Computation08

Red Sky at Morning (Shephard's Warning)

Red Sky at Morning (Shepherd’s Warning) tests the underlying expectations of fine art, new media, and the contradictions therein, by attempting to surprise the viewer. Through a projected photo-composite of a pastoral landscape, Red Sky grabs the attention of a passerby in three ways:

   1. It is a projected work clearly delineated as “art” by the use of a frame around the photo and by being projected onto a canvas.
   2. The canvas suggests that there is permanence to the piece, but the projection suggests transience.
   3.  The purpose of the projection is unclear, and viewers aren’t sure if they are users of a game or participants in a motion-detection piece

I intended the content of the scene to surprise the viewer, because the sheep in the scene change over time according to a software application written in Processing. One of the sheep wears a party hat, one sheep is attacked by wolves, and another is caught fornicating. Each transition between scenes happens quickly, in a matter of seconds, but the change can stay for as long as a half an hour. Red Sky creates the illusion of permanence using a transient medium.

Paper | Video

 

"Red Sky at Night, Shepherd's Delight. Red Sky at Morning, Shepherd's Warning."

Red Sky at Morning (Shepherd's Warning) is an exploration of new media, fine art, and surprises. The title implies that there is something unexpected coming, and relates to the rhyme, "Red Sky at Night, Shepherd's Delight. Red Sky at Morning, Shepherd's Warning."

My intention was to surprise anyone looking at the projection with the actual content of the image. Would the sheep copulating get their attention? Would the party hat make them look twice? I ended up getting the same amount of attention when I projected still sheep than when I switched the images every five minutes. Turns out that simply projecting the picture onto canvas is enough to get attention. The surprise came when the image did not appear to react to motion or any other outside stimulus.

I did another test run in the lobby at 2. west 13th, and got similar reactions to the 10th floor lab. I'd still like to take the picture outside to test it in public, outside of the school environment. Anyway, here is the movie from yesterday's test.

venn revisited

Even More User Testing

Some photos (including one showing how nice the sheep look in my apartment):

A movie with some user testing results. No sound, kind of long. Sorry!

More User Testing

I bought a canvas, some extra strength velcro, and retested the sheep on the 10th floor. Much more success this time!

User Testing Woes

User testing was a disaster! I couldn't project where I wanted, and then once I found a suitable spot on the 10th floor, I couldn't get the right projector to hang. Without hanging the projector, users will walk through the projection, and it will lose it's passive art-on-the-wall quality. I've considered doing something with a screen, but there are no screens for me to use, at the moment, and I'd have to install the screen in an area that would 1) allow me to bolt a tv to the wall and 2) has an outlet nearby. Wonderful!!!!!

Here are some photos of the some setup attempts.

more choices

Prototypes Round 2

Prototype 1:

Testing the fade between sheep and wolf - weird speeds so far
html | pde

Prototype 2:
Better speed
html | pde

Look and Feel Prototype:

Prototype 3:

html | pde

prototypes

Look and Feel:

Role:

For me, magic is defined as the point of confusion caused by something that is not the same as it seems. It is special, it is taken for granted, and it can be found in art. Artists try to make it all the time. Can i do it too? The goal is to make people stop at some point and maybe think, "This is different/unexpected."

(miscellaneous role)

Implementation:
Projection, Processing using motion detection/blob detection, in the 2 w. 13th street lobby

exploring domains 2

I decided to explore the relationship between magic, computer technology, visual arts, and books. Here's my venn diagram: html | pde

Also, examples of work:

Visual Art:

Computer Tech:

Books

Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

Magic

Harry Houdini's escapes