Tech allows you to push boundaries of art

http://www.amyione.com/sf3.html

http://www.lmprojects.net/index.php?s=exhibit&id=1

Project 2 : New week...new developments

Since before thanksgiving break, our direction has taken a couple of turns...for the better.  A couple posts ago I talked about various projected alterations subsequent to the critiques.  These too have been modified according to the following:

- Reduce user accessibility to mechanics/electronics
- Entire 'box' will be oriented in reverse
- Keep the 'box' in the backpack, thus getting rid of the clumsy and unsightly hinges
- Metal housing to cover 'box' and provide drawing space for user
- Camera will be fixed inside 'box' and triggered by the action of a user enter a piece of artwork
- Directions or other signage will be added on internal flap
- Digital camera will be similar to:

Before Revisit....aka pre-renaissance

Project 2 Critiques and moving forward

During the critiques we received some of the following comments:

-Some liked the rustic box, could be redone

-Some electrical bumps

-Hinges were not a favorite- looked sloppy and thrown together

-Liked the backpack/nomadic theme

-Everybody really liked the overall purpose

-Should demonstrate real world use / trials

-Could somehow scan the pictures to document each piece of art

-Liked idea of each piece of art having equal value, takes out power/money/subjectivity

-Many people thought that it was exciting and something that they would want to interact with

As a result we have decided to:

-Modify a camera to be able to take snapshot of each picture once it is inserted (this would be triggered by an infrared sensing circuit which would turn the switch to the '1' or  'on' level on the camera...thus asking it to take a picture as the new picture reaches the tray)

-New hinges/housing

-Update mechanics and troubleshoot electrical bugs

-Update and validate programming files

-Take it out into the real world for a trial run!

proj 3...inspired by blood & organs

Project 3

Concepts into First Steps!

First sketches of idea specifications:

Kevin D. fitting the backpack frame:

Taking apart the printer and analyzing how it works:

Complete frame with completely gutter 'printer':

Here I was testing the first step of the mechanical/electronic
 integration with the existing printer:
'

Instead of being fed from a tray of paper, the plan is to enable the user to input art and have another piece of art returned from the same side!  This creates a large amount of work for us because every aspect of this must be very precisely engineered to function properly.

Automated Exchange of Art...Great but how?!

The idea that my group decided on is pretty much an automated exchange of art.

We are all really excited about this, especially because it is really merging technology with a form of social change...via an exchange of art.  You dont have to visit a gallery to see or obtain art....instead we will facilitate it!

Group Defined Constraints:

-Must be portable

-Must use Arduino

-Must effectively facilitate exchange of art

-Scale must be relatively small...what we figured would fit in an oversized backpack

-Form- simple....that way it wont take away from the art itself or the beauty of the idea overall

Since one of our group members already had an oversized (camping) backpack, the scale of the project was largely catered to this constraint in terms of size.  When we went looking for components to make the mechanical system of the device, we ran across an old printer.  This could then be modified and then added to  make up the mechanical drivers! Very exciting!

Project 2 Initial Inspirations

Our initial idea was do have a donation box setup stemming off something simple like:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9EQRezJf8Q

Thinking more about technology and social change we came up with things such as :

-Creating an area where, if danced on, music would be played as a result
-A way to collect money and as a result supply the donor with a fact or statistic (awareness)

However, we really wanted to hone into an on campus issue that has an effect on many people in this department.  We decided to focus on the fact that the student art gallery is no longer available for exhibit.  Thus, we figured we could make a donation box for collection towards a new space.

But, bringing the whole issue of money and thus power into art almost defeats the purpose.  This is how our initial idea evolved from an automated intelligent donation box to an automated exchange of art.  Using technology to facilitate the exchange of art.  How fitting given the course!

A leap ahead to project 3 for just a smidge....

Good Morning Sunshine...in a couple more hours

Last week the class began the initial "gutting" process with our toys.  The first toy that I murdered was unbelievable simple and unsubstantial as seen in Figure 1.  Thus, over the weekend, I purchased an Elmo phone as my victim of choice.  Although still quite elementary, no pun intended, this toy was a bit more interesting.  It had a speaker, a general PCB with touch activated sound, switches, LEDs and a source.  The crime against the Elmo phone can be seen below in Figure 2.

Figure 1.  Boring Toy

Figure 2.  Autopsy of Elmo Phone

Subsequent to gaining a good understanding of the inner workings and stimuli, it was then possible to figure out how it may be integrated with others for the project.  My group consists of Mary O'Leary (toy drum)  and Ben Geissbuhler (toy guitar/piano). 

When we first got together as a group, it was really difficult to see where this project had the potential to go.  We were left with broken circuits and an amalgamation of parts that we just started experimenting with.  At this point we simply had all of our "instruments" soldered so that they would output to the same speaker as seen in Figure 3.  The outcome was  cacophony that was less than desirable.  When we were cleaning up on Monday, the switches were turned off but as the jumbled circuit was put away we could audibly hear the guitar portion shorting out and most likely frying the on-board chips.  

Figure 3.  Initial Three Instrument Jumble

The group assembled  again on Tuesday, outside of class.  Still, the guitar portion was not functioning properly.  After a visual examination of the capacitors, resistors and other circuit elements, we came to the final conclusion that the chip must have been damaged (each of the others appeared in tact).  The only logical solution was to salvage usable parts for use with the other two.

At this point, we still really had only a very vague idea of what we might do with this project. However, after we 'cut' the guitar out, it felt like we lost a lot of the bulk that was holding us back before.  As we continued experimenting with how the components would interact it became like a physical brainstorming activity....and surprisingly turned into a bit of a jam session along the way.  As we continued experimenting with the different sounds and combinations, we naturally found things that we really liked.  Not only did the result make more sense, but it became more artistic and multidimensional by the second. 

From a slightly more technical standpoint, the Elmo PCB and the musical drum have remained with their respective power supply.  The outputs were wired to  1W and 1.5W speakers, respectively.  Three switches that had been salvaged from the guitar were attached on one end to the power supply and the other to the speaker.  In doing so, we will be essentially shorting out that portion of the circuit when we close the switch.  Musically, this leads to an effect similar to a DJ scratching the sounds together.  Not only did our experimental  jamming sessions provide a lot of entertainment, but it actually sounded pretty good.  

There are a couple other parts that we are waiting to incorporate (ie. parts of a piano), but overall we are much more optimistic about the results we have seen so far.  There is a distinguishable direction that we are heading...so our only job now is to bring the rest of our vision to life.  For now, I wont spoil any more details...