Tag: research

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007 – FYP Progress

Before we start…

I want to apologise for long post. I treat OSS as my platform for filtered train of thoughts. I’ll be updating my thoughts on my own Notion page as well, but I prefer writing here so I can write something properly that can be posted.

Progress Thus Far:

  • Finished reading Cybercognition (not useful)
  • Finished reading Sensory Arts and Design (useful)
  • Finished reading Design Noir: The Secret Life of Electronic Objects (very useful)
  • Watched Akira (not very useful)

Also, I’m tracking my own progress on Notion so I guess I’m opening it up to prof and friends here to take a look:

My ever-changing timeline

My ever-evolving reference sheet

Feel free to take a look and give comments!

Not completed:

  1. Moodboard
  2. Tokyo Cyberpunk
  3. Sensory Pathways for the Plastic Mind Book
  4. Speculative Everything
  5. Journal Readings

SO…

Reading helped me in getting a deeper understanding of the topics I’m covering. I’m clearer in what I want and what I don’t. I won’t be reviewing the books on this post, cos to be honest, some of them aren’t helpful at all and were skimmed within an hour.

The only few I found useful were a chapter  in Sensory Arts and Design talking about extra senses, and many interesting concepts, approaches, and works from Design Noir. I really like Design Noir as the approach to “noir” design taken by the book really resonated in me. I think it helped me in deciding how I will approach the different devices in my FYP.

I didn’t have enough time to read, quite expected. Anyway…

Throwback to 2 weeks ago I wrote that by the end of these 2 weeks, I will:

  1. Good grasp of the concepts I’m trying to use and understand how artists apply these concepts to their work. This is done through all the readings.
    • My answer: I did and I’m happy 😀
  2. Made enough observations and have enough ideas to start creating a proper picture and narrative of what my work will be like. This is done through 2 weeks worth of observation and ideation.
    • My answer: I guess I did but I’m not happy with how little I have thought of

So I can say, my goals from last week were completed, even though the tasks are not.

Some thoughts probably induced by coffee

Balance out humanity with tech: why do we prefer drinking coffee than to directly inject caffeine? Isn’t it more sustainable? But drinking coffee adds so much value to our humanity because it is satisfying to drink, it encourages social behaviour, the process is enriching to our souls

What can my products do to enrich people’s souls? Or at least, retain their soul?

Complex processes help us feel productive and fulfilled. Thats why musical instruments or tactile objects make us feel good. It must be tangible.

When we can feel something, we feel connected to it. Manual car vs auto car. When someone else does it for us, its great for us in terms of productivity, but it lacks a certain value. Why we love analogue and not digital.

Then, how can we simulate an analogous response in digital context?

Also, relevant to think about when our minds do code switching. When we are on digital interface, we want whats smoothest. When we are on physical interface, we want to work for it (only it it adds value)

To sum it up: if it adds value to our life, we want to do it the manual way. If it doesn’t, we want someone else to do it for us.

Need for stimulation and simulation in order for sensory replacement to work. can be subconscious, but must include active input from the brain. This can be seen from me dreaming of Overwatch. Also can be seen in how we bring our hand up to see time, or when we adjust our spectacles, or when we wake up to turn off an alarm. It. Must. Be. Conscious.

From this thought, I kinda know that my devices have to let its user actively do something, to work for the information they want to get. That said, Vibrawatch might not be cut out for this cos it’s very passive.

Updates to Concept

New Inspiration

As the weeks go by, and as I continue reading, I realised that my focus shifts from something more technical to something more conceptual. Instead of wanting to do something relating to sensory substitution and all the specific phenomena, I started thinking further about why I want to do that, and what I’m trying to get at. I started out curious about my alarm problem, then thought about how this can affect the way we use objects to integrate with our senses, to how we can imagine this type of technology in the future that can fit our needs.

I realised that sensory substitution or addition is only a supporting part of my concept (although I still want it to be something all my devices have)

For now, I’m interested in this thing called “Notopia”.

Notopia is a term mentioned on the first page of Dunne & Raby’s book “Design Noir”. I can’t find this anywhere except a few architectural article that defines it as:

“a consequence of the cold logic of market forces combined with a disinterested populace”, “Characterized by a “loss of identity and cultural vibrancy” and “a global pandemic of generic buildings,”

In the book, it is a state of a world where we are given the illusion of technology being the solution to every problem, ‘force-fed’ by ‘corporate futurologists’. Where, as technology develops, human behaviour continues to be controlled and predictable, reinforcing the status quo of things instead of challenging them.

This idea reflects, in my opinion, the reality of consumerism now; products designed to fit our needs, and to put it crudely, to pacify us. We value convenience and ask for products that help our situation in the status quo. Realistically speaking, this works because we can’t suddenly change our behaviours.

But looking in the future, how can this affect us? Can not doing this affect us?

In the book, the solution to Notopia is to subvert the use of daily products through hacking and abusing other qualities of the products that may not be intuitive on first sight. Dunne and Raby created “Placebo Project”, 8 devices that creates a placebo effect for people to feel comforted when being around objects that give out electromagnetic waves (which many people think are harmful to us). This is done through the subversive use of everyday technologies like lamps that switches on when near heat, or compasses embedded into tables that detect magnetic influences.

The project is done with a separate intention (to study “The Secret Life of Electronic Objects” in the interactions), but thinking about it, I think there is some relevance to re-imagining new ways of using existing objects.

I thought this concept is relevant to my project, but now I’m having doubts. So let me think this over, while I go through what I know for certain I want to do.

Properties of my concept

  • My current space is “cabinet of curiosities” styled room of a not-so-far future individual.
  • The inhabitant of the room is a Singaporean youth in the not-so-far future.
  • The aesthetics I’m going for is inspired by the Cyberpunk sci-fi genre as it fits the themes I’m covering (post-humanism). It will be the more “hyper-city” like type of Cyberpunk, rather than the grungy kind; more “utopian”.
  • There will be elements of Singapore hinted in the room that creates a sense of home, but also feels foreign.
  • The devices I’m making will be devices for the sensory-augmented humans of the future. They must work. They must be interactive (visitors can wear them).

