Connect

Last week I installed a number of the iAm series pieces "buffet style" in a gallery space. I invited some friends in and asked them to interact with the pieces. The event resulted in some new inspirations and a lot of laughs.  

IMA - Final Project Part 3

Here are some more images from the construction of the project I made for Interactive and Multimedia Art. I used this 1/8" x 3/4" copper stock to make the "buttons" for the project. They are all wired up to an Arduino. I ended up running a ground plane of steel just below each copper strip too. I built a foam stand for the TV to rest on.  








IMA Final Project - Part 2


I am manipulating a few images of water that I recorded out at Atwater Beach last week for my final project in Interactive and Multimedia Art. I've been doing some writing about the work, so I'll just post that here too (below)... I'm not sold on the video presentation yet - so I'm not posting any video documentation until that's better under my control. To see the work live, check out Arts Tech Night at Kenilworth Square East on Wednesday, December 16 from 6PM - 9PM. 


Bound by Periphery is an interactive art object that explores aspects of peripheral awareness through human presence and touch. Upon approaching the object, the viewer’s presence and proximity are sensed; this reveals a moving image on a screen resting face up on the gallery floor. By crouching down and physically exploring the frame of the video, the imagery begins to change; the water imagery becomes clear, colors increase in saturation and the sound of waves and wind becomes evident. Through presence and an acute awareness of the boundaries of the object, the viewers experience becomes more dynamic and descriptive. In this way, Bound by Periphery explores various states of being contained and containing physically through objects as a metaphor for the mind. A container holds a screen, holding a sequence of video frames, playing over time. While screens can contain an endless amount of data, this object is restrained to the frame of the video. The video frame only allows us to experience what is in view, limiting our field of vision, but upon exploration of the periphery, the focus becomes clearer and transforms. By placing emphasis on the physical presence of the body on the edge of the object, the viewer is offered an incentive to explore, to relieve themselves of tunnel vision, to soften focus and play.

IMA - Final Project

I've been working on an interactive object for my Interactive and Multimedia Art class... Here's a few images of the structure I've been creating to hold the TV over the weekend. I'll have some videos playing on the screen and then you will be able to manipulate the videos by sliding your fingers across the copper strips mounted to the surface of the frame.
I had never done any angled cutting on the table saw so it was a bit tricky to get the right measurements at first, but with a little experimentation, I got exactly what I was looking for. It's really satisfying to work with wood, you can get such precise results relatively quickly if you have the right tools. 

 I cut out a slot to inset the top frame into the top of the box structure. I needed to keep it hollow so that I can fit the tv, electronics, and laptop inside.
 On a recommendation from Broc, I decided to just use glue and tape to construct the pedestal. This worked good from what I can tell. He said this is the way a few professors on campus construct all of their pedestals, so we'll see if it stands the test of time and the wear of Arts Tech night!

 I sanded out the overlaps with a little wood filler, to disguise the seams. Laser cut some corner strips (WOAH - DIGI FAB and HAND FAB - UNITED!)
Drilled the holes for the wire to go through and made sure to attach the laser cut pieces to separate the four "buttons."

Finished the copper strips with a 150 grit sand paper. I will have to seal these with a spray acrylic to regulate the capacitance. 

Just waiting for it to dry now..... 

IMA - Midterm Progress

For my midterm project in Interactive and Multimedia Art, I am creating a projection that will respond to amplitude. It was my hope that this would encourage use of speech, and inspire people to engage in conversation with others around them. So far, my patch is working really well when you blow into the microphone array on my Surface (see at the end of video below), but when you speak and blow into the USB microphone the results are much more subtle (beginning of the video with hello). 

I am acknowledging that the imagery does not directly connect to my other work's way of creating awareness in the viewer, but I do see a direct correlation between the change of the video and voice/breath - a positive correlation. I just don't know how to make it relate more to technology in same why my other work, iAm is. I have thought about having the video imagery be faces, that are reacting to conversation... Maybe that would work better and relate more to human - human interaction. 

IMA - Jit scissors & glue experiments

I want to use video for my midterm project in Interactive and Multimedia art, but I'm still undecided about what video. For some reason, this is a really hard decision for me. I usually don't make art with a lot of realistic imagery, so that's probably why.... These plants are neat.


IMA - Mouse Tracking - Interactive & Generative

A couple weeks ago, I made this "Drawing Bot" for Interactive and Multimedia Art. I was feeling in the mood to make a video of it. Take a watch if you'd like.
I wanted this project to have an uncontrollable erasing component, so I programmed a bunch of metro objects with random numbers to draw partial circles over more circles to act as an eraser. I also wanted the shapes of the mouse drawing to change, so I made all the LCD's have different marks and colors. It's cool and fun for a sec.. kind of like Smash Mouth.

IMA - Signal Processing Exploration

Last week, for my "stupid pet trick" assignment, I created this max patch that progresses a video based on amplitude. You can see via the meter object towards the top of the video the program measures the audio from the microphone and then based on the measurement progresses the frames in the video; it rewards you for making noise/talking/or listening to my favorite, Andrew Bird.

