.

class ControlLogic(kf.midi.MIDIProcessor):
    """Core performance logic for processing MIDI input into winch commands."""
    def __init__(self):
        super(ControlLogic,self).__init__()
        self.winches = None
        self.display = None
        
        self.frequency = 1.0
        self.damping_ratio = 1.0
        self.winch_dir = [0,0,0,0]  # array to keep track of currently moving winches for aftertouch control

        return

    def connect_winches(self, winches):
        """Attach a winch output device to the performance logic, either physical or simulated."""
        self.winches = winches

    def connect_display(self, display):
        """Attach a console status output device to the performance logic."""
        self.display = display

    #---- methods to process MIDI messages -------------------------------------
    def note_on(self, channel, key, velocity):
        """Process a MIDI Note On event."""
        log.debug("ControlLogic received note on: %d, %d", key, velocity)
        row, col, bank = self.decode_mpd218_key(key)

        # Each column maps to a specific winch.
        # Rows 0 and 1 move forward, rows 2 and 3 move backward.
        # The middle rows make small motions, the outer rows make larger motions.
        delta = 5 * velocity if row <= 1 else -5 * velocity
        if row == 0 or row == 3:
            delta = delta * 8
        self.winches.increment_target(col, delta)
        self.winch_dir[col] = 1 if delta > 0 else -1 if delta < 0 else 0
        return

    def note_off(self, channel, key, velocity):
        """Process a MIDI Note Off event."""        
        log.debug("ControlLogic received note off: %d, %d", key, velocity)
        row, col, bank = self.decode_mpd218_key(key)
        self.winch_dir[col] = 0
        self.winches.set_velocity(col, 0)

    def control_change(self, channel, cc, value):
        """Process a MIDI Control Change event."""        
        if cc == 3: # Knob #1 on MPD218, use to control resonant frequency
            self.frequency = 0.05 + 0.1 * value

        elif cc == 9: # Knob #2 on on MPD218, use to control damping ratio
            self.damping_ratio = 0.05 + 0.01 * value

        self.winches.set_freq_damping(self.frequency, self.damping_ratio)
        self.display.set_status("Frequency: %f, damping ratio: %f" % (self.frequency, self.damping_ratio))        

    def channel_pressure(self, channel, pressure):
        """Process a MIDI Channel Pressure event."""                
        log.info("aftertouch: %d", pressure)
        velocities = [direction * 10 * pressure for direction in self.winch_dir]
        self.winches.set_velocities(velocities)

For this fourth assignment, we are going to incorporate shibori resist techniques to both shape and tint fabric samples. Our expectation is that the reshaping and texturing of the fabric in the shibori process will create opportunities for movement which include expansion, contraction, and stretching, possibly including changes of color as new surfaces are revealed.

The assignment will also be performed in assigned pairings. We would like each member of the pair to make their own fabric structure, then compose them into a single animated scene in which the movement considers the relation between the pieces. You are welcome to use the samples we dyed together in class as your fabric pieces or to create new fabric samples on your own.

The emphasis is on the possibilities of shibori, but all previous techniques (boning, cordage, shirring, etc.) are also available.

As before, please begin by manually puppeting the fabric pieces to explore movement ideas. After the choreography has evolved, please move to the capstan bench and create an automated version. Please carefully document the resulting performance.

Please document your discoveries and points of interest.

Assignment Specifics

For this exercise, please:

1. create a fabric sample using shibori resist dyeing
2. create two, three or four tendon attachment points for actuation
3. experiment to find movement points of interest
4. record a short (no more than a minute) demo video of the effect of the movement (s) using the capstan bench
5. post a short blog entry with the video and a paragraph or two explaining your explorations.

Deliverables

To be uploaded as a post to the course blog:

1. A brief paragraph outlining your explorations: intended effect, surprises, discoveries, successes.
2. Short video clip (no more than a minute). Please shoot from a stable camera, not handheld; we have tripods and Magic Arms available at Lending, or you may use a laptop resting on a table. Please embed the video so it can be directly viewed; you may either upload an MP4 file to our server (up to 16 MB) or use supported third-party hosting. N.B. hosted .mov files cannot be embedded; please convert to MP4.

We will review your posts prior to class and select one or more to discuss at the start of our next class.

Grading rubric.

When you go to run the hardware, the exercise 1 lab notes will help.

Due: Mon, Feb. 11, 11:59PM.

We will build upon what we learned through the second assignment: experimenting with gathering & shirring for texture and movement. For this third assignment, we going to incorporate machine stitching and creating channels through which cords or lines can move or boning can be inserted.

The channels we will create are sewn pathways through which we can place other items: lines, cords, and boning or tubes. Channels can be used to create gathered or shirred effects, as well as other effects specific to this techniques, such as gliding along a line.

For this exercise, we would like you to investigate the movement possibilities inherent to fabric with machine stitched channels for line, cord, or boning. Your choice of cloth material will affect how the stitched and bunched areas will behave, both by themselves and in contrast to non-stitched areas. We would like you to restrict yourself to working with one piece of fabric at a time and to using only machine stitched channels.

