Looking Outwards II
Stone Spray is a project by Petr Novikov, Inder Shergill and Anna Kulik using Arduino UNO, a Processing application and a “custom built jet spray system” that uses soil and binder as a method to construct architectural shapes. The first thing I noticed was how the video was shot from different angles and perspectives, as well as showing the different steps that are going into the process, making the piece very much about both the process, the execution, and the fact that it was documented in video format. I loved the interaction between human and robot, where, compared to some forms of newer computer technology, the human presence is not stressed or displayed. With the human controlling the machine, rather than the other way around, the piece seems to comment on current controversies on new technologies, the need for technology, as well as the overwhelming fear for the future “lack of need” of humans, which the piece seemed obviously coming from the opposing point of view, that human presence within the realms of technology and robotics are a necessary tool. I also enjoyed the end results of the project, with each sand sculpture having a completely different organic shape and structure.
Sidenote: This project reminds me of childhood experiences of building sand and muddy sand castles: another reason why I wanted to comment on this video.
http://wearechopchop.com/“unnamed-soundsculpture”/
Unnamed Soundsculpture was a project, by artists Daniel Franke & Cedric Kiefer, that also 1) made sand sculptures(I think maybe I miss the beach?), and 2) relied heavily on the human presence and the interaction between the computer and human. Using the recorded motion data of a person, as well as the computer tools of Kinect and Processing, the piece creates a sand sculpture(simulation) that moves with the person, constantly spilling and falling and changing form. Random side note, but, what I found especially interesting was how the video looked, with random flashes of light and pops of noise. This is an effect I have seen in many of these types of human-computer interaction processing videos and I am still unsure of why this happens. This was, again, another piece that requires not only a human, but also human movement and human experience, a quality I really enjoyed about it. The way the sculpture moves is very ballerina like, flowing, graceful, and organic, which three qualities that I find are more uncommon in the realm of computer processing artwork.
The Jelly Face Experiments, by NYX (Liina Nilsson), is a project which, once again, uses the human form as a tool for expressing computer visual arts. Rather than being a complete project, this piece is more so a series of experiments using pixelated operations in real time to explore the world and possibilities of processing, playing around with various processing tools, such as slit scan, frame differencing, and datamoshing. The artist called it a “short test combing two glitch effects I’m developing, frame differencing and luma key”. There are two separate videos, which I am assuming the artist overlayed, a video of Gamen, and a video of the artist with food on her face. The experiments are written in Processing and controlled using a hand control with a 3-way accelerometer Arduino. Tilting the hand control affects the amount of effect changes. I found this piece a very different and interesting way to combine processing with human interaction and movement. The piece, while stressing the need of a human hand, also greatly develops, distinguishes, and displays the technology being used, with the result being purposely glitchy, digitized, and pixilated. One other cause of this effect was the fact that the eyes were eliminated from the face during the entirety of the video, making me question whether this was a purposeful decision and comment on the previously talked about computer technology controversies, and if so, what the artist was trying to say through these decisions.