November 01, 2007
October 01, 2007
Beacons
Informed by the tradition of paper lanterns, beacons are ghostly apparitions that transform and mutate according to their surrounding environment. They will change in both scale and form. Imagery pulled from geotagged photos posted to the internet is projected on the skins of the beacons. The beacons will light in nighttime and move to entice people to enter the border.
September 30, 2007
Paper Lanterns
Storefront for Art and Architecture
Performance Z-A: a Pavilion and 26 Days of Events at Storefront
Armin Linke screens the US premier of his award winning film-in-progress on the Alps realized in collaboration with architect Piero Zanini
I visited the Pavilion on the night Armin Linke presented. The structure is a modular construction of hundreds of glow-in-the-dark hula hoops attached together to form a perforated dome.
The space created a psychological barrier from the adjacent streets and surroundings. Viewing the presentation on a big screen from inside the enclosure and at the same time having essentially a full view of the world outside reminded me of similar experiences one would have in NY. This was like being a passenger on subway cars, or like sitting at a window and people watching while commuters pass by watching you as you watch them.
I'm curious how Storefront for Art and Architecture was able to get the city to allow them to build this on a public space this and keep it there for several months. The site was likely underused given its location between two intersecting streets.
September 25, 2007
Museum of Arts and Design project
September 24, 2007
Chinatown Border (Manhattan)
The Original, Traditional Border
Pell St, 1899
Doyer St., 1890's
Sometimes I move, watching the crowds pass below and through me. Oblivious. My senses are eternally overwhelmed. My world emanates North South East West. Flow. Buildings, streets, - cannot confine my path. Memories may. I watch, listen and capture. To be here is all there was. It grows.
The border will shift and I will float to its edge. Brooklyn and Queens pull gravitationally. I can go there too. Old New York has mostly disappeared, or at least you think it has. But I know and still go there. Anthony (now Worth), Orange (now Baxter), Mulberry (remains)...There is no end. I move with it. I live.
Mark it now, but it will change. A periphery... transitory but with solid presence... a feeling to enter and leave through. Listen. See. Smell.
The 2007 Border
Pell St.
Pell & Doyer
Bayard St. looking North East
September 21, 2007
(Expanding) Borders of Chinatown
As a group, Younghyun, Hyeki and I have chosen to pursue a project on the concept of the borders of neighborhoods in Manhattan. Specifically we'll focus on Chinatown. My understanding is that the Manhattan Chinatown is shrinking whereas the "satellite" communities of Sunset Park, Brooklyn and Flushing, Queens are growing rapidly. This is mainly due to real estate in Manhattan being so expensive, but there are political and social reasons for the change as well.
What is the relationship between the Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn Chinatowns? Do Flushing and Sunset Park operate as satellite of Manhattan's Chinatown? A Taiwanese ITP student informed us most of the Chinese immigrants that have settled in Flushing are of Taiwanese descent and Manhattan's Chinatown is settled by Cantonese speakers from Hong Kong. Borders and boundaries in NY in a real estate and psychological sense should provide us with ample room for exploration and discovery. The issue of satellite communities will likely be an important element in our research.
April 25, 2007
LetterRun
A toy that combines a marble-run and letter blocks and engages children in learning through play. The 3" square blocks are magnetic and can therefore be attached to magnetic surfaces such as doors or refrigerators. This was done in collaboration with Ben Chao.
April 21, 2007
PoetryBall
A collaboration with ChoRong Hwang and Eugene Ahn.
PoetryBall utilizes random input to play music or speak poetry when users throw or kick it around. Each segment on the ball is a button, which when pressed, triggers sound heard on overhead speakers. The buttons act independently of one another and each is programmed to send a unique signal when pressed. PoetryBall implements radio technology to send data wirelessly to a computer across the room.
December 22, 2006
Light and Shadow in My Apartment
This was for an assignment in Commlab. We were supposed to use Photoshop to compose a narrative image. I thought the subject of shadow and reflection of light was interesting enough to portray in a collage. I'm satisfied with the way this turned out. It's amazing what range of colors I was able to get in such a very small space --and I do mean small.
December 18, 2006
Stoneglow
Above are the final protoypes for our Stoneglow project. The tri-colored superbrights worked quite well inside the enclosures. We were thrilled with the end result of the resin castings. We would have preferred to have been able to obscure the LED bulb and have the light diffuse more thoroughly through the shape but time ran out on us. More to come on the process itself.
