1) games: Thomas Was Alone + The Binding of Isaac + The Sense of Connectedness

I wrote about Thomas Was Alone before (not as a looking outwards entry but an example), and Ralph wrote about The Binding of Isaac (and is in fact the person who got me into the game). The Sense of Connectedness, despite also being an indie game, is very small compared to the two games, especially since it’s f2p PC downloadable. It’s an intense game in the not-action-y way: I felt as though my body was pulled through the grinder after spending a good hour on it, and in a good way. The sound is perfect and paces the player really well, prompting him/her to follow the rhythm in order to progress through the game without being an overtly rhythm-based game, and the vibrating graphics invoke a feeling of tension and urgency. It’s a game that messes with your mind as you try to figure out what’s going on, the mechanics of the gameplay, if you’re even in control of anything, etc. It’s an experience that encourages exploration and discovery.

There are three distinct respective elements I want to pull from these games: minimalist landscapes, randomization to the effect of infinite re-experiences, and overarching sensation of psychological discovery and engrossment.

2) Luan Chyi

It’s a generative landscape installation, based on the traditional Oriental ink painting. While it’s evocative of its source material, it stands strong on its own: a landscape that flows like water, ebbing and rushing constantly.

3) ALEPH

This is a “combination of imagery driven by generative processes in perspective to create representations of memory and mental association.” I become easily moved by art that channels the metaphysical, and this is no exception. Not only is it visually stunning, but it also has a compelling and alluring concept of the “aleph,” where “one can see the entire universe, from every angle at the same time.” It’s just very appealing and scary to think about.

First project idea is a game idea that’s been incubating in my head for quite a while now, and furthered by #1 in the looking outwards. Ideally, it would be minimalist in aesthetics, and the levels would revolve around generative landscapes that are different for every playthrough and level. I want to sustain an exploratory heart in players, and I think constantly moving landscapes a la #2 on looking outwards would help in that. Ultimately there’s a goal in the game other than to just explore the levels but figuring out what to do with the generative landscapes comes first.

(meager sketch because I’m too tired to take the rest of the photos. I will add more later)

The second project is an augmented projection but also playing with the idea of generating landscapes. Lemercier’s works come to mind when I think about what I want to do. Since this project is supposed to be small, projecting onto just big-enough-drawings instead of an entire room is what I’m aiming for. There’s a lot of random geometric landscapes in my sketchbook at the moment so there’s no shortage of materials to project onto… but I also want to create a meditative work like in #3 on looking outwards, so I might combine the two urges somehow.

As we approach the end of the semester and a period of high burnout rates, I wanted my final project to take on CMU’s stress culture, and finding ways to foster a greater sense of community. I’ve always been inspired by the projects of Candy Chang, who has taken on the mission of “Making cities more emotional”. Some of her most well-known projects include “Before I die…” and “Confessions”

A principle of her projects and what I want to pursue is the idea of crowd-sourcing. With the capabilities of the tools that are available to us, it should would be easy to collect, store, and showcase such data. It’s only a matter of what that data is and how. One project I came across was Rafael Lozano-Hemmer’s “Voice Array” (2011), in which participants can record their voices, which is looped and layered with the collection of all the past recordings.

“Voice Array” at MCA Sydney (2011) by Rafael Lozano-Hemmer from bitforms gallery on Vimeo.

It is a beautiful display of both user input and history, like an updated oral tradition rich with meaning from those before. I think that it would be interesting if there were a prompt of some kind–like Candy Chang’s “Before I die I want to….” or the confessions that she prompts. But instead of displaying them as mere handwritten notes, how cool would it be to hear the voices–complete with intonation and personality–upon tapping into them?

Messa Di Voce (2003) by Zachary Lieberman, Jaap Blonk, Joan La Barbara, and our very own Prof. Golan Levin is an example of displaying user audio-input, creating bubbles of audio that release the sound recorded when the bubbles are dropped. For a project based on confessions, displaying a participant’s confession as such gives a sense of anonymity, as well as a randomness when others try to tap into and listen to these confessions.

Possible prompts that I have in mind for such a community confession booth would be things like “I wish______”, “I dream_______”, or “Where I see myself in 5 years time”. It would be interesting to see what the hopes and dreams of CMU’s students are, and also a good opportunity for the stress-ridden students of CMU to remember why they are here (i.e. the pursuit of their future, etc.). Another form of a prompt could also be a way to pay homage to Randy Pausch (“What are your childhood dreams”), who was one of my biggest reasons for being here at CMU, as well as fostering my love for the convergence of technology and art.