Updated one-sentence description

[WIP]

Keywords I will be using

  • Sensory Substitution / Addition
  • Embodied / Embedded Cognition, Enactivism
  • Neuroplasticity
  • Speculative Design
  • Neuro Linguistic Programming
  • Anchors
  • Critical Design

Devices

  • I want my devices to be non-invasive
  • I want my devices to have sensory elements, either in augmentation or substitution that may or may not alter perception
  • My device must be related to a current-day anchor, like an evolved form of it
  • My device have to be interactive and wearable

Goals for next 2 weeks:

Recess

  • Read Cyberpunk Tokyo
  • Read journal article and scientific articles that may help expand (I know I’m doing too much reading and too little doing. I will watch myself)
  • Updating, refining of concept and clear arrangement of information.
  • Moodboard (really start on it!)

Rationale: I just feel like I might miss some information if I don’t finish reading what I set myself to read. But yes I will definitely watch myself now and not let myself go like the last 2 weeks.

To me, establishing a clear and good foundation is important. I want to sort everything out properly as I’m still feeling uncomfortable about some parts of my concept.

Week 8

  • I will have a clear idea of everything by now. So clear that I’m confident.
  • Create first prototype of whatever product I’m making
  • Start ordering things I need
  • Finishing up all research. (this doesn’t mean I’ll stop research, just that all the back-logged research have to be completed)

Goals by end of these 2 weeks

  • Talk to seniors, profs, etc for feedbacks on my concept and ideas
  • (maybe) start thinking of interviewing people that knows the subjects I want to cover, and also people who are using devices that substitute senses
  • I will get my hands dirty finally
  • I will be able to confidently tell people what I’m doing for FYP

Long-term goal (timeline)

When all my research and ideation is done, I will be going into prototyping. During October, I will be doing a lot of prototyping and testing, hoping to get conclusive results by the end of October to go into November AKA Phase 2 for me.

In phase 2, everything will be more urgent and critical. Real products will be made. Plans for grad show will be made.

In phase 3 (February), I should have most of the stuff I need ready and working. Here is where I start doing all the refinement, writing, exhibition, competition, admin stuff, etc done.

See my timeline on Notion for more details

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006 – Week 6 Updates

Progress

Tasks completed:

  1. Devices That Alter Perception 2010 Book: Obtained relevant information and insights
  2. A Tour of the Senses Book: Obtained relevant information and insights
  3. See Yourself Sensing Book (Partially)

Not completed:

  1. Moodboard
  2. Tokyo Cyberpunk Book
  3. Sensory Pathways for the Plastic Mind Book

I would say I’m still on time with my readings, just got to keep going. I’m also making observations and writing notes down as I go.

Updates on Concept

Currently my concept is:

Conditioning from everyday activities creates new instinct for adaptation – Through speculative design, I intend to playfully explore sensory augmentation interactive devices, wearables, and prosthesis that inspire new adaptations to potential future scenarios stem from current-day routines.

Building upon this, I want to build a set alongside my devices, a room of a future Singaporean young adult that houses the devices they use daily. The idea is to bring visitors into my vision of the future of sensory augmentation, kind of like looking at a slice of what future youngsters will live like, and how our current actions affected their lives and the technology they depend on (one big example is climate change).

I envision the installation to be a room that contains local elements. Some typical ones are chou chou pillows, standing fan, tear off calendar, and many other humble, general items.

This may happen to your eyelashes if you don't wash your "chou chou"/"bantal busuk" - Daily Vanity
Chou chou pillow and blanket is a typical childhood item of Singaporeans
Nostalgic Items Tear Off Calendar
Tear off calendar is still popular in households

But all these come with some twists: the calendar may be a projection, the chou chou could have sensors in them, the room is filled with gadgets and futuristic objects, and neon coloured lights casted on the interior.

Futuristic Dystopian Apartment by Kamen Nikolov : Cyberpunk

All these are just a thought for now, I know that cyberpunk is quite an overused genre and to be honest, that’s not really how the future is headed (at least, not the aesthetics of the above image). So I will fine tune it to be more realistic to our current timeline.

Why cyberpunk: There are rarely depiction of Cyberpunk aesthetics in Singapore context, usually it’s Japan, Hong Kong, Korea. I want to explore that in our local context, taking cues from local references like HDB, chowchow, Merlion, food, objects, etc. Cyberpunk aesthetics are often linked to cyborgs, post-humanism, robots of the future, and it entails the type of devices my concept bring about.

There are more to think about for this idea, cos I definitely need to design the set so it looks convincing. But as of now it is like this.

Summary of this new part and why I think it adds value to my project:

I want to use this room to immerse my viewers in this new world I’m building (futuristic, somewhat cyberpunk, relatable to us), with the new devices I’m making that can convince them that they exist for a good reason. In this way, I’m still going with my “cabinet of curiosities” idea, except that it is in a themed room.

Update on Ideas I want to explore (in terms of devices):

  • Non-invasiveness: All my devices must be non-invasive. This is because its easier to present them, and I don’t get into trouble. Plus I’m also not comfortable with making invasive devices
  • Vibrawatch: The watch that vibrates to tell time
  • Personal space bubble that tells their user of their surroundings using tactile responses
  • Weather detection: Based on an old wives’ tale on how they can predict rainy weather when they feel pain in their knees due to arthritis, a device that is attached on users’ joints that responds to weather changes based on API data
  • Money sensing: A device that translate bank transactions into a sensory organ
  • Self-Anchoring Device: as my concept is about anchors, I think there can be a device that let its user create their own anchors
  • Seeing your eye with your other eye: Not related to my concept actually, but just curious what if I build a device that connects one eye to another eye using a tube and mirrors. What will we see lol
  • Gas Detection: Our nose can’t detect certain gases. A device that uses certain feedbacks to tell us of dangerous gas proportions especially relevant if the future is all pollution
  • Home-Body Integration: We are always fantasising robots doing chores for us, what if we have devices that integrate us into the house where we manage our home from?
  • Anchor Alarm: An alarm that teaches us to anchor to waking up. Related to circadian rhythm, perhaps fixing it to be more modern than primitive (the idea is that circadian rhythm sometimes limits our lifestyle, can we create a new artificial circadian rhythm?)
  • Health Diagonsis: An organ that detects degrading health

Book Reviews

Review of Devices That Alter Perception 2010:

Book has good amount of relevant concepts that I can reference and take inspiration from. However, as these concepts are from 10 years ago, I wonder if there are any newer sense-altering concepts done nowadays. I am worried that this have been done too many times before that it becomes “old” and uninteresting. Still, these are very good information for me and I am thankful that this book exists. (also great that the book endorses low-fi prototypes that work)

Some interesting artists and their concepts that I’m drawing reference from:

Ong Kian Peng: Objects For Our Sick Planet:

  • Flood helmet: Contextualise the future of floodings due to sea level rising. Water level changes base on GPS location. Also adds weight → pressure on the wearer’s face.

