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Deliberate Negligence

This project explores the strategic positioning of suicide barriers in the NYUAD campus.

Luize Rieksta, Maria Calderon, Will Mlekush

https://vimeo.com/419241270

Description

For this piece, we drew inspiration from Alex Villar’s “Temporary Occupations”, which shows how the infrastructure and architecture of a space enforce movement and determine spatial codes. We decided to adapt Villar’s concept to our campus and its infrastructure, more specifically – the suicide barriers that NYUAD implemented after the transition to the Saadiyat campus. This adaptation focuses Villar’s concept on the social issue of suicide. Positioning ourselves in the vulnerable spaces between these barriers, we interrogate such responsive spatial interventions, asking questions of purpose, effectiveness, and agency. 

Why place suicide barriers in some areas and not others? There are notable gaps near the Torch Club and around various sets of stairs on campus. There are also gaps on the high walls behind the Campus Center, an area of low pedestrian traffic. Surveillance cameras were also placed around most of the non-barred areas. What benefit comes from these cameras’ placement? How do these barriers contribute to dealing with suicide? What constitutes an effective intervention? How does the presence of these barriers affect the behaviors of residents and visitors?

IM Abu Dhabi
IM-UH.1013
Understanding Interactive Media – Critical Questions & Theories
Performance,Art
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Climate Glitch

“Climate Glitch” is a photography series representing the climate change in three different locations.

Jana Pocuchova, Luize Rieksta, Amy Kang

https://vimeo.com/418923239

Description

“Climate Glitch” displays three series of glitched photos, in which each series depicts different natural environments—in Latvia, Slovakia, and South Korea—that are being destroyed by human society.

Each photo for the different locations is glitched twice using a sound software Audacity. The first glitch is done through an effect called “delay” and the second through “reverse”. “Delay” refers to how people delay taking action to preserve the environment and “reverse” signifies people’s attempt to reverse back the harm they have done to it. The first glitch of “delay” inevitably damages/distorts the environment, and the second glitch, or the attempt to “reverse” it, makes it worse. With this depiction of the glitched photos, we hope to alarm the audience about the destruction that humans bring to nature, often regardless of whether it is intended to harm or help the environment, if done perfunctorily.

We represented climate change-related topics from our home environments: deforestation in Slovakia, temperature rise in Latvia and pollution from tourism in Korea. However, our glitch algorithm is not just applicable to one image. The fact it can be repeated on any image is an extension of the algorithm itself, which connects to the point that climate change is a topic concerning everyone.

IM Abu Dhabi
IM-UH.1013
Understanding Interactive Media – Critical Questions & Theories
Art
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Communications lab projects

Project done for communications lab

Max Blinov

https://mab1312.nyuadim.com

Description

1. 30MFF (30 minute film festival). We were supposed to do a video of our choice within 30 minutes

2. Comic. A comic about the pandemic (where it all began)

3. Audio project. Here we were supposed to implement a website that includes user interaction and sound.

4. Video project (TBD)

IM Abu Dhabi
IM-UH.1011
Communications Lab
Sound,Art
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Hometown Sun

Light Clock shining a long-distance warm sun light into a cold room.

Atchareeya Name Jattuporn

https://youtu.be/eZP6P2C_1vU

Description

Hometown Sun is a light clock resemble the moving of the sun in my home country. In this fixture, There are both work light and accent light, the top light that recreated the sun from home, and the bottom part that provides the light for work.

For almost a year, I am away from home and having a long-distance relationship with the people I love. Bangkok and New York are 12 hours apart which means when the sun sets in Bangkok, the sun in New York just rises. I miss waking up and experiencing the same sunrise with my family. Therefore apart from countless video calls, I would like to find a new way to fulfill the gap between time and space with this Hometown Sun. In the long lonely night here, knowing at least how high the sun is rising in my hometown gives me warmth and energy to fight for another night 🙂

IMA/ITP New York
ITPG-GT.2133.001
Light and Interactivity
Art
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PandemicSim

A simulation demonstrating the benefits of social distancing during a pandemic

d

https://youtu.be/YQt4y0cIees

Description

My project consists of 100 little balls on a screen, plus a user interface. One of those balls is “infected”, the other 99 are “healthy”. Each ball moves in a random direction but fixed velocity. An infected ball can recover after a certain number of seconds. When a healthy ball bumps into an infected one, it becomes infected. As can be expected, the “infection” spreads exponentially.

What excites me about this project is that the concept is quite simple, but it produces delightful and interesting results out of a system that is too complex to orchestrate yourself sequentially. You could never tell those 100 balls what to do every frame. Instead, you tell them how to behave, and then watch the magic happen. Maybe the “infected ball” won't touch any others, and it'll end right there when it “recovers”. Maybe they'll all become infected. Maybe half will. Most of the time, however, you'll see a logistic curve in the cumulative number of infections, mirroring what happens in real life.

The project is meant to visually demonstrate the benefits of social distancing in a post-Covid-19 world. It was inspired by an article from the Washington Post that showed a very similar model, except without the ability to change the settings of the simulation. I wanted to create something visually pleasing and modern looking that would embody the reasoning behind social distancing as a way of slowing the spread of the virus.

