Kate's ITP Blog

This week's assignment is to design something relating to space. I've decided to experiment with the psychology of personal space (known as proxemics)--a topic that frequently comes up living in NYC. To start, I've been doing a bit of research on the topic, including this interesting New York Times article, psychology articles on the topic such as "Intercultural Study of Personal Space: A Case Study" by Catherine Beaulieu in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology, and portions of The Hidden Dimension by Edward Hall, the father of proxemic theory.

For the purposes of my design for this class, which I'll describe shortly, I'm working from the basic premise that the average American's minimum comfortable personal space with an acquaintance is 4 feet, and 1.5 to 4 feet with a friend. Allowing for the fact that I'll be testing my object on two random classmates who are accustomed to an crowded urban environment, and already seated in close proximity in the classroom with a mix of acquaintances and friends, I've chosen a distance of two and a half feet for the purposes of this experiment, on the theory that most people in my class would be comfortable sitting face to face with each other at this distance. (It's worth noting here that nationality plays a definite role in proxemics, but because I can not know in advance the nationality of my volunteers, I have not factored cultural influences into my piece.)

The goal of my experiment will be to see what can be done to manipulate the subjects' perception of this space without changing their physical distance from each other. After arranging the two subjects at the proper distance from each other, I'll ask them to report their relative comfort on a scale of 1 to 10: 1 being very uncomfortable, 10 being completely at ease. I will then outfit them with a device that loosely encircles their necks and spans the distance between them with a fabric interconnection, and again ask them to report their relative comfort (the device will not cause physical discomfort, so this should not be a factor in their response). Finally, I will enclose the space between them with another layer of fabric which will connect over their heads, and ask for one last reporting on their comfort level. Again, no physical discomfort will be involved.

I anticipate that the subjects' comfort level will decrease with each step, as the space itself is made more intimate. I do expect that the fact that the subjects' will be the center of attention will also add a bit to their level of discomfort, but I do think there's still some validity and interest to the test. It's also quite possible, though, that I may get two volunteers who know each other well, and therefore find the intimacy of the space manipulation pleasant or fun. Only time will tell... Photos to come.

Posted by Kate Monahan at 01:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I've decided to change my final project for this class, due primarily to the fact that I was having a hard time trying to come up with a way to convey some sort of value statement or argument through a visualization of the MAD art collection. I've decided instead to create a visualization of plastic surgery data over the past 10 years, conveying the trends (and stunning increase) in various types of body modification that have occurred over the years, and the disparity between the sexes in regards to this type of surgery. As a data source, I'll be using statistics gathered between 1997 and 2006 by The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, which claims to offer "the most comprehensive collection of data available on the number of cosmetic surgical and nonsurgical procedures performed in the United States."

Here's a very, very crude sketch of the concept--overall body size indicates percentage by gender of total surgeries, emphasizing the disproportionately large number of surgeries women are getting. Then, from year to year, the size of specific body parts will increase or decrease based on the number of surgeries in that area (e.g. rhinoplasty), allowing the viewer to spot surgery trends (and by extension, changes in beauty norms) overtime. My overall goal is that the freakishly large body parts that will result from the ballooning number of surgeries will convey my opinion that the rampant cosmetic surgery our culture is engaging in is a sort of mutilation and, at its core, an ugly practice. I also intend to make this visualization dynamic, in that viewers will be able to mouse over body parts and view the statistics for that type of surgery, and the percentage increase (or decrease) compared to previous years.

Posted by Kate Monahan at 11:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This week's assignment was to make something related to the body. Last week's challenge to ponder the themes that have united the course so far--interconnectedness via modularity, ecology, networks etc. and the "softness" of barriers between things in our world--heavily influenced my design this week. I decided to experiment with the notion of hacking couture, recycling several old, damaged and/or ugly sweaters in my wardrobe into a new object for the body. Creating this object is also a return to my original goal of creating objects that convey comfort, which makes particular sense to me when thinking about design for the human body.