Susanna Hertrich, Gesche Joost: Automatic Anchoring Armour

  • Bio feedback and mental conditioning.
  • Similar to anchoring technique used in Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP)
  • Taps repeatedly in the same spot on the forearm to trigger positive emotions when feeling stressed
  • Anchoring, therapy, Instant therapy to cultivate sense of calm in anxious situations
  • Critique point, and also emotional pacemaker

Susanna Hertrich: Synthetic Empathy: Somaesthetic Body Actuation As A Means of Emotional Evocation

  • Novel means of emotional evocation: somaesthetic body actuation
  • Design to help us understand societal issues from critical point of view
  • Connect emotional reactions of bad news but actuated by computers and machine
  • novel ways of bodily actuation, low-tech prototyping as exploration for new ways of interaction
  • Uses sensory substitution as an add-on concept to more conceptual part of their work
  • Using low-tech prototypes to explore new ways of interaction

Devices That Alter…. A Potted Inquiry by Danielle Wilde (bolded because super relevant imo)

  • Artificial organs to improve our senses
  • Art to bring cyborg aesthetics and transhuman concerns into everyday life
  • Step away from extreme artists like Stelarc or Orlan, we see how our lives have already integrated cyborg aspects like people wearing cochlear implants or prosthetics. EEG mind controlled games also exists today.
  • Perception altering devices are more present in arts than in tech or irl
    • Lygia Clark: Sensorial Hoods (1967)
    • Walter Pichler: TV-Helmet (1967)
    • Haus-Rucker-Co: Environmental Transformers (1967, 1968)
  • Wild, entertaining, stimulating, provocative proposals aimed at prompting us to reflect on the future we would like to live in.
  • If we gain a body part, our neural map expands accordingly
  • If you can have wings, you would develop a winged brain. Our bodies change our brains. It is infinitely mouldable
  • But: Does our neural network map expand when we wear temporary devices that alter perception? How much wear or use is required to shift what our brain consider to be norm?
  • “Why” is a question people always ask when confronted with wearable devices that alter our perception
  • So why do we continue along this pathway of creating devices that alter perception? What drives the artists and designers, engineers, and tinkerers? What use can the device possibly be?
    • Do we want something thats going to be “neat” for only 15 mins, or something that will permanently enrich our lives?
    • Are propositional devices enough to raise provocative questions?
    • Do we need to make the objects and experiences being proposed?
  • Good design doesn’t just look beautiful, it acts differently and makes people who use it act differently. How can we then discern what makes a DAP well designed?
    • Know the constraints within which you are designing
    • Be empathic – think seriously about the way you feel and the way that people around you might feel and use it as inspiration
    • Challenge precedence, break through the way things have been done
    • Prototype your idea, try it, put it out there, test it
  • Qns:
    • What constitutes usefulness in the context of DAPS?
    • Is design for debate, in relation to DAPs, effective, and thereby useful?
    • What defines a DAP?
    • How do we evaluate such devices?
    • How can we bring rigorous methodologies to their development, evaluation, and distribution (whether the final embodiments are prototypes products or scenarios?
    • How can designers, artists, theorists, makers, engineers, technologists cross-fertilize in meaningful ways and thereby enrich their enquiry and ultimately the DAPs they are developing?

Tomoko Hayashi and Carson Reynolds – Empathy Mirrors

  • Using experiences as a mirror for emotions.
  • Twin cue

Alvaro Cassinelli – Earlids and Entacoustic Performance

  • Earlids as if it is like our eyelids
  • The body and its sensory organs always modulate the external sound field in one way or another
  • Unconscious processing of the environment in the body → becomes apparent to the user
  • User relearns the new artificial auditory sensory-motor contingencies
  • Interesting: How do our bodies react to different stimulis

Review of A Tour of the Senses:

A Tour of the Senses is kind of like a textbook that explains different aspects of senses broken down into 3 main chapters: stimuli, sensation, perception. It breaks down all the different senses in different categories (Electromagnetic, Chemical, and Mechanical) in a clear and informative manner. The types of senses covered are:

  • Vision (Sight)
  • Olfactory (Smell)
  • Gustatory (Taste)
  • Auditory (Hearing)
  • Somatosensory (Touch, Temperature, Pressure, Pain)
  • Proprioception (Space, position, location)
  • Vestibular (Balance)
  • Nociception (Pain)

The book explains what each of the senses are, and how they work. Then, how we perceive through the use of these senses. The book also give various examples of how we use those senses; as well as animal examples like how snakes use the Pit Organ to sense in Infrared.

The book also mentions interesting points like the cochlear implant, transduction between stimuli and sensation, and how perception is different based on culture and education. This helped me to understand our senses better, which gave me more confidence in exploring those senses in my concept.

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Beat The Living F*ck Out Of Cancer – Interactive Art Research

Beat The Living F*ck Out Of Cancer

Thijs Biersteker

Gif taken from https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/53wknb/beat-the-living-fk-out-of-cancer-with-a-light-up-punching-bag

Article link: https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/53wknb/beat-the-living-fk-out-of-cancer-with-a-light-up-punching-bag

This interactive artwork helps to bring awareness to cancer within an individual’s health risks, while also help raise funds for cancer research. Participants first enter their details to generate a cancer-risk profile. The participant then steps into the ring with their gear on, which triggers the motion sensor to start the game. A portion of the punching bag will light up and the light will grow, representing the cancer cells that are growing. The participant then have to punch it to kill the cell, pretty much like what the title of the artwork. The difficulty of the game will be based on the profile of each individual. So this not only help participants to start becoming active, it also help them be aware of their risk of cancer.

