Kate's ITP Blog http://itp.nyu.edu/~km63/blog/ en Copyright 2008 Thu, 11 Dec 2008 02:20:06 -0500 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/?v=3.2 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Final: Serenity Hat For my final project for Rest of You, I built a hat that helps you maintain serenity by sensing when your expression changes from placid to animated and vibrates a soothing motor at the base of your skull to remind you to maintain your cool. Photos and additional documentation to come.

]]> http://itp.nyu.edu/~km63/blog/2008/12/final_serenity_hat.html http://itp.nyu.edu/~km63/blog/2008/12/final_serenity_hat.html Rest of You Thu, 11 Dec 2008 02:20:06 -0500 Randomness and Rhizomes Assignment: Make a database that tells a cinematic story. How we access it is up to you – it can be computer-based, or real-world based, or a mix. The content and form should be working together to covey your concept. Why random access? What advantages can this have for your concept? Do you still use plot? Events?

]]> http://itp.nyu.edu/~km63/blog/2008/12/randomness_and_rhizomes.html http://itp.nyu.edu/~km63/blog/2008/12/randomness_and_rhizomes.html Interactive Screens & Cinematic Objects Sat, 06 Dec 2008 15:08:40 -0500 Remix/Reframe Assignment: Create a Remix, in which the content and form are reflected in each other. The original(s) should be recognizable, but you should think about saying something new in your reframing/remixing of the original material.

]]> http://itp.nyu.edu/~km63/blog/2008/12/remixreframe.html http://itp.nyu.edu/~km63/blog/2008/12/remixreframe.html Interactive Screens & Cinematic Objects Sat, 06 Dec 2008 14:22:00 -0500 Log Your Computer This week's assignment was to log your computer, as a way of gaining insight about yourself through the time you spend with the machine. I installed a key-logging application on my computer, which stored all the keys I hit over the course of one week. I then used a Processing applet provided by the prof to count the number of instances of each word I used during that time.

]]> http://itp.nyu.edu/~km63/blog/2008/10/log_your_computer.html http://itp.nyu.edu/~km63/blog/2008/10/log_your_computer.html Rest of You Thu, 30 Oct 2008 23:23:58 -0500 Get Out There Our assignment this week was to do something we wouldn't ordinarily do or haven't had time to do. There have been a ton of gallery shows and installations I've been meaning to go see this semester, but my schedule keeps getting in the way. So, this week, I took the time to go to Madison Square Park to check out Rafael Lozano-Hemmer’s Pulse Park, which pulses lights in rhythm with your heartbeat, and Tadashi Kawamata's Tree Huts installation.

]]> http://itp.nyu.edu/~km63/blog/2008/10/get_out_there.html http://itp.nyu.edu/~km63/blog/2008/10/get_out_there.html Rest of You Thu, 30 Oct 2008 11:59:55 -0500 Weather Map Our class readings and discussions have recently focused heavily on narrative, and in terms of this assignment, how to convey a narrative through maps, with a focus on the discursive element, e.g., how and through what medium the story is told, and the significance of what the creator chooses to include/exclude in the telling. In digesting this, I began thing about how, when bored, many of us have a tendency to scope people on the subway and make passing judgments/guesses about their emotional states/stories/thoughts, etc.

]]> http://itp.nyu.edu/~km63/blog/2008/10/weather_map_1.html http://itp.nyu.edu/~km63/blog/2008/10/weather_map_1.html Interactive Screens & Cinematic Objects Mon, 27 Oct 2008 00:15:13 -0500 Byzantine Obama Our third assignment for ISCO was to create a portrait of a real or fictional character from two or more distinct points of view using multiple iterations of the same medium (see project brief below for full details).

]]> http://itp.nyu.edu/~km63/blog/2008/10/beauties_spectres_and_monsters.html http://itp.nyu.edu/~km63/blog/2008/10/beauties_spectres_and_monsters.html Interactive Screens & Cinematic Objects Mon, 20 Oct 2008 00:16:12 -0500 Exploded Comic Assignment: Create an exploded comic out of physical materials (paper, pen, string, objects, etc) that uses all X, Y and Z axes (up/down, side to side, front/back). It should aesthetically refer to comics (which could include color or b/w choices, comic tropes that might include expressions of weather, violence, fast movement, time passing, speech bubbles, typography, and so on). It must include at least 3 “events” that make their connections through space- nodes. Through these nodes, we understand that a narrative is embedded in the work. The connections are as important as the nodes. It can be as small or large as you wish.

]]> http://itp.nyu.edu/~km63/blog/2008/10/exploded_comic.html http://itp.nyu.edu/~km63/blog/2008/10/exploded_comic.html Interactive Screens & Cinematic Objects Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:27:43 -0500 Sensing Breath This week's assignment was to "read some unintentional actions of your body." Using a stretch sensor, I created a device to monitor my breath rate, with the goal of helping to visualize my breathing and use it as a tool to learn to do steady, meditative breathing.

]]> http://itp.nyu.edu/~km63/blog/2008/09/sensing_breath.html http://itp.nyu.edu/~km63/blog/2008/09/sensing_breath.html Rest of You Thu, 18 Sep 2008 02:06:24 -0500 AMNH: Field Notes & Review American Museum of Natural History

Gestalt

  • Entering museum from subway: mosaics in tunnel build anticipation, especially for children, but the basement ticket entrance is a letdown (esp compared to upstairs).
  • On street level, the grandeur of the steps, facade and column of the museum sets the stage for a true experience, though it may create too stately and somber an expectation compared to the playfulness of many of the museum's displays.
  • The lobby: the dinosaur, the crowds, the huge columns and ornate ceiling are all impressive and beautiful, but completely visually overwhelming--the noise of the crowds and the the text on the walls heightens this further (who could read anything meaningful in that environment?)
]]> http://itp.nyu.edu/~km63/blog/2008/02/amnh_field_notes_review.html http://itp.nyu.edu/~km63/blog/2008/02/amnh_field_notes_review.html Cabinets of Wonder Mon, 04 Feb 2008 21:47:36 -0500 Expressing Information Final: PlasticTrack Click here to see my final project for Expressing Information--an interactive visualization of select plastic surgery data from 1998-2006.

]]> http://itp.nyu.edu/~km63/blog/2007/12/expressing_information_final_p.html http://itp.nyu.edu/~km63/blog/2007/12/expressing_information_final_p.html Expressing Information Mon, 03 Dec 2007 22:36:01 -0500 New Material: Leaf Paper This week I created paper from my junk mail and the dried leaves that had collected on my patio.

]]> http://itp.nyu.edu/~km63/blog/2007/11/new_material_leaf_paper.html http://itp.nyu.edu/~km63/blog/2007/11/new_material_leaf_paper.html The Softness of Things Thu, 15 Nov 2007 12:29:17 -0500 Final Project Prototype See next page for link...

]]> http://itp.nyu.edu/~km63/blog/2007/11/final_project_prototype.html http://itp.nyu.edu/~km63/blog/2007/11/final_project_prototype.html Expressing Information Tue, 13 Nov 2007 01:24:34 -0500 Space 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.

]]> http://itp.nyu.edu/~km63/blog/2007/10/space.html http://itp.nyu.edu/~km63/blog/2007/10/space.html The Softness of Things Tue, 30 Oct 2007 01:25:59 -0500 Final Project Proposal--Revised 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."

]]> http://itp.nyu.edu/~km63/blog/2007/10/final_project_proposalrevised.html http://itp.nyu.edu/~km63/blog/2007/10/final_project_proposalrevised.html Expressing Information Mon, 29 Oct 2007 23:07:25 -0500