Original Sweaters

Cashmere, purchased nearly a decade ago, large holes in elbows

Wool, bought for $2 at a thrift store, too big to wear, moth holes

Wool, found on street, ugly as hell, though I like the color, also too small

I began the process by sketching several design ideas:

After selecting the design at the top right as my favorite, I began plotting out the design on the grey sweater, which I'd decided to use as the basis for the new creation since it fits me well and was a favorite of mine before the elbows blew out. I quickly realized that unlike it appears in my sketch, the triangular portions at the waist were going to be the largest sections, so I decided to switch the color scheme and use the green sweater for those areas. I cut out the sections from the grey sweater that were slated to be replaced with the other colors, then used them as a pattern to cut from the other sweaters, leaving an addition 1/4" on each side for the seams. I made sure that the biases of the resected section matched the new material so there wouldn't be any weirdness when the pieces were assembled.

Unfortunately, due to a crazy schedule this week, I wasn't able to assemble the piece in time for class (I can't sew in my apartment after 9:00pm because it bothers the neighbors), but I'll be finishing it up this weekend and will post the results here when I'm done. In the meantime, here's a photo of the pieces laid out to give a sense of the final product...

Posted by Kate Monahan at 11:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

For my final project, I plan to continue work on the individual curation tool for consideration as an exhibit at the Museum of Arts & Design. I've created a PDF mockup of a modified design that will hopefully be workable as a social tool, as the original pie-chart design would not work with dynamic content. Click here to download the PDF >>.

Posted by Kate Monahan at 02:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This week, we were asked to read articles and browse websites relating to the concept of open source, and also to contemplate the commonalities between the concepts and assignments we've explored in class thus far: personal interest, modularity, connectivity, networks, energy, and open source.

As I step back to reflect on the topics we've discussed this semester, and the objects I've created in response to them, it becomes clear that a large theme we're exploring here is interconnection. We've been investigating the different ways in which the designed objects and virtual spaces in our lives—whether art, tools, websites, gadgets, etc.—have the capacity to interconnect with each other as modules, with ourselves as users or viewers, with the planet (to positive or negative effect)...or to interconnect us with others:

• The first assignment, as described above, encouraged us to create an object with personal significance; in presenting it to the class, we started to form connections with each other by revealing something meaningful about ourselves, our interests, and our process. On a more granualar level, the design of my Soft/Snug wrist guard is focused largely on the connector (velcro) in the object, and the comfort that can be gained through the creation of a tight connection.
• In the modular assignment, we explored how objects can have a different meaning or impact when they are interconnected and/or replicated, and how modularity often offers the freedom of reconfigurability, allowing for the customization of interconnections and impact. Though crude, my piece for this assignment, a modular, reconfigurable sculpture, was designed to reflect this adaptability—allowing the user to play until they have a form they connect with.
• The theme of interconnection is perhaps most apparent in the connectivity and network assignments—in both, the intended results are reaped only when a successful interconnection is made. In my curtain project, the intended result being a soothingly lit, private space in which to connect with another person, and in the network project, a modular, reconfigurable network of sound, interconnected in the ways that the participants of the network prefer—a device which literally enables new forms of interconnection.
• In the energy assignment, we were encouraged to think about the way we as humans and our creations connect with and impact the earth—perhaps the most basic of connections, and one which is it far too easy to take for granted. It is always useful to be reminded of the fact that we are all a part of a larger network, and that our actions and choices will inevitably have a positive or negative effect on that system. Coincidentally, my project for this assignment, a modified cell phone charger, is a literal manifestation of this connection that aims at minimizing negative impact.
• Finally, in our readings about open source culture, the theme of interconnection manifests through the ways in which people form ad hoc communities to generate results that would not be possible through individual effort. Or, in the case of post-modernist theory and hacking culture, through the ways in which individuals have the freedom to create and recreate their own connections, and therefore meanings, in works, separate from any the original creator may have intended.