The artist felt that, we are usually helpless in situations when we learn that a family or friend got cancer. By creating this artwork, the artist allowed the ‘bystanders’ to have an active role in fighting cancer — literally. Other than that, each punch donates an amount to cancer research.

 

 

In collaboration with Fight Cancer, a Dutch NGO that empowers people to start their own ways of fund raising for cancer research.

The artist used a punching bag as it has a form that can easily be connected to fighting. It is also stable and allow participants to constantly focus on a target. The punching bag is laced with strong punchable LEDs that are able to display an array of colours, which is useful in representing different cancer cells. Many sensors are installed inside the punching bag. The accelerometer records the power of the punch, the gyroscope records the angle, the impact sensors records the intensity and location of the punch. All these come together to create a punching bag that displays light at specific locations and receive feedback accurately.

Screenshot taken from http://www.interactivepunchbag.com/statistics-punchbag

This website explains the artwork: http://www.interactivepunchbag.com/splash

What I like about this artwork is that it explain a concept really well while also ensuring a completely interactive experience. Its interface is intuitive and the elements involved (LEDs, impact sensors, projections, etc) creates an immersive experience. Participants also can understand the message easily while being super involved in the participation that allow them to have a personalised experience that they can bring home to. Overall, I really love it due to how everything really falls into place. It is a really well-thought project indeed!

Some other interesting works that you can read on:

  • https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/4xqjaq/drum-machine-hillary-debate-speeches
  • https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/yp5wzv/facial-recognition-sees-you-as-a-pattern-not-a-person
  • http://www.chrisoshea.org/out-of-bounds
  • https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/4xqn8n/an-led-storm-cloud-is-turning-sound-into-electricity
  • https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/pgq3k9/artists-visualize-then-solve-the-population-crisis
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Principles of New Media

In Lev Manovich’s ‘The Language of New Media’, Manovich identified 5 different principles of new media. They are:

  1. Numerical Representation
  2. Modularity
  3. Automation
  4. Variability
  5. Transcoding

According to Manovich, works that uses new media would follow these principles. Would our artwork, Inter-macy (WIP name), be considered a new media work?

Inter-macy converts analog, continuous data like heart rates and light intensity into digital / discrete data, digitising a supposed spectrum of inputs into a sample and quantified into a value from 0 to 1024. The computer is able to run these discrete data in the digital code in the Arduino software, which uses algorithms and mathematical functions to run. Through this analog-to-digital conversion and programmability of Arduino, the work is considered to have numerical representation.

pulse sensor converting analog ‘continuous’ data into digital ‘discrete’ data. Image taken from https://pulsesensor.com/pages/code-and-guide

Inter-macy contains parts that are Modular, in terms of the different circuit paths that connects to different components that collects discrete data, which can always be removed or added. This is also true for the code that is used to run the components, where sections or lines of codes can be edited. Individual components, wirings, resistors, and objects like gloves or the LED strip can be replaced whenever needed, and it does not have to be a 1 for 1 replacement, meaning that a flex sensor can be replaced directly with a photocell sensor. At a larger scale, all the components lead to an output that gives feedback to the participant as they interact with the artwork and with other participants. The participants are also considered to be part of the modularity of the work. All these modular pieces work individually, but on a macro scale, works like a fractal structure that performs a bigger function as a whole. 

Wires and components that are just plugged in and can be changed any time

Inter-macy also use many low-level Automation, mostly in terms of how the code runs in a loop with different settings when different input is present. The LED light is coded to glow on its own when the artwork is idle, and then does a variety of things when there is an input. The detection of pulse and light is also automatic through the component itself, as they are created to do so. Through the code, the inputs and outputs run on its own, and that is where human interaction is enhanced as the automation makes it easy for the participants to focus on the interaction. Another form of automation in the work is media access, which is in the code itself as they are taken from examples in Arduino thanks to the internet.

Automation in loop codes
Automation in the examples given

Inter-macy has Variability as the modular parts can be recreated and changed into an infinite number of possibilities through adding or subtracting of components to scale it up or down, modifying the code to do different functions from a tiny colour change to making the entire LED light up differently. Even, through the different kinds of interaction that different people will have with the artwork or the different locations, spaces, and uses for the artwork, in which its interfaces will vary even from the same sets of data.

video: As can be seen here, there are a few variabilities here with the components. This is still a prototype, so there are still many possibilities.

Variability also reminded me of John Cage’s Variation series where he sets up a stage made of motion sensors that a dancer can move around in, creating music composed by the dancer’s body as the dancer move about.

I can also draw many similarities from this example, particularly how modular it is and how variable it can be, in the way that the parts can be disassembled, reassembled, and moved from place to place.

Finally, Inter-macy has some elements of Transcoding, as the Arduino code file is written in computer language and its information is organised in its own ways, represented in the what ‘human culture’ could understand through the code itself which we can read and write, and through tangible outputs on the LED. The code can possibly be transferred into another format, like if it were to be on another program and component like Python and Raspberry Pi, although I don’t know how to do so. This principle works because in the computer culture, these codes have similar usage and can be understood in the different programs.

Thus, with all these principles applied to our artwork, Inter-macy can be considered as a new media work.

Edit: after presenting, I realised how I misunderstood variability, as I had interpreted it as that there is always potential for variability versus what variability actually means which is variability that is achievable within the work itself. As such, I would say, there is still variability in my project as there are different heart rates and different kinds of interactions between the two participants, creating different outputs.

I was quite enlightened when I was told that the book was written 20+ years ago. Back then, these principles were probably something so new to many people, yet now we take them for granted. Although the reading feels outdated, there’s still some kind of respect I could have given to the book while reading it and not just dismiss it as ‘common sense’.

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Research Critique I

Artwork 1

Image taken from https://www.smoothware.com/danny/woodenmirrormuseum.jpg

Daniel Rozin – ‘Wooden Mirror’, 1999
830 square pieces of wood, 830 servo motors, control electronics, video camera, computer, wood frame.
170cm , 203cm, 25cm

The Wooden Mirror is an interactive installation made of 830 wood pieces and motors that moves according to an image captured by the camera which tilts the wood pieces in a certain angle, creating the illusion of depth and therefore the illusion of a ‘reflection’.