I am interested in refining this patch a little more, creating a more dynamic video, and perhaps installing it in a room with a projector. I can see it has the potential to relate to my current studio practice... Inputs and outputs with lots of possibility.

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Here is some writing I had done about the project when I was brainstorming the idea: 
Brief Summary:     I plan to use audio input and video output. A microphone will sense the amplitude of a room, and based on that measurement a projected image’s hue will gradually shift in tone, through value/contrast, in real-time.
Statement: In my current body of work I have been exploring, through various media, the relationship between individuals and technology. Through this installation (stupid pet trick), I hope to encourage face-to-face interactions (conversations) to occur by rewarding the viewer with a dynamic visual, that changes based on the level of noise occurring in a space. I imagine this piece functioning like an ambient intelligent system, seamlessly integrated into the architecture of whatever space it is installed. Through a sensor (microphone), the projected image in the environment will respond to the human action and behavior of shuffling through space, commenting, taking phone calls, vocally interacting with others, etc. The reward will reach its greatest potential when space reaches the largest volume. I am still working through exactly what the visual will be currently.  

iAm - samples

I've been working on some sample pieces for a project involving a wall-mounted dome shape. The mechanism I designed was inspired by an artwork I had the opportunity to install for an alumni show I helped organize over the summer by Lucy Derickson. I really liked how it seamlessly allowed the work to hand directly on the wall... Making the mechanism unnoticeable. Not sure if it's the right solution for this piece, but it was fun to make... More pictures to come.








Compact Progress - Hinge Wires

So, I did it... I cut through the hinge. It doesn't look too bad! I'd like to think I knew this would work all along, but... Well you know I didn't mean to save this for the end.

Once I finish cleaning up the tubes, I think I'll solder together the magnet holders and start getting those inset into the opening and file out a little fingernail grip.

All is good.




I marked with a sharpie the part that is "unseen" when you move the compact hinge, in hopes to conceal the hole for the cords. 

I used a ball bur to "center punch" where I'd be drilling. 









The hole shows just slightly... not sure if I should square this out, or leave it rounded... thinking on it for a bit. 


Tom Burtonwood - Photogrammetry Workshop

Last week Tom Burtonwood visited UWM... He did a workshop on photogrammetry. I had done 3D scanning in the past with a Sense and a Next Engine, but I had never tried using a camera and Autodesk's recap360. Tom demonstrated a scan using Nathaniel as the model. I tried scanning a bike with Fred and Scott... My scan didn't turn out so good, but from what I can tell, it's because all of the surrounding elements were too neutral. Tom mentioned needing lots of "stuff" in the background that is changing, i.e. patterns, people, movement etc. so that the program has an easier determining which content is important and which isn't. 
We also learned how to use NetFabb to edit our scans once they were generated. I was already familiar with NetFabb from Frankie's class, but it was still helpful to hear another approach to the software. 






Interactive and Multimedia Art - Exploration: Bang Bot

For our first small exercise in IMA, we were asked to create a "Bang Bot;" write a software program in max that can be initiated with a "bang," or push of a button, using a selection of additional MAX objects that have been introduced so far... Here are a couple screen shots and short videos (please don't waste your time watching them all the way - unless you're reeeeeaaaalllllyyy into it, some of the color combinations are really great) that show my process from start to finish....

All of the objects controlling one circle, this is eventually duplicated and the metros are varied for the 7 different circles that present in the final video animation/software... 

I eventually figured out that you can leave your patcher overlapped, but then rearrange the objects how you want them presented in Presentation mode.... Kind of like having patcher be the code behind the interface or presentation of your code/software. SO the sliders here are all overlapping but then in the Presentation they are all over the place... see video exploration 2 for clarity. 


A bang to initiate all of the bangs through a load message object. 




AND the final product... I could have kept on going and going with this... But you know...


Interactive and Multimedia Art - Max 7 - Tutorials 1-3

Last week was the first week of class for Fall 2015... I received homework in my Interactive and Multimedia Art class; download Max 7, and do tutorials 1-3 for Max... Here's a brief summary of what the tutorials covered:

Tutorial 1; introduced object boxes, inlets, message boxes, and comment boxes, patchcords, how to unlock and lock patches, and use the Reference functions.

Object boxes operate like miniature programs within the larger environments.
Message boxes send messages to objects, and can operate as either commands or control data. Use commas by adding a backslash before, or the result is a new line of text.
Comment boxes are used to add text to controls, such as "click me."

Max programs function by passing messages between objects.

Tutorial 2; introduced bang! message (do the thing you do!), and spatial organization of messages: information is sent right to left when there are multiple messages connected with a bang!

Tutorial 3; numeric data: numbers and lists: integer and floating point number boxes, pack objects and pak objects. $ before a number in a message allows you to have a changing numeric input.

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I also noticed that Max has a series of tutorials built into the program... I may check some of these out during the coming weeks...