Posted by Kate Monahan at 09:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This week, we were asked to create a personal collection from amongst our possessions, document it, then assign attributes to each object. I chose to use samples from my large collection of fabrics, since they are colorful, diverse, and personally significant to me. I documented each fabric with a photograph, then decided on eight categories (or "keys") by which to describe the collection: Type (e.g., cotton, polyester); Color; Texture (e.g., smooth, rough); Weight; Date of Acquisition; Place of Acquisition (by state); Source (e.g. gift, thrift store); and Use (e.g., pants, finger puppets). Click here to view the collection (PDF).

Once in class, we were teamed up with other classmates (and their collections) and challenged to create a physical visualization--with a few basic art/craft supplies on hand--that encompassed and tied together the entire groups' collections. I was teamed up with Jen and Kat, who coincidentally has collections of buttons and yarn, respectively. Jen and I had brought some physical samples of our collections, but since Kat had only black and white printouts of photographs, we were were a bit aesthetically limited in creating something purely from the objects. We spent a bit of time discussing what attributes our objects had in common, and which of them were most important to us in terms of how we chose to use them. We determined that color and texture were the best points of comparison, and decided on a simple chart on which to arrange them, with my fabric samples, Jen's buttons (interconnected with a string to reinforce the creative, crafty content of the piece), and Kat's printouts arranged in a spectrum from blue to red on the x axis, and from smoothest to most textured on the y axis. Because of the grey tones of the printouts and the relatively limited number of samples, we added a color key on the printouts, and across the top on the x axis, and a texture key of folded paper squares on the y axis. The result was not as polished or aesthetically pleasing as I would have liked, but given our time limitations, I think it was at least easy to interpret.

Posted by Kate Monahan at 03:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

For this week's assignment, we were encouraged to think about energy--real or metaphorical--and design a piece that reflected something about our thoughts on the topic. I took a very literal approach to this project, since sustainability and conservation are the topics that most often come to mind for me when I think of energy. I've been thinking of ways to modify my behavior to help reduce wasteful habits, and latched onto my bad habit of often forgetting to unplug my cell phone charger when it's not in use. Since chargers continue to draw energy when plugged in but not in use, I decided to design a device that would draw my attention to this waste. The energy use in the average household would be reduced, by some estimates, by 5% if "phantom energy" devices like empty chargers and standby devices were eliminated. (source)

Ideally, I wanted to hack the charger itself and use the wasted energy to power a blinking LED and/or vibrating motor when the cell phone was not attached. Sadly, my physical computing skills are not up to the challenges and risks of working with that level of voltage. As plan B, I designed a devise that attaches to the end of the charger, and uses a pin on a spring to determine whether the cell phone is attached or not--when it is not, a circuit is completed and a blinking LED lights. When the pin is depressed (and therefor the phone is attached), the pin slides a bit of plastic between the metal tab connected to the LED's power source and the battery, breaking the circuit.

I was hoping to create a smaller, more elegant device than I ultimately did, and am of course bothered by the fact that the device requires a battery, negating any positive effects it might have on energy usage... Although the ideal solution to this problem would/will be for manufacturers to have automatic shut-off features on chargers and other home devices, I think there's something interesting about the idea of having devices that alert you to your wasteful habits, keeping you mindful of the impact of your possessions and your actions.

Waste List

A second assignment this week was to keep a log of our waste, and propose some steps we can take to reduce it.