“Mechanical mirrors are a platform in which Rozin investigates the borderline and contrasts between digital and analog worlds, virtual and physical experience, or order versus chaos. The first of this series, Rozin’s Wooden Mirror explores the inner workings of image creation and human visual perception.”

Q: Why do you find this artwork or project intriguing?
A: I stumbled upon this artwork on Facebook around last year and was fascinated by how the artist managed to show depth using just wood plates and the shadows they cast, which seems pretty impossible. I find it really interesting as I tried to figure out how technology allows us to make what appears to be impossible, which is to make a mirror out of a non reflective material. I was even more fascinated after thinking through the process of making this installation work the way it does.

Q: What is the situation or interaction created for the viewer?
A: The Wooden Mirror appears counter-intuitive to viewers at first, when a reflection casts on a non-reflective ‘mirror’ is made. Through instilling curiosity within viewers, the viewers would be made to look into the Wooden Mirror and interact with it by moving about and observing how the wooden plates move in relation to their own body movement.

Q: What is the intention of this interaction?
A: Other than the testing and application of a crazy but successful idea, the artwork has allowed people to question the potentials of materials, such as using a non reflective surface to create properties of a reflective surface. It also suggests to us the wonders of technology, in how each plate can be intricately programmed to display a certain shade to create a big image as a whole.

Q: What is the role of the viewer?
A: The role of the viewer is perhaps just an observer of the artwork’s effects, despite being actively engaged in the artwork when a viewer happen to walk in front of it. The viewer interacts through the act of just moving around and looking at the artwork. This generates a feedback to the artwork, allowing the artwork to keep changing.

Q: Who has control over the outcome of the artwork or project? Is it the creator / artist or the viewer/audience?
A: The creator has the primary control, ultimately, in terms of how he set the stage to make the wooden plates move in response to viewers (eg. he could have made it hard for viewers to discern their own image). However, the creator decided to make the artwork as it is now, and as such, the audience has more control over the outcome in term of how they directly affect the images portrayed on the Wooden Mirror.

Sources:
https://www.smoothware.com/danny/woodenmirror.html

Artwork 2

Image taken from https://www.marinabaysands.com/museum/exhibition-archive/human-plus/life-edges.html

Institute for Media Innovation (IMI) Nanyang Technological University (NTU) Singapore – ‘Nadine’, 2013

Nadine is a social robot modelled after Professor Nadia Magnenat Thalman. She is considered the ‘most realistic female humanoid social robots in the world’ at that time. She was created to assist people with special needs, and she can read stories, show images, and communicate with her user. She is also able to answer questions in different languages, simulate emotions in her gestures and her expressions, make eye contact with users, and can remember all the conversations she had with people.

Q: Why do you find this artwork or project intriguing?
A: My first encounter with Nadine was during the Human+ exhibition some years ago and was deeply intrigued by it. It was fascinating to me how technology is so advanced for a robot to exhibit (or simulate) social behaviours. 

Q: What is the situation or interaction created for the viewer?
A: The viewers can ask Nadine questions and respond to it, creating a flow of conversation. This back to back conversations creates feedback loop between Nadine and viewers. The viewers can talk about many different things like the weather, ask about Nadine, etc.

Q: What is the intention of this interaction?
A: The main purpose of the interactivity with Nadine is to assist people in different ways. She can be a receptionist, or an assistance to people with special needs. But within the Human+ exhibition, the interaction is perhaps to awe viewers in how smart a robot can be and imagine the future where quality and advancedness of robotics can be useful to humanity. 

Q: What is the role of the viewer?
A: The role is to just ask Nadine questions and talk to Nadine and reply. The viewer is also perhaps made to  think about what to say, and think about pushing the limits of the robot.

Q: Who has control over the outcome of the artwork or project? Is it the creator / artist or the viewer/audience?
A: In this case, I’m quite uncertain as Nadine is programmed to learn. As such I think perhaps both the project (Nadine) and the viewers have control over the outcome of the artwork, which is their conversations, while the creator only have the parameters for the interaction set beforehand (like gestures, things Nadine will talk about, etc).

Sources:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2016/03/12/meet-nadine-the-worlds-most-human-like-robot/
https://www.marinabaysands.com/museum/exhibition-archive/human-plus/life-edges.html
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/this-born-in-singapore-robot-could-soon-be-your-receptionist-7968842

 

Q: Come up with 2 thoughtful questions in your essay that will benefit the class with regards to this week’s topic on interactivity.

  1. Interactive art can be something that can respond to our actions. In this case, would you think that an interactive artwork could one day kill someone? Do we need regulations in interactive art in future?

    .

  2. Imagine a future where robots co-exist with us. Would an interaction between a viewer and an advanced robot similar to Nadine be considered as a performance? A normal conversation? Or something else?
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Research Critique 3: Glitch & The Art of Destruction

“For me this approach to noise or noisiness, or dirt, or dirtiness, is a way to foreground as you say, an aberrance or perversion of normative message or what we might perceive to be logical reasoning. Because there is a poetics to that obviously and people who inspired me most directly in that matter would be Netochka Nezvanova, who did this comingling of functional code with highly politicized and poetic language.” – Glitch Expectations: A Conversation with Jon Cates

The idea of noise as aberrance is obvious but at the same time, poetic in a sense. Noise, defined as a disturbance of the norm, can be compared to glitch and destruction. We deconstruct a subject through destruction; and through this abstraction, our minds go through a different thought process to create a whole new meaning to the subject. Rather than seeing destruction as vandalism or something offensive, we see through the eyes of the artist and realise that destruction is a statement.

The iconic Mona Lisa, masterpiece by Da Vinci, was chosen as a symbol of traditional art form, representing not just all the paintings that exists in history, but also and the rules and properties tied to it. We printed an image of it on paper in black-and-white pieces before being assembled together into one image.  Stripped from its colours, texture, and proper medium, this artwork is glitched intentionally. Devoid of its original meaning, the artwork is recreated as a symbol rather than to replicate the original.

In our iconoclastic performance of burning the Mona Lisa, we do not only reject traditional art rules and forms, but also releases “art” from its static medium, freeing itself from its own rigidity into a formless, seamless entity that is ever present. The resulting corpse, its ashes, is now a soulless and empty shell that flakes away. This corpse bears no resemblance to the original at all and is now just a relic of what it used to be.