October 26, 2006
Midterm: LightBoxes
LightBoxes in Action
Prototyping Board (with 4 pairs of an IR emitter and detector and 3 Superbright LEDS) Connected to an Arduino
Experimenting w/ Internal Light-Enhancing Materials
Testing the LightBox Enclosures
October 24, 2006
La Jetee
La Jetee is a French film directed by Chris Marker (with music score by Trevor Duncan) and released in 1962. It's composed entirely of black and white photographs and sound. This constraint provides Marker with ample room to experiment with various visual and aural elements to tell his story.
The premise of La Jetee (The Jetty), is that Paris has been blown up in a nuclear attack and that mind experiments are being conducted on the protagonist who is "...marked by an image from his childhood". The narration and music seems dated, viewing the film in our 21st century mileau, but they enhanced the film.
Throughout the film, Marker uses sounds like the varying rhythym and intensity of a heartbeat, whispering, and flocks of birds to create and release tension. There are several sequences that stand apart. One towards the end in which the the viewer hears the sound of a flock of birds as a quick succesion of images of the protagonist's girlfriend lying in bed is flashed to imply breathing is very effective.
What resonates is Marker's implementation of still imagery and sound to convey the concept of visceral memories in a story about time travel. The images would stand alone without sound but it is the synthesis of elements that proves so succesful. La Jetee warrants multiple viewings to fully appreciate.
October 17, 2006
Midterm: LightBox Enclosure Prototype
Minsoo and I went to Canal Plastics this past Saturday and bought some opaque, white plexiglass. It'll take some time to cut and fashion the plastic into our hexagonal forms. So, in order to have a mock-up for testing, we decided it would be best to buy "pre-made" enclosures. These food containers will serve the purpose. We sanded them to take off the gloss/shine and to create a somewhat opaque finish. We're hoping to get the light to spread evenly inside the enclosure.
September 27, 2006
Observation Assignment : VTM (Value Transfer Machine) & Cash Card
Lab 3: Analog Input
Lab #3 was very straightforward. I hope to increase my knowledge greatly in coding the Arduino and in drawing circuit diagrams as it will help in future physical computing endeavors. Working on the labs is making it sink in quite nicely though. Well, at least the diagram part. The coding will be a slower process I believe (baby steps as they say).
September 18, 2006
Lab 2: Digital Input and Output
I had a little difficulty getting the drivers to install (just didn't read the instructions carefully). Once I got that settled, everthing was relatively simple. I've still got to make sure everything is seated properly, and that all the connections are good. I realized my LED connected to the #3 pin wasn't coming on due to the fact that I had the diode polarity switched around. So, I corrected that and it worked great. Fun, cool lab. Yeah, now I'm using the Arduino!
Week 1 w/ Processing
Here's a sketch we did in the first week of class using Processing, a rudimentary object-oriented language that makes the transition to learning Java easier.
The first assignment was just about implementing simple code to get the basics down. I experimented with color, repitition, and change in scale.
September 15, 2006
Lab 1: Electronics
September 11, 2006
Mona Hatoum's " + and - "
I went to the MOMA last Thursday to see "Out of Time: A Contemporary View" (and some of the Dada exhibition as well). One of the most interesting works was "+ and -", an installation by Mona Hatoum. The work is a large circular sand-bed with a toothed mechanical arm that draws concentric circular grooves on half of the sand-bed while it simultaneously smoothes out the other half. The armature rotates 5 times a minute,which is a steady enough pace to create tension in the work. As the title would suggest, there are clear visual cues to the positive/negative, destruction/ healing, and ying/yang as themes.
Additionally, there is an audible element to the installation if the viewer is perceptive enough to lean in close to the surface of the sand as the armature rotates. There is a soothing/meditative quality in hearing thousands of grains of sand shift and slide around.
My thoughts on the work are that as a minimalist work, "+ and -" is elegantly descriptive of its subject matter, inevitable cycles in nature, such as creation and destruction and the seasons of life.
The experiences we as viewers bring with us inform our perceptions of an artist's work, so it's telling to discover what artists choose to title their works (as well as write in their personal statements). I prefer to view the work prior to reading the title or the history of the artist. This enables me to have a more genuine dialogue with the work/artist, and to question what I or the artist(s) may have missed. In this case, "+ and -" is certainly an apropos title.
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