May 14, 2006
The UnsweetCandies at the ITP Spring Show 2006
Thank you Jane Oh for all your support, thank you everyone for coming and trying the candy jars out!
Jane and I worked hard until the final day to the Spring Show 2006.
We had simplified our CandyStore Project into just three different interactive candy jars that each had different personalities. We also got bigger, plastic jars to allow us to give more space to hide the hardware under the candies. All three were triggered as one would dip their hand into the jar, for a candy.
We came to three big candy jars that would glow, scream and pop up as one put their hand into them.
Since they were all triggered by touch, we decide to use the QT 113, one channel touch sensor. QTs are very finicky to work with, in that, the sensitivity differs drastically depending on the setting and the electrode; the sensing part. The electrode pin is most effective when placed closest to the QT113 as well.
We had first attempted to try everything out on a breadboard, got it to work then would transfer the exact layout onto a perf board, realizing that it no longer had the correct sensitivity. We decided to set up everything as it would inside the jar and went from there.
The solenoid module was hard in that it required a much higher voltage and amperage than what the breadboard setting could provide. We tested using a bench top power supply, and noted that with about 24Vs, we were able to get the correct “popping” motion that we wanted in our jar. The QT would sense the touch, then would trigger the solenoid. This part is done using the PIC. Since the PIC runs off of 5Vs. we were to use TIP120 to send data from the PIC into the TIP120’s base pin, sending it a high and low.
The glowing of the DOTs essentially came to PWMing the individual LEDs embedded inside the GumDrops. This also required high lowing the base pin on the TIP120.
The screaming jar gave us complications. We first used a 20 second voice recording module from Radio Shack. We hacked into the play button the module. It was the one similar to the one found in the WalkieTalkie from the UBi.ach Project. The pressing button has one strip of conductive metal that completes the circuit as it is pressed on. Since the module is also separately powered by a 9V, we used a TIP 120 here as well. We got it to play back as touch was sensed but with time, the board would just get hotter and we burnt out two of the boards. After seeing our frustration, Todd suggested that we work with an MP3 Player instead, simply turning it on and off when the sensor was triggered. We used a relay to turn the sensor on and off. The exciting part of all this was the usage of the plasma sheets. We attached the sample sheet around the jar, instead of using separate speakers inside the jar. The screaming recording came out really nicely with this output.
At the Show
Posted by min at 08:06 PM | Comments (0)
Living Art Finals
Everyone brought some amazing projects. Most of them are part of the Spring Show as well!
Thank you Todd for all your support and help. Tis been a great class!
Posted by min at 08:02 PM | Comments (0)
March 26, 2006
Chance Operations and Final Piece Thoughts 03.22.06
the likelihood of something happening
artistic context
fates does not equate randomness
process of creating art: randomness and then filtering out the ideas/ concepts
substance abuse in art= chance operation?, mentally skewed, hence artists?
Book: Skin, Elen Lupton
Interesting links on Chance Operation
Chances
Poetic Techniques: Chance Operations
chance operation
Final Feedback on continuing with the GumDropBlops
childlike food, why? what are you trying to make people think?
attracting, and yet repulsing at the same time
small, light
snails, different motors
reminds of sample organisms in its environment
smaller size, having a life of its own?
package individually, give them each their own character
on racks, displayed like in a candy store
little bloblike things?
Posted by min at 05:15 PM | Comments (0)
March 02, 2006
GumDropBlop Final Crit 03.01.06
The Blop in action
Overall, our project came to a good close. Jane and I had worked hard, realized what we had initially envisioned, taking and improving on the points that the class gave us.
First off, before beginning the final version for the midterm, we knew that we could not embed individual superbrights into all of the gumdrops. So we decided to use a white, powerful backlight to get a similar effect. It turned out even better than what we had expected. The glow was even better.
We tried to initially sew on all the gumdrops, thinking that they may fall off as the weight on the spandex white fabric got heavier. We attempted at using fishwires to keep the transparency. However, this became a big mess and we simply hotglued on the gumdrops onto the fabric which worked out just as well with less stickiness.
To continue on with the movement of these gumdrops, we built a stand with servos attached. But when we draped the fabric over, the gumdrop weight was simply too much for the motors to move in.
Overall, the crit went well and people liked the fact that the form was more organic and the subtle movements of these edible material
We went through millions of boxes of DOTS.
So pwetty
Preliminary inside structure of the Blop
Final interior of the Blop
The Blop- ordinary gumdrops turned into an amazing glow.
So far, from the floor, great feedback. People have approaced Todd about our project. the gumdrops began to melt off, so I had to take care of this. We needed to put some cups and a form of ventilation that would let the hot air out of the blop. We also need another light to give it a stronger glow.
Where to go next with this? No idea but I do have a concept that I'd like to work with. More to come after a round up meeting with Miss Oh.
Posted by min at 12:48 AM | Comments (0)
March 01, 2006
GumDropsWave
Jane and I have continued working with the use of GumDrops. We took everyone else's advice on creating an organic, life-form that would move on its own.
