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Sarah Hakani 2023 03 04

Spoke with Sarah this morning about her thesis work, which has a lot of common interests, including repetition, neuroscience, sound, spirituality.

Her repetition work included turning pages in a book, prayer beads, a drum machine. She wondered how I could invoke repetition other than my usual modality of sound (and probably light), like through something in my life like eating the same meal all the time.

I can look at each incident of a repetition and then the space in-between them (which are like Bardo experiences), and the duration of the space in-between sets the frequency of the signal, like a pitch of a sound.

Looking at repetition, what does it provide for my brain? Consistency, safety. What does lack of repetition provide my brain? Novelty. So the exchange is novelty for a sense of stability, trust.

This parallels my experiences with relationships. I lived in Berkeley for a few years and spend all day, every day with a cast of friends who all worked remotely. It was deep consistency, and in that, deep love and friendships bloomed. I don’t get that when travel a lot or just see friends briefly here or there a couple of times a month.

On the flip side, I thought of the idea of “bonding agents” in that group was bonded around one person who ended up being very mentally ill and self-destructed, and the group fell apart. He was very charming and good at gathering groups together, but ultimately things fell apart.

LSD is a similar bonding agent for deep psychological experiences, but also can be dangerous or volatile. So a deep experience can be created, but the thing that creates the experience may itself be unstable, jeopardizing the whole system.

Notion notes:

https://jasonjsnell.notion.site/2023-04-03-Sarah-Hakani-f9c5dad072bc488c90a1257df661a249

Tom Igoe: 2023 03 02

Quick meeting, very very straight to the point:

  • Work on the lighting needs first, don’t worry about the equipment used until later.
  • What is the experience of the light on the walls, the surfaces, the space, can use anything available, screens and DMX lights are the same LEDs. The shape and spread might be different, but janky prototype with anything easy (like I did with my computer screen flashing during last semester)
  • Look at dream machine and light wave entrainment
  • Idea: have heartbeat be a big hit to the light pulse, but also have a theta waver as well that comes in as I drift into theta

Dan Shiffman: 2023 02 28

Mostly I was just star struck and we chatted about ITP in the early 2000’s. We finally got around to chatting about generative code and he sent over a link and asked to stay updated.

https://available-anaconda-10d.notion.site/That-Creative-Code-Page-c5550ef2f7574126bdc77b09ed76651b

 

Meeting with Sarah3

Today I met Sarah for an one on one session, always very nice talking to Sarah, and we have some progress to update and some progress to make:

UPDATE:

1. Sarah encouraged me to keep going, which is building the device and the research. I have emailed Margaret about PDFs to download, and here is a new tip: we can’t download pass 45 pages a day, which to some people makes sense if they have a printer at home and have a habit of reading off screen. But that’s not too bad, I kept saving pdfs day after day to a folder, in between the time try to learn about cognitive experience dealt with trauma and PTSD that had impact on memories.

And for the updates of my device, please see it here: https://itp.nyu.edu/lowres/thesis2023/2023/03/02/spiky-nipple-eye-progress/

2. Sarah shared some very interesting “weapon” making for defend-less gals:https://www.eventbrite.com/e/design-your-own-weapon-workshop-with-artist-caroline-garcia-tickets-520779584757

Had no clue things like this exist, even though it’s out there in NJ, but still great to read about it.

Sarah also shared this with me, which I didn’t know its existence until now as well: https://www.cprnyc.org/

 

PROGRESS:

1. Sarah proposed to look at my thesis proposal and point out some directions for applying for grants and stuff, and I do think this will really help me because as far as being a confident artist(somewhat), I suck at writing or doing anything to help myself financially, or had failed to do so for many times. And I had always wanting to get advice for this particular matter. Anyone who has any other advice? please throw at me!

2. Mentor decision: A mentor who’s an performing oriented artist such as :

A: Kinlaw :https://www.instagram.com/kinlawww/?hl=en

B: I also really like  https://spruethmagers.com/artists/anne-imhof/

(I think personally her practice spoke to many facets of my thinking.)

 

or

 

Tech oriented artist:

A: http://www.katehartman.com/

B: I also really like Kelly Heaton: https://www.kellyheatonstudio.com/

 

TRUE THOUGHTS

I would really love to learn how to make your own PCB board

(for say I wanna make a light response to my singing frequency bandwidth(ok I know arduino has similar chips and sensors for that but maybe not as practical in a sense I need it for))

 

But I would like to get an opinion on which mentor side I should go for,  from you who’s reading, if you have any, thank you!

 

 

4th 1-1 Meeting with Sarah (03/02/2023)

Had my 4th meeting with Sarah today! 🙂

Overall a really great time! I’m currently in the process of working on projection mapping and experimenting with sound and distance!! Sarah provided some wonderful feedback and gave me a list of artists that are now making me see the work I create possibly in a new light!

Will update more very soon!

Hope all is well! 🙂

 

Spiky Nipple Eye Progress

From last time we spoke about the device Spiky Nipple Eye, I have progressed a little bit again–

1. I have coded a bit in Arduino and mapped my pot to the session in my abelton.

 

Link:https://youtu.be/AAkMYJHBB5w

 

2. I have linked it up to it wirelessly in my session, with sound examples delivering a sonic simulation of traumatic memory  and its impact into life where things became schizophrenic and broken down in pieces without continuity.

 

 

link: https://youtube.com/shorts/64GL-2uplKk?feature=share

 

 

 

NEXT STEP: continue research and making the device.

2nd Group Session w/ Beth (March 1)

Was at the session with Jason and Jheanell today mainly to listen and support, but was able to learn a lot and reflect back on my own thesis project.

I think I should straighten my research more along the way while start making prototypes. Also want to do better at summarizing my project.

 

It was a really pleasant and relaxing meeting.

1-1 Meeting with Sarah #2

Had my second meeting with Sarah at midnight. We went through my proposal draft.

Sarah helps me to try some different central questions. I am surprised how these questions can lead my thesis in various directions. For now, I update my central questions to “How can a game inspire young people to connect with the elderly people in their lives?” with a sub-question of  “What kind of new conversations between young people and elders can a game inspire?” 

One thing I realized after this meeting is that my thesis can be a fun game and also more than a fun game. (since here is IMA, not Game Center, and this is why I choose IMA :D) I used to think a fun game and a game for change were in conflict, and Sarah told me this could be my central question.

A VR game I plan to try this weekend: https://www.oculus.com/experiences/quest/2406880882663555/

Group Meeting 4 with Beth

Just met with Beth, Suri and Zaida. Beth had some great feedback on my thesis proposal, asking what altruism means to me and how I want to define it is important. She also noted that it could be interesting to see altruism with plants and animals. Another thing to take into consideration is which mechanics are more fun, or “reward” us more. For example, are competitive mechanics more fun, or altruistic ones within a game?