Friday

• 1 can of cat food
• 2 cardboard coffee cups—I will start carrying a reusable mug again
• 1 square of tinfoil (lunch)
• 1 paper bag (lunch)—I will ask them to give me my burrito without a bag
• 2 cardboard boxes (food for dinner)
• 2 plastic bags (food for dinner)
• 18 cigarette butts
• 10 minute shower—I could take shorter showers...
• 5 minutes of running hair dryer—Air drying would be better, but not always an option
• Electricity to run computer, fans, and refrigerator—I'm going to get in the habit of turning off my computer each night and reduce fridge temp a bit

Saturday

• 8 plastic grocery bags—I should start using canvas bags again
• 2 plastic produce bags—I should get some of those reusable mesh bags
• 10 minute shower
• 1 can of cat food
• Electricity to watching movie, run computer, fans and refrigerator
• 15 cigarette butts
• 6 pieces of junk mail— I need to sign up on the 'do not mail' list again
• Gas used by cab to get home—If I came home a bit earlier, I could use public transportation
• Water for plants

Sunday

• 1 can of cat food
• Electricity for computer, fans, refrigerator
• Water and electricity to run dishwasher
• 2 cardboard boxes (dinner)
• 2 plastic bags (dinner)
• 14 cigarette butts

Monday

• Electricity for computer, fans, refrigerator
• 10 minute shower
• 5 minute hair dryer
• 1 can of cat food
• 1 plastic water bottle—I should use my reusble mug & drink tap water
• 1 plastic food container (lunch)
• 14 cigarette butts
• 4 pieces of junk mail

Tuesday

• 1 cardboard box (cereal)
• Electricity for computer, fans, refrigerator
• 1 square of tinfoil (lunch
• 2 cardboard boxes (dinner)
• 10 minute shower
• 2 plastic bags (dinner)
• 12 cigarette butts
• 1 can of cat food
• Water for plants
• 2 pieces of junk mail

Wednesday

• 1 can of cat food
• Electricity for computer, fans, refrigerator
• Water and electricity to run dishwasher
• 1 plastic bag (lunch
• 14 cigarette butts
• Packaging for battery and LED from Radio Shack
• 3 pieces of junk mail

Thursday

• 1 can of cat food
• 10 minute shower
• 1 cardboard coffee cup (forgot mug)
• 5 minutes of hair dryer
• Electricity for computer, fans, refrigerator
• 16 cigarette butts
• 1 plastic juice container

Posted by Kate Monahan at 11:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

In preparation for the presentation of our Museum of Arts & Design visualization this week, I designed a Flash prototype that extends the concept of my original physical piece. Both pieces are designed to be intuitive visual tools that highlight each piece of art, while enabling the user to easily engage with, compare, and contrast each piece of art's data attributes. The physical and screen-based visualizations are both rooted in the concept of enabling museum visitors to explore the MAD collection by curating their own sub-collection of objects. Additionally, both pieces are intended to highlight the diversity within the museum's collection, the richness and complexity of the creative process that generated these works of art, and the concept that each individual can and should experience the collection in their own unique way.

Due to time constraints, I did not yet build out a user interface for the actual creation of a personal collection, focusing instead on the interface that visitors would use to explore the attributes of their own collection once it had been created, and to browse and compare the collections that fellow users had curated. In the prototype interface, there are various ways to explore each collection's pieces and accompanying information (Note that only the first collection, "Circularity," has been fully coded out, so it is the best example to explore.)

Upon opening the tool, the visitor can easily browse a high-level view of each personal collection by clicking it's icon on the left of the main screen. When the larger view of the collection opens, the user can scroll over individual artworks to view detailed information about that piece. Once the visitor has found a collection s/he would like to explore in greater detail, s/he can select from the menu of attributes on the right (Materials, Date Created, Artist Gender). When a category is selected, an animation is activated that rearranges the various artwork images to fit within a pie chart graphic displaying the percentages within that category (e.g., for Date created, each artwork is situated within a pie slice representing the decade of creation). A key to the chart opens below the category name in the menu on the right. Simultaneously, the icon for each collection on the left is replaced with that collection's pie chart for that category, facilitating easy comparison between collection. In addition, a chart displaying the percentages for the entire MAD collection appears at the bottom right--enabling the user to understand each collection within that greater context. In this category view, the details about each piece are still accessible by mousing over each image, or the viewer can discover the exact percentage of each pie slice and the sub-category it represents by mousing over it.