As a first step, we recommend the following process: Create a channel or channels in your fabric. Thread a line or lines through your channel and practice manually puppeting the fabric to explore possible motions. Make adjustments to your channels. Puppet the fabric again. Try adding piece of tubing as boning in a channel to see the effects on the movement. Work back and forth between puppeting and adjusting your fabric.

Move to the capstan bench and see what is possible there using the winches and counterweights. Adjust the channel(s) and line or cord as needed. Some structures may require more line force that our current winch system can produce; if so, please document the result of hand-puppeting and assess the range of motion and level of force required to help us gauge the needs for additional motion hardware.

 As starting points we suggest exploring the prompts from last week in addition to these prompts:

The key to a compound effect that combines cordage with boning will be balancing the different effects of tension and compression. The boning can be a rigid dowel or a flexible tube or strip, but in either case supports compressive forces applied by the cordage or fabric. The cordage or lines can only support tension forces. We can envision several permutations of how a counterbalance can be built from external lines, internal cordage, internal boning, and gravity:

1. Expanding and contracting the fabric using the channels with cordage
2. Sliding along a horizontal line, sliding along a vertical line
   
3. Hinge or gather points and lines formed by untensioned fabric between rigid boning
4. Areas of tensioned fabric counterbalancing preloaded springy boning
5. Contrasting textures and movements within one piece of fabric
   

Please document your discoveries and points of interest.

Assignment Specifics

For this exercise, please:

1. create a fabric sample using several machine stitched channels
2. include at least one cordage and one boning channel
3. create two, three or four tendon attachment points for actuation
4. experiment to find movement points of interest
5. record a short (no more than a minute) demo video of the effect of the movement (s) using the capstan bench
6. post a short blog entry with the video and a paragraph or two explaining your explorations.

Deliverables

To be uploaded as a post to the course blog:

1. A brief paragraph outlining your explorations: intended effect, surprises, discoveries, successes.
2. Short video clip (no more than a minute). Please shoot from a stable camera, not handheld; we have tripods and Magic Arms available at Lending, or you may use a laptop resting on a table. Please embed the video so it can be directly viewed; you may either upload an MP4 file to our server (up to 16 MB) or use supported third-party hosting. N.B. hosted .mov files cannot be embedded; please convert to MP4.

We will review your posts prior to class and select one or more to discuss at the start of our next class.

Grading rubric.

When you go to run the hardware, the exercise 1 lab notes will help.

Our first assignment focused upon moving a basic piece of cloth using hand-puppetry and the capstan bench. This second assignment will build upon that exercise with an additional dimension: piercing the cloth with thread to change its range of possible motions and textures.

Gathering and shirring are two similar forms of traditional textile manipulation. Gathering converts the edge of a piece of fabric into mini-folds bunched together. Shirring is creating by gathering multiple areas of fabric over larger portions of the cloth. In contrast to the gathered or shirred areas, the untouched areas of cloth erupt into irregular, rolling folds or drapes. The gathered or shirred areas take on a stiffness and the unstitched areas a fluidity.

In addition to changing the quality of the cloth itself, the gathered and shirred areas become a path for potential movement. If a gathered or shirred area is constructed in an impermanent way, the cloth might also expand or contract along the stitched lines. Gathering and shirring can be done by hand or by machine stitching.

For this exercise, we would like you to investigate the movement possibilities inherent to gathering or shirring the fabric. Your choice of cloth material will affect how the stitched and bunched areas will behave, both by themselves and in contrast to non-stitched areas. We would like you to restrict yourself to working with one piece of fabric at a time and to using only hand stitching.

As a first step, we recommend the following process: Create some gathered or shirred elements in your fabric. Then attach lines to your fabric and practice manually puppeting the fabric to explore possible motions. Make adjustments to your gathered or shirred areas. Puppet the fabric again. Work back and forth between puppeting and adjusting your fabric. Move to the capstan bench and see what is possible there using the winches and counterweights. Adjust shirring or gathering as needed.  As starting points we suggest exploring the prompts from last week in addition to these new prompts:

1. Tensed areas and fluid areas of the fabric and their range of movements
2. Expanding and contracting the fabric using shirred or gathered lines
3. Folding and rolling the fabric
4. Contrasting textures and movements within one piece of fabric

Document your discoveries and points of interest.

Assignment Specifics

For this exercise, please:

1. create a fabric sample using gathering and/or shirring techniques
2. create two, three or four tendon attachment points for actuation
3. experiment to find movement points of interest
4. record a short (no more than a minute) demo video of the effect of the movement (s) using the capstan bench
5. post a short blog entry with the video and a paragraph or two explaining your explorations.

Deliverables

To be uploaded as a post to the course blog:

1. A brief paragraph outlining your explorations: intended effect, surprises, discoveries, successes.
2. Short video clip (no more than a minute). Please shoot from a stable camera, not handheld; we have tripods and Magic Arms available at Lending, or you may use a laptop resting on a table. Please embed the video so it can be directly viewed; you may either upload an MP4 file to our server (up to 16 MB) or use supported third-party hosting. N.B. hosted .mov files cannot be embedded; please convert to MP4.

We will review your posts prior to class and select one or more to discuss at the start of our next class.

Grading rubric.

When you go to run the hardware, the exercise 1 lab notes will help.