The entire process of destruction — from the careful handling of the image of the Mona Lisa, to it being engulfed in flames, to the ashes it left behind — is captured in a video. By watching the video, the audience can get the idea that we are trying to convey. The new meaning of art that we have created have left the image that we burnt and enter the medium that we have recorded it in!

Video:

We see a similarity in Ant Farm’s Media Burn (1975), a performance that made an impactful statement against the influence of television and the American lifestyle. By smashing the car and television together, Ant Farm demonstrated, through destruction, the clash of the two core subjects that Americans were obsessed with at that time. The spectacle of the performance, rather than the destroyed meaningless pieces left behind, have caused awe and mass media attention which amplified its intended meaning as it have made use of the very medium that is is trying to address.

“Here noise exists within the void opposite to what (already) has a meaning. Whichever way noise is defined, the negative definition also has a positive consequence: it helps by (re)defining its opposite (the world of meaning, the norm, regulation, goodness, beauty and so on).” – Glitch Studies Manifesto

The idea of what brings meaning and what does not is in the matter of perspective. One can see positive in something negative, and thus, by shifting our perspectives to align to that of the artist, we are able to find a new meaning defined by the artwork. Similarly, the lack of imagery in the new Mona Lisa, although meaningless and ephemeral, is the product of a process that represents the new icon for art. The “corpse’s” lack of meaning is the very definition of its meaning, which is that art is finally freed, and its meaning can be everywhere.

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Image Making Through Typography – Research

Who is Hannah Baker Hoch?

Hannah Hoch is a German Dada artist. She was one of the few woman who is involved in dadaism, who also consciously promoted the idea of women working creatively more generally in society, and is a pioneers of photomontage art form. She used photomontages to express her frustrations with the ideas of woman in the modern society in her time.

But first, we must know that Dadaism is a movement that reacted to World War I, which rejects logic and reasoning and instead, embraces nonsense, anti-capitalism, and irrationality. It is formed as a way to criticise issues with the world, a form of ranting or venting of dissatisfaction. Dadaism is a movement evolved from anti-art; other factors that brought Dadaism to life are Italian Futurism and German Expressionism.

Dadaism is a protest towards the war and its roots, which are reason and logic, are the cause of the war. In turn, they express chaos and irrationality as a form of protest. Being anti-art, dadaism ignored aesthetics and instead intended to offend people with their expressions.

One of Dadaism’s creation is the photomontage, which artists use scissors and glue instead of paint brushes to express their views using existing objects or images that are presented by the media.

One of the originator of the photomontage is none other than Hannah Hoch herself. Borrowing images from popular culture to create androgynous figures, which went against the Nazi’s idea of the ‘New Woman’. She rejected this idea and expressed herself through her photomontages.

Image taken from https://www.artsy.net/artist/hannah-hoch

One of her work, Ohne Titel (Aus einem ethnographischen Museum), 1930, which depicted a deformed androgynous person.

Dadaism, to me, is a movement that redefined the idea of expression. Expression can be political, too, and the use of photomontage to protest is an interesting take on art. The artwork used existing images, and that represented the current world. By creating a vulgar image using such collages, the artist is insulting the subject that he or she is tackling on. In another way, it has its own beauty. Despite the chaotic nature, it is still arranged in a meaningful way that allows for interpretation.

What is Russian Constructivism?

It is a movement that started in 1913 that is essentially the beginning of abstraction of art. The themes surrounding this movement are stripped to its fundamental appearance: minimal, geometric, experimental and rarely emotional. Taken apart, the minimal pieces, together with the use of new media affected the style of art, making them more orderly, representing understanding, unity and peace.

Image taken from http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/lissitzky-1-part-of-the-show-machinery-p07138

 

“Part of the Show Machinery” by El Lissitzky, 1923. This piece is an example of a work showing the essences of Russian Constructivism. The things depicted here are abstracted and arranged in an orderly manner.

Because of their admiration for machines and technology, functionalism, and modern mediums, members were also called artist-engineers.

http://www.arthistoryarchive.com/arthistory/constructivism/

http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/lissitzky-1-part-of-the-show-machinery-p07138

László Moholy-Nagy

László Moholy-Nagy was a Hungarian Painter and photographer. He is highly influenced by constructivism and very interested in integrating technology and indutry into art. He is very experimental, and very fascinated by light throughout his career.

His ended the Bauhaus’s expressionistic teaching and moved into teaching design and industrial integration. Despite being proficient and innovative in many fields, he is known for his photography. He coined the term Neues Sehen (New Vision), as he believed that photography can create a new way of seeing things outside of what the human eyes could. He have also greatly influenced on modern art education.

Image taken from http://www.theartstory.org/artist-moholy-nagy-laszlo-artworks.htm#pnt_2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is one of his famous work, Composition A 19 (1927), where he depicted light and transparency in painting by used geometric shapes and layered them over one another. I believe this have reflected his fascination with light.

Unconventional Art Tools

I’ve went to search up for unconventional tools and came across a website where students posted unconventional drawings. They are very interesting.

Image taken from https://itp.nyu.edu/classes/doe-spring2015/category/unconventional-drawing/This student used wine, and it is interesting as wine stains, which allows for layering of more wine to create darker tones.

 

Image taken from https://itp.nyu.edu/classes/doe-spring2015/category/unconventional-drawing/Using a pendulum is a very interesting tool for art making. The pendulum repeatedly create marks on the paper in a regular manner, resulting in a very controlled artwork. But the pendulum can start in many ways, and the pencil can even rotate, which broadens the possibilities. Ultimately, if we leave it for a long time, it will create something that we cannot really control. There’s just something interesting about a tool that we can control, and at the same time, we cannot. Perhaps, we can create art using other machines as well!

 

Using candles to create art — the outcome will definitely be unexpected. The way it melts, the direction it melts in, the speed of which different candles melt that creates a different layering. All these creates variation.

 

Heres a video of Alberto Breccia using different parts of a razor blade to create marks that indicated different textures, which I thought was pretty cool as I’d think of only using the blade and not the different parts of it.

