Auto Ink -Chris Eckert

Chris Eckert’s piece ‘Auto Ink’ uses a tattooing machine to explore the way that the truth (or religion) is randomly applied to people at birth. “Auto Ink is a three axis numerically controlled sculpture. Once the main switch is triggered, the operator is assigned a religion and its corresponding symbol is tattooed onto the persons arm. The operator does not have control over the assigned symbol. It is assigned either randomly or through divine intervention, depending on your personal beliefs.” (chriseckert.com)

Says Eckert “this public face of religion is always so certain, self-confident, even arrogant. That anyone could possibly know the “truth” when that truth is randomly assigned at birth is just funny.” I am not sure that this is entirely successful-I have a hard time believing that people would be willing to actually engage with the piece- however I do think that the concept and execution are compelling, and I am interested in the more physical manifestation of the code.

Sonic Body-Harry Neve, Thomas Michalak and Anna Orliac

“The Sonic Body is an audio-installation that uses interactive technology to create an orchestra of the human body. Developed as a collaboration between four interdisciplinary artists and a heart surgeon, the installation brings together art and medical-science to reveal the unheard sounds of the body.” (sonicbody.co.uk) They created a chamber full of sculptural forms which depict parts of the human internal structure. When the viewer interacts with the forms, a series of noises recorded within the human body are sparked and created a sound installation.

The goal of the piece is steeped in the medical tradition of examining the internal structure of the body. The noises that it makes are of interest to both artists and medical professionals. I found the sound aspect of this work very interesting, and while I was initially dubious about the technical execution of the sculpture, I actually really liked the physical forms and the interactions.

V-Fabien Zucco

Fabien Zucco’s installation uses 2 fans prepared programs on Arduino and cardboard. “‘V’ consists of both a generator based on the combinatorial partition of various structural elements music (rhythm, melody …) within the programmed models, as well as a delivery system made ​​up of fans of computers electronically modified. The play is as a hybrid, both material object that writing process open to the variability.” (fabienzucco.net)

For me, the visual simplicity of the fans on the boxes combined with the sound installation really makes this work strong. The repetition of simple, recognizable forms make a compelling abstraction.

Kyle Machulis’ links:

• http://bit.ly/qdotprojects
• http://bit.ly/kitelight
• http://bit.ly/furrycloud

import processing.serial.*;
Serial myPort;
float myAngle;

//-------------------------------------------------
void setup() {
  size(300, 300);
  smooth();
  myAngle = 70;

  println(Serial.list());
  myPort = new Serial(this, Serial.list()[0]);
}

//-------------------------------------------------
void draw() {
  background(200); 

  float cx = width/2;
  float cy = height/2;
  float radi = 100;

  if (mousePressed) {
    myAngle = map(mouseX, 0, width, 0, 180);
    myAngle = constrain(myAngle, 0, 180);
  } 
  else {
    myAngle = map(noise(millis()/3000.0), 0,1,  0, 180); 
  }

  int servoValue = (int) map(myAngle, 0,180, 0,254); 
  myPort.write(servoValue); 

  float ax = cx + radi*cos( radians(180 + myAngle));
  float ay = cy + radi*sin( radians(180 + myAngle));

  fill(255);
  line(cx, cy, ax, ay);
  ellipse(cx, cy, 12, 12);
  ellipse(ax, ay, 8, 8);

  fill(0); 
  textAlign(CENTER); 
  String angleString = "Angle = " + (int)myAngle;
  text (angleString, cx, cy+50) ;
}

1) Matt Finke and Timo Weinhold’s Darmstadt unter Strom Panorama Projection

I remember seeing this in a lecture in one of my architecture studios and happened to stumble across it again today. I think that this is a really interesting interface between technological, 2d imaging and 3d architecture and space. The projections that I find most interesting are those towards the beginning and those about 5 or so minutes into the video, where the projections themselves actually begin to suggest the 3d space that exists within the building, behind the dominating facade. I think this is a really cool way to suggest a building’s experience through its facade alone, which sometimes does not give any indication on the space behind it. You’ll notice as you watch the video that it goes back and forth between the actual live projection and the digitized version of projection. I hate to say that the digitized version is much more suggestive than the live version and which that there was a way to bridge that gap in quality better.

