Computation08

uniVerses

uniVerses is a collection of digital circle visuals that tell a universal story, transcending and transforming language.  They are inspired by the cycles in nature and the sacred rituals of sand painting, mandala and yantra making found in Vedic cultures, Tibet and Navajo Nations.

micro inspiration:
a hummingbirds song slowed down creates a whale song
a whale song sped up creates a hummingbird song
true story told by Martin Prechtel  in his book 
The Disobedience of the Daughter of the Sun

macro inspiration:
nature, science, planetary orbits,  cycles of  growth, fine art, mandalas, yantras, computation, algorithms, fractals

link to FINAL PAPER | link to FINAL PRESENTATION

visual exploration

"macro/micro" INSTALLATION

THURSDAY MAY 8th 4:30-8 pm

25 east 13th street ((FINE ART/architecture building))

COME SEE!  video documentation ... 1st large scale prototype ... more to come
((apply for grant for future installations with higher tech materials and more space))

 

            

   

further prototypes (round 4)

prototype building
((one after another ... because it takes many tries to be perfect))

Download cmk_hum7_index.html
Download hum7.jar
Download hum7.pde

Download cmk_hum8_index.html
Download hum8.jar
Download hum8.pde

precendents

stefan sagmeister
being not truthful works against me

 

BUNNY MANDALA
THE ESSENCE OF RABBIT

Pictoplasma (http://www.pictoplasma.com) asked internationally established and upcoming character designers, illustrators and artists around the globe to send in their versions of rabbits, bunnies, hares and everything in between. The result is a full-scale bunny overdose, with far more than 1.500 individual rabbits from 500+ international contributers.

http://incubator.quasimondo.com

http://www.flickr.com/groups/circle/pool/

the squared circle group of flick

Plankton

Growing by simple construction rules, these organisms develop very complex structures. If your computer has sufficient processing power you can even watch them move and change shape in realtime.

Beziers Ballet

This is a very dangerous piece of work. Dangerous because I could watch the constantly changing motion patterns of these curves for hours, thereby completely ignoring my regular work. Ambient music for the eyes.

rubber screen

further iterations
1 blend water from light blue at top to dark dark blue at bottom
2 add flowers on top near flitting hummingbird words
3  slow moving whale image (abstract)
4  set up sound loop
whalesong.net   ((LIVE project))


song1
song2

5  hummingbird sound  loop

humming birds do sing - everything2.com

Only humans, whales, dolphins, bats, and some birds are known to have the ability to learn vocalizations.

6  create installation of some sort ... options:

        ON SCREEN INTERACTIONS
  1  turn mouse/cursor into hummingbird ... and whale
                    2   visual cues to press and see things ??  to have further interaction

        PROJECTED INTERACTIONS
            1  motion detect from projected interaction
            2  1/2 screen has hummingbird noise /images + 1/2 of screen has whale noises/images and when   one person stands in front of it it changes as the person moves across.. from one side to the  other side

QUESTIONS:
what is the best display?  web vs. projection
web.. more people can see it (it is enough .. mouse press)
projection..  I can shortcut the code/ more dynamic visuals

sound/chair (data sculpture)

short description
Sound/Chair begins as a sound that is precisely crafted to form the shape of a chair when visualized as a 3-dimensional object using a volume, time, frequency plot. The chair is an exact replica
of the soundwave graph. The result is a product with dual existence as both a sound and chair, and a new approach to designing products.

plummerfernandez.com

an original approach to data-driven physical artifacts or "data sculptures".

prototype 2 *MORE*

Martin Prechtel is the author of The Disobedience of the Daughter of the Sun where I read the story of the hummingbird and whale song.  His website is here floweringmountain.com
I wrote to him today 4/21/08 to see if I can get the contact information of the man who played with the recordings.  I am awaiting a response.

INFORMATION ABOUT YANTRAS
Yantra is a Sanskrit word that is derived from the root meaning "to restrain, curb, check".  Meanings for the noun derived from this root include "that which restrains or fastens, any prop or support", "a fetter", "any instrument or machine", "an amulet, a mystical or astronomical diagram used as an amulet."