Other forms of unconventional art found on https://www.hongkiat.com/blog/unconventional-art/

 

Image taken from https://www.hongkiat.com/blog/unconventional-art/Casette tape

 

Image taken from https://www.hongkiat.com/blog/unconventional-art/Parts of a watch

 

Image taken from https://www.hongkiat.com/blog/unconventional-art/Nails! (very relatable to the current project)

 

Image taken from https://www.hongkiat.com/blog/unconventional-art/Human body

 

 

Here are some ideas taken from online that can be useful for this project:

Image taken from https://www.behance.net/gallery/58315655/Lux-Naturalis-Gala-Invitation

Holographic type — use of materials + layering

Image taken from https://www.behance.net/gallery/58451835/various-illustrations-2017Oh My — I love this one. Theres so many layers and it’s so bubbly and colourful.

 

Image taken from https://www.behance.net/gallery/60884709/AxfoodThe artist used vegetables to create the type, which is pretty cool! It’s for a farm.

 

Image taken from https://www.behance.net/gallery/55605729/Wired-UK-Typography

The artist used 3D modular parts to form letters

Image taken from https://www.behance.net/gallery/52742747/Ciutat-Flamenco-2017

This is subtle, yet impactful. The use of optical illusion to create a subtle contrast is interesting.

Image taken from https://www.behance.net/gallery/47290215/Spanish-Western-Main-Title-SequenceThe use of landscape, light and shadow to create text

 

 

Image taken from https://www.behance.net/gallery/44026293/Nick-Halloween

This is so nice!!! I love it. The 3D fonts have expressed the playfulness of the TV channel nickelodeon, and the colours are bold and loud.

Something that moves – Research on paper folding that have mechanism.

Something that moves by rotating, or generally moves

Optical illusions

 

tshirt folding

Image taken from https://www.behance.net/gallery/29596177/Reflexio

The use of mirror and 3D shapes that form letters created this surreal floating fonts that seems to be out of the world. Very interesting concept.

Image taken from https://www.behance.net/gallery/60036433/ALBERS-NUMBERS

 

Inspired by artist Josef Albus, this artist layered acrylic to create numbers, and at the same time, celebrated the style of Josef Albus. I like how we can determine the numbers even though it is greatly abstracted.

Job Researches

Mainstream Lifeguard

Mainstream is defined as the ideas, attitudes, or activities that are shared by most people and regarded as normal or conventional. Some ideas of what mainstreams are pop-culture elements, popular brands, and to some extend, social media.

Image taken from http://uoit-educ5199g.weebly.com/
Image taken frmo https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supreme_(brand)
Image taken from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook

Some things that a mainstream thing have in common is in its influent on media and people. As such, there is a link from what is mainstream to mediums like the internet, TV, radio, or any sort of broadcasting medium.

A lifeguard is an expert swimmer employed to rescue bathers who get into difficulty at a beach or swimming pool. They are always on standby to look for people in trouble. Their standard objects are:

whistle, life buoy or flat, towel, shades, caps, sunblock, swimming attire (usually red), lifeguard chair, umbrella, pool, beach

Image taken from https://www.kiefer.com/blog/recruiting-hiring-retaining-lifeguard-team
Image taken from https://www.calypsotampa.com/product/lifeguard/Dream Builder

 

Dream is defined as a series of thoughts, images, and sensations occurring in a person’s mind during sleep.

As written from https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/dream-factory/201411/what-are-the-most-common-dream-themes, the common themes in a dream are:

  • Warped spaces, new doors that opens up to new places in a familiar room, sometimes leading to another space of another familiar room
  • Being chased
  • falling
  • school / studying
  • sexual encounter
  • Embarrassment, like being inappropriately dressed, being naked, unable to find the toilet, failing an exam, or arriving to a place too late.
  • Finding money
  • eating good food
  • flying

These are semiotics that can be used in the design. Other than that, dreams are also usually symbolised by surreal images that are also calming. Blurring and vignettes are also clues about a dream. The night sky, stars and moon are other signs. Most iconic of all, is the dream bubble and the “zzz”.

Image taken from https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/twitter-chat-dream
Image taken from http://www.mountainviewgroup.com/mvg-links-dare-dream/
Image taken from http://blog.patternbank.com/izumi-idoia-zubia-illustrated-dreams/
Image taken from http://graffica.info/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/dreamworkslogo1.pngA builder is a person that builds things. I’d imagine a builder to be architects.
Image taken from http://www.aubeacon.com/Articles2011/Article_TheArchitectsBlueprint.htm
Image taken from
https://www.123rf.com/photo_9591766_smiling-architect-and-3d-project-house.html
Image taken from https://www.thoughtco.com/do-i-need-to-hire-architect-17759

Singaporean Spy

It is hard to describe a Singaporean. Singapore is known for the merlion, durian, kopi, chicken rice, rules and fines, banned cheweing gums, people dressed too casually for the hot weather (typical tshirt, shorts, slippers).

http://www.visitsingapore.Image taken from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hainanese_chicken_rice#/media/File:Hainanese_Chicken_Rice.jpg
Image taken from http://www.visitsingapore.com/see-do-singapore/recreation-leisure/viewpoints/merlion-park/
Image taken from https://platform.globig.co/knowledgebase/SG/landscape/anti-corruption-in-singapore-
Image taken from https://delishably.com/fruits/Durian-The-King-of-Fruits

A spy is a person employed by a government or other organization to secretly obtain information on an enemy or competitor. There are 2 kinds of spy:

  1. Secret agent that have their secret gadgets and weapon, wearing suits and doing impossible missions.
  2. Spy that wear disguises and infiltrate a place without being detected and stealing information
Image taken from https://medium.com/thinkhow/dada-loop-how-to-think-like-a-spy-2addba56a901
Image taken from https://www.amazon.co.uk/Spy-Master-Briefcase-Black-kit/dp/1849564884
Image taken from http://www.halloweencostumes.net/funny-disguise-nose-glasses.html
Image taken from https://robertwoodandassoc.com.au/when-do-i-need-a-confidentiality-agreement/
Image taken from https://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/SpyThought Train Conductor

A thought is an idea or opinion produced by thinking, or occurring suddenly in the mind. Semiotics relating to Thought is:

  • Light bulb
  • Thought bubble
  • Brain
Image taken from https://www.yourgenome.org/stories/evolution-of-the-human-brain
Image taken from http://clipartix.com/thought-bubble-clipart-image-31700/
Image taken from https://www.dezeen.com/2016/01/13/mit-energy-efficient-incandescent-light-bulb-research/A train is… a train.
Image taken from https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/86/BNSF_5350_20040808_Prairie_du_Chien_WI.jpg/520px-BNSF_5350_20040808_Prairie_du_Chien_WI.jpg

https://www.virginexperiencedays.co.uk/vintage-steam-train-trip-on-the-spa-valley-railway-with-dinner-and-wine-for-two

https://www.seat61.com/Australia.htm

A train conductor is  person that controls the train

A thought train refers to the interconnection in the sequence of ideas expressed during a connected discourse or thought, as well as the sequence itself, especially in discussion how this sequence leads from one idea to another.