We knew we'd be using a lot more gumdrops. Hence the lighting part became an issue. We decided to use a big white light source instead of individual superbright LEDs in each of them. We used fluorescent light tubings right below our layer of gumdrops to get a similar effect. I still think that the individual superbrights inside them gives a better glow, but with using about 200 gumdrops, this is almost impossible.
Also, we began sewing them onto the fabric that Jane was able to find, but this simply got too messy and took forever. We ended up hot gluing the individual gumdrops onto the surface of the fabric.
We still wanted to keep a subtle movement on the surface of these gumdrops, so we decided to use 3 servo motors with sticks on each end to create this "living" movement. The weight of the gumdrops did become an issue. The servos were simply not strong enough to pulse them outwards for this effect, withholding the heavy weight of all the gumdrops.
Question: What's next?
Posted by min at 07:48 AM | Comments (0)
February 24, 2006
LivingArt Crit 02.22.06
- Numbers : Fibonacci Sequence, golden ratio numbers
- Rabbit theory
Posted by min at 02:15 AM | Comments (0)
February 21, 2006
Living Art GumDropLEDs
Crit for our project. We got to ask questions this time around to the class.
1. How further should we take this? Next steps?
2. What kind of environment do you see this in? In what context?
3. Make it interactive? How do you see somone interacting with this?
Overall, people were very excited to see these ordinary gum drops turn into lights, and moving!
Crit that we got from others :
- think about bigger scale
- unframe
- think about patterns and movement
- interactivity? the fact that these are edible is already the interactivity part
- look at Roxy Paine's "pulsing canvas"
- material
- movement should be slower and more subtle
- like the light bright, use a big light source from behind to make the gum drops glow all at once
Key to using many LEDs is the amount of amperage. LEDs take about 20mA per one. The superbrights may take a little more. So we had daisy chained (series connection)32 LEDs and connected 2 of these in parallel. We used one 12 V powersupply that provided up to 1000mA. This was enough for our 64 superbrights. Thank you Nick S!
Testing LEDs
Backside
Ordinary gumdrop "DOTS" made magic
Servo behind the LEDs to make it pulse
To dos for Midterm next week
- big white florescent lights
- white spandexy cloth
- diff sized/ shaped gum drops
- super glue
- thin fishwire
- maya simulation?
Posted by min at 05:24 PM | Comments (0)
February 20, 2006
Midterm Project Begins 02.15.06
Guess it was just bound to happen. Jane had worked with gum balls all last semester, I was just fascinated with the idea of gum drops that I've used in my Spatial Design Class last fall.
I just had to know what the effect was like with these gumdrops and superbrights. Such a beautiful glow!
More to come later.
Posted by min at 01:38 PM | Comments (0)
February 16, 2006
Symmetry, Rotation, Repetition 02.15.06
Posted by min at 09:41 PM | Comments (0)
February 08, 2006
Finite State Machine Critique 02.08.06
Our first crit in LivingArt was very engaging and definately not your ordinary ITP crit. We all considered this as a pure art class and the crits on our projects reflected this. People were honest, genuine and most of all, gave meaningful criticisms that as an artist, could be further explored.
Some topics that came up.
Nick and Anne
Ben
Andrew
Mike and Suzan
Tristan
Posted by min at 09:40 PM | Comments (0)
LichtBox
Our first assignment at LivingArt. A one week assignment.
Jane, Lara and I ended up working on this physcially for about three days.
After being presented with the task, we sat down a few days after and still felt a little lost with the term, "finite." We decided to keep it really simple and we went ahead with an LED matrix as a practice.
Our sketches and brainstorm
A personal cube that one could manipulate by a simple press. We initially wanted to create some sort of an animation, using the 9 LEDs on each sides but this seemed almost impossible. We turned all the pins on the 18F452 digital. ADCON1=%10000111 It seems that the RA4 pin doesn't work at all. The E ports had strange behaviors also. We used transistor arrays, ULN2004N
LEDs light up when power and ground is given. Considering that we were going to have control over all the individual 45 LEDs, this was the method we chose. From the PIC, powers were sent and the grounds, through the 3 transistor arrays.
We tested first on the breadboard.
Using this code. We couldn't get the animation going, so we decided to stick to per side of the cube (5 sides). We used a counter and a CASE statement in the PIC.
SELECT CASE var
CASE expr1 {, expr...}
statements
CASE expr2 {, expr...}
statements
{CASE ELSE statements}
END SELECT
CASE statements, in some cases, are easier to use than multiple IF.. THENs. These statements are used to compare a variable with different values or ranges of values, and take action based on the value.
The variable used in all of the comparisons is specified in the SELECT CASE statement. Each CASE is followed by the statements to be executed if the CASE is true. IS may be used to specify a comparison other than equal to. If none of the CASEs are true, the statements under the optional CASE ELSE statement are executed. An END SELECT closes the SELECT CASE.
Example
SELECT CASE x
CASE 1
y = 10
CASE 2, 3
y = 20
CASE IS > 5
y = 100
CASE ELSE
y = 0
END SELECT
With this code though, the counter would simply stop at count 3. We tested using just 5 single LEDs and it counted up to 5 and going back to its original state. After much time debugging and tweeking, Todd H came and tried out a different method. He attempted at sending the power through the transistor array and from its output pin, sending out ground to a row of LEDs.