I added the ability to change the population size and death rate to make the simulator representative of pandemics in general. The default setting is at the estimated Covid-19 death rate of 2%. I also added an automatic peak finder that would show in the graph where the peak of the simulation outbreak occurred. This helps demonstrate the stark difference between the social distancing and business as usual models.

IM Abu Dhabi
IM-UH.1010
Introduction to Interactive Media
Art,Play/Games
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Intergalatic Garden

In this interactive garden in outer space, you can evolve a garden to your liking using artificial intelligence.

Abby Lee

https://youtu.be/Xjx5YWJxxFc

Description

In this intergalactic garden, users can create their own garden in outer space. Users are initially brought to a garden of flowers, moving in random fluid motions. They can mouse over flowers with attributes they like, evolving the garden to have more of these particular attributes. This project uses a genetic algorithm to take into account users’ preferences so they evolve a garden to their liking.

IMA/ITP New York
ITPG-GT.2480.001
The Nature of Code
Art,Machine Learning
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Command Escape

Command Escape is a 3D rendered video which presents a fictional universe situated in a far future inside of the desktop background.

*** The password for viewing the vimeo link is “commandescape”. I will be sure to make it public once the show approaches, this is still an old version that's a work in progress. ***

Cezar Mocan

https://vimeo.com/419354607

Description

Command Escape is a 3D rendered video which presents a fictional universe situated in a far future inside of the desktop background. Starting from one of the iconic images shipped with Windows XP, bliss.png, the piece imagines a world where the desktop has evolved into an ecosystem which blends together elements of nature, ritual, computer iconography and mythology.

The video is framed as a journey inside of the desktop’s 3-dimensional space, presented through the first person perspective of a human exploring the place. The traveler starts in an enclosed space, surrounded by rotating computer monitors, and slowly makes their way out, passing a number of symbols associated with the desktop’s world: a CRT monitor framing the hills, an altar to the Recycle Bin, a cemetery made out of folder icons. The pace of walking through the space is slow, with sound and subtitles giving you insight into the traveler mind.

A loose retelling of the myth of Icarus, Command Escape proposes a speculative future to our engagement with technology, and creates a myth around it – one that is slow, romantic and absurd.

IMA/ITP New York
ITPG-GT.2177.001
Synthetic Architectures
Art,Narrative/Storytelling
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Almost American

A real-time simulation visualizing reported stories of Asian American hate crimes since the coronavirus outbreak

Katie Han, Sue Roh

https://vimeo.com/416337608

Description

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 global pandemic, anti-Asian racism has increased dramatically across the country. This trend has left many in the Asian American community deeply scarred during a time of confusion and vulnerability for all. In America, Asians exist in a purgatorial status, frequently excluded from conversations about racism. We felt strongly that these stories should not be silenced under the false model minority narrative.

Our project seeks to convey the magnitude of recent hate crimes by depicting stories reported to the Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council. The simulation is populated with paper figures programmed with varying degrees of aggression walking along generated paths. When figures of different groups cross paths, the collision results in either a neutral or a negative encounter. One of the victim’s limbs falls and a story appears on the ground, which gradually fades away but leaves an imprint that permanently disrupts the landscape. The stories accumulate as the simulation runs until all of the figures are fully dismembered.

IMA/ITP New York
ITPG-GT.2193.001
Video Sculpture
Art,Narrative/Storytelling
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家: An Art Book on Intergenerational Trauma

“家” is a multimedia art book that chronicles my experience with intergenerational trauma within my Chinese American family.

Maya Yanjie Wang

https://youtu.be/hejROfwPtnA

Description

My book exposes and chronicles intergenerational trauma within my Chinese American family. Three generations of my family’s history are recounted through interviews, poetry, photos, and paintings. Topics such as parent/child relationships, domestic abuse, mourning, and diaspora are addressed. I created this book not only to document and spark discussion about difficult and painful familial relationships, but also to reconcile my own experiences in an act of catharsis. The narrative progresses and regresses in a nonlinear way to reflect the true process of healing.

I invite viewers to interact with my work and think about their own experiences in tandem. Discussing family trauma is stigmatized, and when left unresolved, trauma manifests in dysfunction that is inherited by the next generation. The conception of this project stemmed from a desire to reconcile my own experiences, but it has developed into the creation of a metaphorical space where people can discuss and reflect on the shared issues and experiences of a minority identity. Art that comes from an honest and personal place has the ability to resonate with people and be a medium for self-reflection – despite the deeply varied human experience – because of universal themes.

IMA/IMB Shanghai
INTM-SHU.401.1
Capstone Studio (Shanghai)
Art,Narrative/Storytelling
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Map of Songci 宋词地图

An interactive map project connecting cities in China with Chinese poetry.

Sumner Feng

https://youtu.be/xk7pPF5Os8k

Description

The map of Songci is a web-based interactive map project. The project focuses on the cities appeared in Songci and picks out representative ones to make visualizations. As for interactive functions, this project includes diverse sound, art, and story elements. Aiming at providing an interactive experience for users to pursue a better understanding of this poetry style associated with the history of the Song Dynasty, this project will connect the historical information of cities to the map of Song to introduce diverse aspects and stories of Song Ci and the Song Dynasty.

(The loading of the music could take a while, please wait until the music starts and then begin exploring.)

IMA/IMB Shanghai
INTM-SHU.204.1
Critical Data & Visualization
Culture,Art