Some Hindu esoteric practitioners employ yantra, mantra and other items in their sadhana, puja and yajna.

Yantra, or other permutations and cognate phenomena such as Mandala, Rangoli, Kolam, Rangavalli and other sacred geometrical traditions, are endemic throughout Indian religions.

Yantra as astronomical map
Yantra is basically a diagram representing the astronomical position of the planets over a given date and time. It is considered auspicious in Hindu mythology. These yantras are made up on various objects such as paper, precious stones, and metal plates. It is believed[attribution needed] that if we, as humans, follow the basic principal of constantly concentrating on the representation, it helps you build fortunes, as planets above have their peculiar gravity which governs basic emotions and karma, derived to attain satisfaction.[citation needed] These yantras are made on a particular date and time depending on the prescribed procedures defined under Vedas.

Yantra as portal of communion
Yantra contain geometric items and archetypal shapes and patterns namely squares, triangles, circles and floral patterns; but may also include bija mantra and more complex and detailed symbols. Bindu is central, core and instrumental to yantra. Yantra function as revelatory conduits of cosmic truths. Yantra, as instrument and spiritual technology, may be appropriately envisioned as prototypical and esoteric concept mapping machines or conceptual looms.   Certain yantra are held to embody the energetic signatures of, for example, the Universe, consciousness, ishta-devata.

Though often rendered in two dimensions through art, yantra are conceived and conceptualised by practitioners as multi-dimensional sacred architecture and in this quality are identical with their correlate the mandala.  Meditation and trance  induction that generates the yantra of the subtle body in the complementary modes of the upatti-krama and sampana-krama are invested in the various lineages of tantric transmission as exterior and interior sacred architecture that potentiate the accretion and manifestation of siddhi.

hanna (2003: p.21) in linking Mantra, Yantra, Ishta-devata, and thoughtforms states:
    Mantras, the Sanskrit syllables inscribed on yantras, are essentially 'thought forms' representing divinities or cosmic powers, which exert their influence by means of sound-vibrations

MODERN MANDALAS
Vandana Jain at artcodex.org

MY PROTOTYPE EXPLORATIONs

 

Download cmk_prototype1_index.html
Download prototype1.pde
Download prototype1.jar

Download cmk_prototype2_index.html
Download prototype2.pde
Download prototype2.jar

Download cmk_prototype3_index.html
Download prototype3.pde
Download prototype3.jar

Download cmk_prototype4_index.html
Download prototype4.pde
Download prototype4.jar  

Download cmk_prototype6_index.html
Download prototype6.pde
Download prototype6.jar

Download cmk_prototype7_index.html
Download prototype7.pde
Download prototype7.jar  

DAY 2 refinement + DAY 3 prototypes

refinement

what is it:
    interactive processing images that create visualizations of subtle energy
    little known facts, stories, ideas and information made visual
who is it designed for:
    curious people
what is it designed to do:
    educate, inspire, inform, provoke, beautify
what kind of technology:
    processing, internet, giclee prints
why should we care:
    you are intrigued to learn new things
where will we see it:
    internet/web presence, fine art exhibition
what is the life beyond course:
    lives on as fine art, on walls and websites
how does it make a difference:
    educates, inspires, informs, provokes, beautifies

inspiration
macro/micro scales in cosmos
bio-mimmicry
study of human consciousness through philosophy/medicine/psychology/mysticism/mysteries
fables/ folk tales/ mythology

precedents/artists

VISUAL COMPLEXITY WEBSITE  visualcomplexity.com

methods

 

Jared Tarbell 
complexification.net

Paula Scher
mayastendhalgallery.com

mayme kratz

 