Applying this same idea, we used this code on our breadboard and it ran through.
We put the plexi parts together with the LEDs.
In an LED matrix, the connections are essential. Since our connections were made quick, the lights did not really light up the way we wanted them to. A little too random at times. but it did react to the switch and changed sides. Some LEDs were just on all the time.
I really enjoyed collaborating with Jane and Lara and we executed our complex matrix system. It still needs a bit more tweeking but we did learn a lot in the process and I'm happy with what we were able to achieve in three days.
During our crit.
The feedback we got had value and we did agree with a few points that came up.
Posted by min at 08:33 PM | Comments (0)
February 05, 2006
Science, Art and Tech 02.01.06
individually.
Mike's clear explanation
Posted by min at 09:53 PM | Comments (0)
February 03, 2006
Definition of the Finite State Machine
Wikipedia's definition
Posted by min at 04:24 PM | Comments (0)
January 31, 2006
High Tech Art, is it merely a trend?
I've been asking myself this question for the longest time. Is high tech art really just a current trend that everyone's raving about? As brought up in the reading, where DOES one draw the line?
I completely agree with the fact that the art should not be driven by the technology available today. The technology is only a tool to the artists that aid them to realize what they exactly have in mind. It's a tool similar to the way monkeys may use tools to get certain things done. I've seen so many pieces that are just purely technical, where artistically and conceptually, does not carry through. There is a strong distinction between an artist and an inventor.
"High-tech artists do not necessarily engage in science... Technology is seen as "knowing how," while science is seen as "knowing why."
fi·nite (fī'nīt') pronunciation
adj.
1.
1. Having bounds; limited: a finite list of choices; our finite fossil fuel reserves.
2. Existing, persisting, or enduring for a limited time only; impermanent.
2. Mathematics.
1. Being neither infinite nor infinitesimal.
2. Having a positive or negative numerical value; not zero.
3. Possible to reach or exceed by counting. Used of a number.
4. Having a limited number of elements. Used of a set.
Posted by min at 10:28 PM | Comments (0)
A set of rules
In the classroom.
1. One person in the classroom.
2. Place 2 gray chairs side by side with the seat facing up.
3. Go on top of the seat.
4. Get as many people on the seat as possible onto the 2 seats.
Posted by min at 05:35 PM | Comments (0)
January 30, 2006
Generative Artists 01.25.06
Generative Art = Using generative processes to create art
Artists
Rube Goldberg
Damien Hirst
Catherine Chalmers
livingsculpture.com
Eshel Ben-Jabcom
Tulum
Tara Donovan
Amy Youngs
Christo and Jeanne-Claude
potatoland.com
Cloaca Original
Posted by min at 01:09 PM | Comments (0)
Class One 01.18.06
Class structure
Class link
Required text book: Information Arts by Steven Wilson. Thank you Alice for lending me your book! :)
Generative Art?
Set up rules then the art comes along from it. Set up our own rules.
Definitions from Answers.com
Posted by min at 12:37 PM | Comments (0)
January 24, 2006
Generative Artists
I've decided to look at the works of my friend, a new york-based artist, Eun Joo Shin.
I quote,
"First, I distinguish the different physical uniqueness of a human with the idea of the four primary elements derived from the ancient Greek philosophy. These four elements, soil, water, fire and the air represent the physique, blood, energy and the soul in the human body. These elements interlace distinctively to create a novel human physique and furthermore, the entire universe... Every human being has its very own soul. Even though a human clone may physically be replicated, its soul is not. My kinetic sculpture installation, “New Family,” consists of six round-shaped objects, which symbolize the “human embryo.” These objects interact and re-act off of one another. Based on the idea of genetic cloning, one unique light source stimulates and affects the other “human embryos” with its same behavior. The six separate objects generate their own sounds, which imply their unique soulfulness."
This piece in particular has 6 globes that have a life of its own. They interact with each other and constantly interact with one another.
Another artist that struck my attention is one of my professors back at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
He had created a fluorescent bunny that would glow green when blue light was lit on. He had realized this by combining the genes of the jelly fish with the rabbit. Is this generative? I'm still not quite sure...
"My transgenic artwork "GFP Bunny" comprises the creation of a green fluorescent rabbit, the public dialogue generated by the project, and the social integration of the rabbit. GFP stands for green fluorescent protein. "GFP Bunny" was realized in 2000 and first presented publicly in Avignon, France. Transgenic art, I proposed elsewhere, is a new art form based on the use of genetic engineering to transfer natural or synthetic genes to an organism, to create unique living beings. This must be done with great care, with acknowledgment of the complex issues thus raised and, above all, with a commitment to respect, nurture, and love the life thus created."
While browsing for some different artitsts, I've noticed a strong connection between human genes / biology and generative art. Multiple artists have attempted to translate the rules, patterns and the functionality into an art form. Some art work suggest this quite evidently, some, a little difficult to see its system.
Posted by min at 05:45 PM | Comments (0)