Interactivity and Computation • 60-212
CMU School of Art / IDeATe, Spring 2022 • Prof. Golan Levin
This tool allowed me to eliminate my preceding knowledge of cats and buildings while making these drawings. I felt that this tool gets me to be more creative with the final output. It was interesting to be able to observe the output changing by minor changes that I make, such as adding a new rectangle.
I found this project interesting because it gathers pieces of information across thousands of digital images and generates a cohesive piece. I also like how it is interactive in that the original images appear when a user clicks on a certain part of the image. I personally would also like to explore ways to receive user input and derive information from such input to generate an interactive work.
My creature is named Dollar Chaser – by moving the mouse, the user is able to control the position of the creature. In order to emphasize the life-like movement of the creature, the easing function was used to smoothly alter the position of the creature. Further, its eye movements were also set to follow the mouse positions. When the white circles are added, they are added as spring particles to further promote lively movements. Through such interactions between the user and the creature, I intended to build a puppeteer/puppet relationship as if the creature is a representation of the user.
To further explain the intentions behind my work, the number of little circles that also follow the creature increases exponentially when it collides with a yellow dot representative of a coin. All movement stops when any part of the creature or the circles that have become a part of the creature hits the edges of the canvas. At this point, the phrase “too much?” appears on the canvas. Through such interactions, I wanted to play around with the basic notion in the game settings, where coins essentially help you win. You are encouraged to follow the coins much like many parts of the society that is driven by money. My interactions are unlike such basic notions in that you eventually lose when you have consumed too many coins. Moreover, the user is able to resume the game by moving the cursor to the middle and hitting “enter.” When this happens, the color of the creature fades to black and only its red eyes remain to signify that the creature has been overtaken by the ambition of the user. I wanted these interactions to serve as a reminder that money has limitations – and that it cannot be the sole motive of life.
In order to better foster my intentions, I believe that several features could be added. For instance, a coin could disappear when the user hasn’t interacted with it for a certain period of time or the user could remove some branches of the white circles by sharing them with other creatures. In terms of the flow of the movements, having a larger canvas or reducing the sizes of the creatures and the margins between the white circles could help. Lastly, significant improvements could be made to the visual aspects to make the interactions more engaging for the user.
Time Universe on Openprocessing
Time Universe was inspired by Superlocal made by cw&t and the new concepts of time that I encountered during time research. As I learned that time is a concept that was created by humans, I wanted to create a timepiece that presents time in an abstract way. Thus, I created my final piece which consists of big circles, medium circles, and small circles with the number of each type of circle being reflective of the current hour, minute, and second. When a user clicks on the canvas, the user is able to add a single circle of a random size; when a user drags the mouse on the canvas, the user is able to add multiple circles of random sizes. The user is able to return to the current time by pressing ENTER and change the colors of the circles by pressing any other keys. By allowing the user to change the number of circles and their colors, I intended to convey a sense that the users themselves have control over the current time. Further, I intentionally created a clock that is hard to read in order to sway the users away from being constrained to the exact measurement of time. By using this clock, I hope for the users to be more relieved from any pressure that may have arisen from time and take more initiative on the pace of their own lifestyles.
I believe my work was successful in conveying my general concept that we do not need to be pressurized or anxious about time. I enjoy how the colors change depending on the position of each circle and that my work includes several elements of interactivity, which I would like to continue to bring into my future works. Yet, I see many aspects of my work that could be altered or changed, which I wasn’t able to implement mainly due to the time constraint. A major feature that I would like to add is allowing the users to remove a circle by clicking on it, which would work with my current element of adding the circles. I believe this would further strengthen my current concept by allowing the user to not only lengthen time but also shrink time. Moreover, when the user returns to the current time by pressing ENTER, the transition could be smoothed out by adding a fading out effect to the circles. I also wanted to add a shadow to each circle and add a background image to enhance the visual depth. Nonetheless, I enjoyed working on this prompt and getting to deeply think about the meaning of time; I would like to also try out my other project ideas later on.
Rectangular Trap on Openprocessing
The process of creating this work came more naturally; it was different from my initial ideas. I initially intended to create a flower that blossoms infinitely by rotating rectangles around its corners. Yet, as I created this piece, I wanted to play around with the straight edges of the rectangles, which is how I came to create my final piece. I believe I have succeeded in creating multiple shapes with a simple repetition (and creating an infinite loop!) by allowing the objects to layer on top of each other. The use of simple colors has added to this effect with some objects having the same color as the background. Although I personally enjoy the simplicity of this piece, I wonder if this piece is too simple in that it lacks detailed motion: all the objects included in this piece move around the origin. I think it would also have been an interesting experience if I proceeded with my first two ideas shown in the sketch.
By watching and reading more about time, I have become ambivalent towards the concept of time. On the one hand, I am amazed at how we, as humans, were able to achieve such an accurate measure of time, especially since I learned that time doesn’t have a direct natural source (Drucker, 2). Yet, on the other hand, seeing all the past timekeeping devices makes me wonder how my lifestyle would have differed if time wasn’t as accurate as it is now. Sometimes, my actions are pressurized/motivated by time as I see the time change every second and know that I have to do certain things by a certain time. I feel like it has motivated me to re-think the way I perceive and approach time.
— dave (@beesandbombs) January 19, 2022
Bees and Bombs (David Whyte) – I find it interesting that the general pattern itself is very structured, but the way each dot flows adds a softer/organic aspect to it.
Cindy Suen – I like how each movement in this GIF flows smoothly with one another in a creative way. I especially like how the ribbon comes out of the cat’s mouth like a tongue.
Andreas Wannerstedt – I really enjoy the conceptual aspect of this work: the simple and repetitive motions convey a strong story. I also find the sound effects and sand-like motions to be relaxing, which I believe portrays an idea that we may often be stuck in our comfort zones.
I am intrigued by Yayoi Kusama’s series of Infinity Mirror Rooms, especially The Souls of Millions of Light Years Away (2013), which are installations held in a room surrounded by mirrors. The series of mirrors create endless reflections, creating an immersive experience for the audience. The Souls of Millions of Light Years Away makes use of hundreds of small LED lights, which gather to produce a dotted pattern in a seemingly-infinite space.
I admire this work for its heightening sensual experience and its ability to foster emotional connections. For its sensual aspect, I love how Kusama coordinated the rhythmic system of LED lights with a series of mirrors, which constructed visual depth. I believe that the synchronized visual effect effectively builds an isolated environment for the audience to contemplate their existence. Onto the second aspect, I am drawn to how Kusama includes a part of herself: her major inspiration came from her childhood experience of striking hallucinations with fields of patterns and dots. She began drawing her hallucinations as a way of treating her mental disease to control the anxiety, which became a foundation for her repetitive elements. Moreover, when the audience enters the room, they are immediately faced with a Droste effect. This effect is widespread on online platforms, which leads the audience to capture themselves in the infinity room with their phones. By capturing an infinite version of themselves spread throughout the room, the audience is able to visually observe their size in proportion to the infinite space and develop their own connections to the artwork.
In terms of the creation of the artwork, the series of LED lights hanging from the ceiling have been programmed to turn on and off in rhythmic patterns. It begins with subtle changes producing a soft glow into more rapid changes forming a staccato effect. At one moment, the audience is left in complete darkness. As the rhythmic pattern of the lights changes, I am assuming that code would have been used in the creation of this work, but I wasn’t able to find clear information about how this work was made.