This visualization is designed to not only showcase each piece and represent data about it, but to highlight the personal preferences of each collection's curator, and to enable them to discover things about their own inclinations they may not have known (e.g., discovering that 40% of their collection consists of pieces created in the 1940s, or 60% of the works they chose are textiles). Once trends like this are revealed to the viewer, they may then choose to explore collections by other users who display similar preferences, thereby discovering new works they may be predisposed to appreciate.

As I continue to develop this project throughout the remainder of the semester, I will integrate the entire collection's data, design a usable interface for browsing the entire collection and easily creating personal collections, and rethink the presentation of each collection (e.g., the circular model is not particularly well-suited to square and rectangular photographs). I'll also need to deal with the fact that collections will surely be of significantly varying size, which makes visualization of the type in this prototype problemation. After that, if there is any time left, I would very much like to enhance the social aspect of this tool, enabling users to easily discover other collections similar to their own, browse collections by tags, add comments on other people's collections, etc. When dealing with large collections of any type, I'm a firm believer that social tools can vastly enhance discovery and appreciation.

Museum of Arts & Design Visitor Curation Gallery >>

Posted by Kate Monahan at 02:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This week's assignment was to build a network with a team of others in the class. Our team consisted of Thomas, Petra, Ithai, Alex, and me. The group decided to experiment with audio by building a network of people, each of whom would have a different function/capacity in creating an auditory experience. Individuals in the class would be called on to create the network by donning devices that either generated sound (5 devices), mixed sound (1 device), or amplified sound (2 devices). The interconnections and ultimate result of the network were left to the whim of the participants--enabling many variations.

To create this network, we built five iPod-based sound generating devices, consisting a plastic box wired with two inputs and one output. One input was connected to the wearer's ipod, which was pre-loaded with five different harmonic sounds created by Ithai--the other input was left open for other network participants to connect to as desired, and the output cable was left in the hands of the wearer--to connect as they wished to another person's audio generator (thus mixing their sounds 50/50), a person's speaker, or to the mixer. The person wearing the mixing device also had two inputs and one output, and had the unique power to determine which of the inputs would dominate the output, via a potentiometer. The speakers had one input and output only sound, making the people wearing them somewhat passive, though they have the power to control the volume of the sound that was generated.

The vast majority of our production time was spent on the tasks of preparing the plastic boxes for by boring holes and wiring the inputs and outputs, creating the speakers (which Thomas achieved by hacking cheap radios), and sewing the supporting straps. My main contributions were to sew the straps and help bore the holes in the boxes. Once it was up and running, we tested the network within the group and were very pleased with the results--the aesthetics of the devices, the fun of strapping them on to our heads, legs or arms, and the satisfaction of jacking into another device were all very pleasing to us. Just as importantly, we loved the variation you could achieve by recombining your connections, and through the actions of the people wearing the mixer and the speakers. There was a bit of confusion in terms of exactly what sounds you were personally generating, but we decided that this was a network effect in and of itself (being part of a system, it is not always clear what role you are personally playing). We also realized that this confusion could be clarified by limiting your interactions to just one speaker.

Prior to our presentation in class, Alex took the initiative in creating a brief presentation to clarify how the network worked. Nonetheless, in action, there seemed to be quite a bit of confusion within the class volunteers what their devices did, and the effects that different connections had. Most people with sound-generating devices quickly turned their attention to playing with the iPods, a somewhat unexpected turn of events for our group. I think there was some fun and discovery within the confusion, but we decided in retrospect that things would have been simplified if we had preset each iPod with just one sound loop, and perhaps enclosed the iPod within the device to keep the focus on the interconnections via the jacks. All in all, though, I think this was a successful and fun experiment; I found it particularly interesting to watch an impromptu network play itself out before our eyes.

Photo's above taken by Alex Reeder--thanks Alex! For more, see Alex's blog.

Posted by Kate Monahan at 03:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)