Another element of community building is by fostering a sense of connection between strangers, making fleeting, transient interactions meaningful and/or interesting. I’m particularly inspired by Passing, a project by Jonathan Ota, a CMU Design graduate during his study abroad in the Netherlands.

I was equally intrigued by the extensive testing and research he did for this project, as well as the simple beauty of the interaction itself. Through this, connection between strangers is facilitated in a transient space.

This then got me thinking about the transient spaces on CMU’s campus, the closest one for me being the long hallway of Maggie Mo, a place truly interdisciplinary both in the spirit of the Design school residing there, and in the literal sense of the mix of students that pass through it, from design, to architecture, to music, to business, to economics, and so on. I thought about ways that I could perhaps facilitate connections there, but struggled with trying to not be too intrusive as it is a very high traffic zone, and dangerous for any projector and kinect to be installed.

Another idea I had was inspired by the Talking Doors project by Julijonas Urbonas that was shown to us in a previous class, where Maggie Mo’s popularly used revolving door could be used as a control for music to be played. I’m not as keen on this one as it is rather one-sided, and kind of a rip-off of its inspiration. As an artist seeking ways to facilitate meaningful community building, it would be important to seek two-way interactions–a give and take/collect.

I think it would be interesting to have a device that demonstrates the goodwill of CMU students. On the giving end, participants would have some equivalent of a “big juicy red button” to push, with the prompt that they could make someone’s day. If pushed, somewhere else, a Hershey’s kiss/some sort of candy/some sort of compliment/note/treat would be released, ready to be picked up by those around the device. Even cooler would be to have live video feeds in these separate stations, so that the Giver could see the results of his goodwill. A compassion machine of sorts, if you will.

The context of the input and output of such a device could very greatly change its intentions–for example, thinking about the differences between a student giver to a student receiver, and a student giver to a campus employee receiver. Whereas the former could be taken as a recognition of empathy, the latter is a form of thanks for the employee in their service of the students. If the input is not a tangible button but rather a Facebook ‘Like’, that it itself already taps into the debatable realm of how meaningful/substantial “Likes” actually are.

Lots to think about and let incubate. I look forward to fleshing out some of these in studio later today!

Looking Outwards:
1. The Kinetic Chandelier

I personally found this chandelier quite endearing; the way it follows you around reminds me of something that just wants a hug. In fact, I see this less as a chandelier and more of an ecosystem within and of itself. Arguably, this could belong underwater as well. This chandelier also boasts a utilitarian feature: the light is always pointing towards you, so say goodbye to shifting around awkwardly while reading, trying to catch the light!

2.  D.O.R.T.H.E.

While this particular piece is also somewhat endearing, I like the idea behind the typewriter. If this were on a computer running a program in your background it would be less artistic but adhere more to the idea of one’s life having a soundtrack. (I always imagine mine does.) If my computer were able to sense and generate music based on my mood, I would be extremely impressed. Granted, the majority of the work done here is in the hardware which would be difficult to transfer to a computer, but it is possible to completely transfer the program to only software. I think I’m seeing a trope here — I like the idea of a machine being able to read one’s emotions. (Although perhaps not in the style of Marvin from the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy). It really gives these machines a life force of their own.

3. Touch Vision Interface

Not a novel idea, I know. With that being said, the idea of being able to hide in a corner and control some piece if technology (in particular, with the goal of surprising someone — can you imagine an augmented haunted house with controls like these?) appeals to me. This kind of technology is already implemented in Razzy’s down on South Craig in a similar fashion — one choose what song to play over the speakers from from one’s own phone. A touch interface like this, however, gives that extra degree of control that makes the experience a little more special.

My Project Sketches/Ideas

1. An Electric Violin

This violin would be feature pressure pads on the neck where each of the four strings would normally be situated. I realize there should be a second set of pressure sensors just below the fingerboard to emulate a bow, but am at present unsure as to how these two would interact with one another. One thing is for sure: If I am to implement this project, I will have to switch to using a Teensy.

Violin body would have to be lasercut, and potentially layered (depending on the thickness the lasercutter can deal with). Fancy futuristic body shape.  

I think perhaps it would be more “realistic” to use the cord which changes resistances as it stretches. Granted, it would have to start off fairly taught. There also needs to be an output device somewhere.

Additionally, would it not be awesome to make the body/bow from acrylic and insert lights?

Second Idea Coming Soon! 

I guess a second project (also music-related) would be to have a piano with pressure sensors under say, a certain octave of notes. When pressed, lights on the piano would light up in different ways.