2) 555 KUBIK: How it Would be, if a House Was Dreaming

This is another projection of a building facade that I think is much more successful. The suggestion of 3d is much more prominent and impressive in this project, only to be enhanced by the use of sound. The project is therefore very engaging to its viewers. One criticism would be that I wish it was a little more related to the building behind the facade; I didn’t feel like I was getting a sense of the space the same way I did with the first project. That being said however, I think the public space is extremely enhanced by the projection and that the facade does being to connect more with the people inside that public space.

3) LM3LAB’s AirStrike

http://www.lm3labs.com/blog2/category/airstrike/

This project is also related to the idea of using 2d to suggest 3d. It utilizes a 2d clear screen that appears to create holographic interactive images. This technology is neat because it is interactive, almost creating a “physical” image. It stands out from interactive projects that are purely projection onto a surface because of its holographic nature. I think that is it obvious from the video that certain images lend themselves more to the holographic effect than others, for instance the one at the very beginning of the video is quite impressive.

This week I looked up the work of the artists who are coming to art and code 3D this weekend and here I share the works I found most interesting.

The first project is an interesting video which combines some very blurry images in which you can see some objects some times and other times you just can’t distinguish anything, the video is from a bike ride in NYC by the artist James George. What I found most interesting about it is that it creates a feeling of being in a state between reality and imagination which is very immersive and it made me feel as if I was in someone else’s dream. I enjoy very much when an art work transports me into a different reality, when it makes me feel differently from how I usually feel and gets me in a different state of mind. In the case of this work, this is exactly what I felt.

The second project I found is by Elliot Woods and Mimi Son. It shows a tree which gets augmented digitally (in a non-invasive way) where the leaves of the tree act as 3D pixels and are used to show volumetric light effects. The cool thing for me is that this takes a tree and it transforms it into a different tree which changes every time and reacts to people’s gestures. The patterns of light reflected on the tree create a show of lights which integrates nature and not nature very nicely. I like the idea behind the project as well which responds to this question “we ask how can an unscripted natural entity within our environment can also be visually celebrated.” This project retains the essence of a tree, but ultimately it transforms it into something completely different.

The last project I found which is by Zach Lieberman is a lights show which doesn’t take place but is the building for the Ars Electronica museum in Linz, Austria. As the previous project, this one uses light patterns to transform an existing structure, in this case not a natural one, into a show which constantly changes and ambients a city differently. I found particularly interesting, some of the light patterns which made the building feel like it was a person because it looked like it was breathing (minute 3). As the first project, with this one I felt transported. It felt like a building of the future. I find it interesting that when I think I am seeing something from the future, it is often the case that it is a transformation of something that already exists but that feels a lot more interactive than it does in the present, maybe that is what the future is, a much more interactive way of living.

I implemented a version of frogger involving hopping across lilypads to get to the other side of the water (instead of avoiding obstacles to get to the other side). Landing in the water causes the player to lose, getting to the other side safety causes the player to win. The player controls the frog’s leaps using a big red button implemented with an arduino. Once the game is over, the player can also restart the game by pressing the button.

Sonoridades Líquidas [Liquid Sounds] from Rui Penha on Vimeo.

Sonoridades Liquidas [Liquid Sounds] is an installation created by Joao Rcardo de Barros Oliveira and Luis Girao for the Casa da Musica in Portugal. It is an interactive installation of “Sound Sculptures” that when activated, create abstract dissonant sounds. Oliveira and Giaro use of materials such as water,  glass and metal to create these sounds. Multiple sculptures make up the installation space and are connected to each other through an  Arduino. This enables the sculpture to not only individually interactive but to also respond to each other.

CRAFT Video: Craft Meets Tech at MIT from MAKE magazine on Vimeo.

The Media Lab at MIT is interested in blending “High” and “Low” technologies to create unique and interesting applications. I thought this video provided some helpful ways of integrating the Arduino and other technologies into more traditional art mediums, such as paper, paint and even fibers. I really like the idea of conductive paint and the fairly inexpensive ways to make a circuit flexible by using conductive fibers. I thought many of the methods shown could be helpful or used as a spring board for future projects in our own class.

Here is some bold text and here is some red italic text.

Arduino test – YouTube.