Audio-reactive LEDs driven by madMapper are embedded within an aluminum channel, spinning continuously via a NEMA23 motor mounted to a modular base, controlled by an Arduino.
Mindful Matters was a project that I came up with in my moment of distress and anxiousness due to the pandemic scare shortly after the Thanksgiving break as a close contact of mine who I lived with was tested positive. At the moment, I went through many phases of emotions, and with many deadlines approaching for work, I was in a state of shock, the shock of my emotions that rendered me completely unproductive. I took the opportunity of this time and explore how I would go about navigating these emotions and hence came Mindful Matter.
With the finals approaching, do you find yourself feeling down or eagerly need some rest? Are you uncousiously tapping your table out of anxiety? Now, we've created a good place to vent your negative emotion, and… Turn these feelings into something sweet, such as chocolate! In our chocolate factory, we take users' tapping pattern as input, do a rough classification of emotion, and generate a chocolate recipe accordingly. Tah-dah! Time for a tea break!
Our idea is to generate a meditative form of Mark Rothko-like paintings that reflects viewers’ inner state with two controllable nobs that are connected to the led painting.
When the pandemic have started no one imagine that we will have to switch to an online studying system. The limitation of learning through a screen stand even more when you learning physical techniques. As a former student of Textile and an instructor of knitting it was clear to me that we need to think of a system that will integrate the craft with technology.
This project evolves with the connection between three dimensional fabric and the two dimensional form to read it. The needles can sense the fabric you create while you do it and see the technical drawing of it on the computer screen.
In these difficult times and as for the visual people we are, this could be an excellent way to develop our learning methods and for student and instructors to communicate in a better way.
This year was so special. Standing at the end of 2020 and looking back, COVID was THE topic that no one could ignore. Study remotely and being alone changed the experience of studying in ITP. However, this special experience triggered my inspiration for making something of this topic. Two projects were made with the idea of During Quarantine. One is called New York Sunrise. I made a Sun of the real-time in New York. Due to the time difference, a lot of classes were given at midnight in Beijing. So I was thinking about making another Sun for myself. The other is the Life Cell. It is an interactive light installation that has several light 'cells'. Each cell will light up when audiences get closer to it and reveal a person's life in the cell. When the light inside is off, the audience can see nothing but a blank light shade. We want to use the interaction, getting closer, to express how people long to be connected with others during the quarantine.