Marian Bantjes
bantjes.com

Matthew Ritchie
pbs.org/art21/artists/ritchie/ 

books
Sensitive Chaos: The Creation of Flowing Forms in Water and Air - Theodor Schwenk
Subtle Bodies – Samuel Sagan
The Secret life of Plants - Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird
Cosmic Memory – Rudolf Steiner
The Disobedience of the Daughter of the Sun: A Mayan Tale of Ecstasy, Time, and Finding One's True     Form - Martin Prechtel
Painted Prayers Women’s Art – Rizzoli
The Age of Spiritual Machines - Ray Kurzweil

VENN DIAGRAM

Download cmk_index.html

Download cmk_VENN.jar

Download cmk_VENN.pde

prototypes 

role:

ALTERNATIVE WAYS TO TELL A STORY

basic narrative will be shown in almost all images... few if any words!
a hummingbirds song slowed down creates a whale song

a whale song sped up creates a hummingbird song

human manipulation of tempo and speakers played underwater bring pods of whales to gather and communicate with hummingbird sounds

it is a beautiful thing!

look & feel:
artrymy

implementation:
processing, interactive with mouse or some basic animation loop,
photoshop, illustrator, web interface (web/ blog posting)

Day 1 - BIG QUESTIONS

Exploring Domains

Questions:
1. Can art/ design educate and bring new understanding to the unexplainable mysteries of human consciousness?
2.  Can design tools be developed that can observe particles, dark matter, dark energy and other ephemera at the edge of science? 
3.  Can the limits of both design and science transcend to make visible the invisible and generate a better understanding of our world?
4. As a designer can I create new data visualizations that inspire beauty and curiosity?
5. How can processing and other current computer tools bring new dynamic understanding in the fields of science, physics and cosmology?

Motivations:
1.  Current collaborative innovation between design and scientific discoveries
2. Data visualization uses new tools to discover and analyze hidden patterns … it relies on good design to transform abstract information into imagery that is easier to understand.  This union of aesthetic principles with information drawn from the forefronts of scientific inquiry is producing groundbreaking visualizations that are as persuasive and enlightening as they are beautiful.
3. Designers have the ability to grasp momentous changes in technology, science, and social mores and to convert them into objects and ideas that people can understand and use. 
4. ’Critical design’ or ‘design for debate’ which is a way of using design as a medium to challenge narrow assumptions, preconceptions and givens about the role products and systems play in everyday life.
5.  The figure of designer is changing from formgiver to fundamental interpreter of an extraordinary dynamic reality; one increasingly informed by science and mediated by technology. Paola Antonelli
6. Computer allows a closeness to the forms and structures of nature never achieved before.
7.  In science, visualizations can be seen as metaphors that allow researchers to somehow perceive all this abstract and complex information with their senses, and to understand data more fully.
8. Scientists will allow us to understand what the problems are, and the designers will help us visualize the processes we need to engage in to solve these problems. Kigge Hvid (INDEX)

Domain KEYWORDS:
design, science, physics, quantum physics, visionary, quarks, particle physics, quantum universe, LHC - Large Hadron Collider, mystery, microscopic black holes, computer images, processing, circles, patterns, yantras, cosmology, beauty, perfection, mysticism, critical design, meditation, consciousness

Illustrations:

Volume

Volume

by Drew Cogbill, Carrie Mae Kreyche, and Jia Zhang

volume is research into a projection-based sanctuary in a public space.  It uses Processing software, the Minim sound library, computer vision, a song by Nico Muhly , and lots of love.

Our interactive installation, volume, is a sanctuary and playground that gives users a break from everyday routines.  When the movement of a person is sensed, piano music begins playing and an image of a slow galloping Muybridge activates.  This balanced combination of auditory and visual input envelopes the passerby into a moment of pause, engages a playful spirit and offers an opportunity to transcend the confines of a mundane path.
Our starting inspirations were the simple and very alive interactions that one can experience with a natural environment.  The flashing and catching of fireflies, the ripples water makes from a stepped in a puddle or thrown a rock and the movements of clouds in the wind.  We were looking for particular ways to 'soothe' or create sanctuary in the space. 
After experimenting and prototyping fireflies, ripples and abstract cloud particles we decided upon the Muybridge horse movement. The image of a trotting horse is not a common New York City observance in 2008, yet most people find a certain familiarity with this scene through the influence of television and movies.  Some culturally common references are of green pastures and of a cowboy galloping into the sunset.

For a complete description of "volume", please download volume.doc or volume.pdf .

Video 1:

Volume condensed from jia zhang on Vimeo.

Video 2:
Extended Version

volume from drewcogbill on Vimeo.

Prototypes Round 3

Ripples

To simplify and play with the ripple idea, several waves were created which react to the presence of a person with blob detection.  There were some issues with getting the behavior completely understood and under control.  While it is clear you are affecting the ripple, you don't exactly know how, and this lack of understanding negates the sense of control established in the space.

• Code: zipped pde's

Fireflies

Starting fresh with the firefly concept, the blob detection ripple code was used as a basis to create fireflies independent of our previous synchronization idea.  These are much more abstract fireflies that are attracted to blobs where they generate trails and 'glow'.  These are attractive to use.  In use, the flies will gather projected on a person's body. A person can play with them and 'catch' them on their hands.  There has to be some patience as the usage is not great a fast movement, and some play is necessary to establish control.  The lightning precursor played a part in the implementation of this prototype.

• 

Zipped pde's: fireflies_from_ring.zip

 

• 

Group Noise

To begin, worked on implementation of having the audio file volume increase and the audio noise volume decreased.  The eased the transition between the two audio component, and affected the look and feel by making the audio file not always present.  When a person steps into the vision, the music begins to be slightly perceptible, which hopefully encourages them to fully explore exposing the sound and calming the visual noise to create a temporary, tenuous sanctuary through group effort.

• Code, just audio:   filter_proof.pde (will need to add an audio file for all examples)
  
• Code, with audio noise: noisedetect_noiseandfilter.pde

Following, images were integrated.  First, a static image, and then with a Muybridge progression.  It would be possible to put other images and/or video in the background as well.  As the visual noise decreases, the opacity of the image(s)/video increases.  In regards to role: the use of images feels very literal.  The feeling is that the images ought to convey a more concrete message.  With the purpose of the piece to stimulate group interaction, images with groups are possible images, but they feel incomplete (see still example).  The Muybridge series has an appeals ambiance, but this only weakly contributes to overall meaning (see Muybridge example).

• Still example, zipped code and image: noisedetect_image.zip

• Muybridge example, zipped code and images: noisedetect_muybridge.zip

Finally, in exploring a more abstract color treatment, a low opacity rectangle covering the noise was applied.  The blue rectangle become more opaque as the 'amount' of presence in the field of vision increases, or as more people are there.  Simultaneously, the auditory noise decreases and the audio file increases.  Visually the pattern now  looks like soft moving water.  The water idea connects to our other ripple concept.  All of this contributes to a sense of tranquility.

• Code: noisedetect_colorlayer.pde

Lightning
Ring50 is an iteration for the beginning of the storm-scape in the lightening piece.  It explores the technique for getting many clouds to follow through blob detection.  This will later be combined with lightening and new images of clouds instead of circles.  The implementation is getting worked out before the final look and feel details are perfected.

• Zipped pde's: 50ring.zip

Lightening is the beginning of an interactive piece that will strike the sudden movement of a user.  It is currently scaled back to the essence of the interaction and later more lightening bolts and clouds will be added to the storm-scape.   We will be using last blog detection code along with speed and easy ease.  A combination of storm clouds gathering near the latest blog and any sudden movements evoking lightening.  It is a subtle wall interactive installation that is best shared in a space with frequent passers that are pausing for the use of an elevator or another line.  There can be a slight competition between users for the lightening to strike them.   

• Code, in development: lightning.txt

Prototypes Round 2 (code)

Fireflies
fly_3_ok_3.zip

Ripples
 rings5.zip

Noise
noisedetectjjj2.zip

(There may be associated libraries, such as minim for noise, that you need to download)