Image taken from https://livingsuccess3d.wordpress.com/tag/train-of-thought/
Image taken from https://bscat.deviantart.com/art/my-train-of-thought-69303543
Image taken from http://bumpybrains.com/comics.php?comic=238

New Jobs:

Kaya Toast Maker

Kaya toast is… well just kaya toast. As a kaya toast maker, I am the hawker uncle.

Image taken from https://www.jenniferteophotography.com/thats-life-blog/coffeshop-with-bygone-style-in-singapore-heap-seng-leong
Image taken from https://www.jenniferteophotography.com/thats-life-blog/coffeshop-with-bygone-style-in-singapore-heap-seng-leong
Image taken from http://www.tnp.sg/news/singapore/kopitiam-owners-say-rent-hikes-are-unlikely
Image taken https://www.yelp.com.sg/biz/ya-kun-kaya-toast-singapore-9
Image taken from https://www.misstamchiak.com/traditional-kopi-kaya-toast/Deepsea Driver

 

 

Deesea is the deeper parts of the ocean, especially those beyond the edge of the continental shelf.

Image taken from https://wallpapercave.com/wp/8izEkbE.jpg
Image taken from https://www.istockphoto.com/sg/photo/scuba-diver-silhouette-gm180753461-24442770
Image taken from http://theterramarproject.org/thedailycatch/new-underwater-gliding-depth-record-set-chinas-deep-sea-robot/Driver is a person who drives a vehicle. I thinking it should be more of a car, to create the contrast between the sea and land. A default car would be fine.

 

 

Image taken from https://www.iconsdb.com/black-icons/car-icon.htmlCloud Maker

 

Cloud is a visible mass of condensed watery vapour floating in the atmosphere, typically high above the general level of the ground.

Image taken from http://he.treklens.com/gallery/photo536099.htm
Image taken from https://gloeckchen.deviantart.com/art/cloudmaker-103194518
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Research Critique II: Third Space is Participation

I find an age old philosophical question relevant to our attempt at trying to understand the third space. “If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” Similarly, if a device that can connect people across a distance is active but no one participates, is there a third space?

I would say that the answer to that question is: no. I believe a third space is a non-physical space that forms once people interact with each other between space and time, and its very essence is that its inhabitants are its participants, deliberate actors within the space that keeps it alive.

As what Randall Packer described,

“The laws of the known world have been all but abandoned in the third space: it is a space of invention and possibility, like lucid dreaming, where participants might assume their avatar identities, engage in post-human, cyborgian manifestations, or perhaps reinvent the world in the image of their own making.”

Posted by Bryan Leow on Wednesday, 31 January 2018

In our telematic performance, Samantha and I reached out to each other using our Cup Noodle Telephone. Our telephones are not connected physically, which will be necessary for it to work physically. In this third space, we are not just able to talk to each other in spite of our disconnection from the physical space, but also play our roles to ensure maximum realism in this alternate world, despite being stripped away from realism. In this case, we try to talk into the cup, and listen out from the cup even though we could just talk to each other directly. Our engrossment with this performance detached us from the physical space, and therefore created a sense of intimacy and connection between us. The very act of participating in the third space creates the third space.

Role playing to fit our own reality

 

 

 

We can see our performance as a reflection of Telematic Dreaming by Paul Sermon (1993), where the act of pretending to interact with one another as though the other person is physically there creates an alternate and intimate world that exists only between the two person.

Maria Chatzichristodoulou made a comment about Telematic Dreaming, “The ability to exist outside of the users own space and time is created by an alarmingly real sense of touch that is enhanced by the context of the bed and caused by an acute shift of senses in the telematic space.”

Interrupted space

The intimacy-enhancing bed is an example that physical reality will still affect us and the third space. Unlike what happened in Telematic Dreaming where the physical world enhanced the telematic experience, we were interrupted by a passerby towards the end of our performance which broke our third space. Despite the detachment from reality, our physical reality still shapes our third space. Perhaps the reason for such a phenomenon is due to the physical world altering the way we participate, and therefore altering the third space.

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Mark Making Researches

Week 1: Thoughts and Online Researches

The given text and video resources on Blackboard have helped me understand a bit more on mark making. Here are my thoughts:

  • I think monoprint can be explored vastly because there are a lot of materials we can use and we can play with not just the shape, size, side of the objects we use, but also the space. I’m excited to see the various type of effect created by thin materials, for instance, the cheese cloth example shown in the video.
  • Fumage is cool but I think it’s very limiting cos there’s only one way of doing it, which is to use the smoke of a flame to create marks. Unless, maybe we can use another medium in between the flame and the paper to create different effects? Something like a funnel. Hmm…
  • Mist mark making is cool. It’s quite like monoprint, but just that you gotta let the ink dry up. I’ll be interested in seeing what the outcomes will be for different materials.
  • Decalcomania… It really looks nice when it’s all colourful. At this point all the resource videos really opened my eye to what you can do with materials and mediums haha. Feel that it’s gonna be fun! Anyway, I digressed. I think it can be fun to do, especially using it to create symmetrical works.
  • Grattage, the end results is nice and all, but just very boring, in terms of material exploration.
  • Nail polish art, I’ve seen this before! Marbling. I think the outcome is nice and it can be experimented on using different solutions.

Week 2: Intense research

I went on to read up more about mark making online, how different strokes is made and what they mean.

https://www.thoughtco.com/how-does-mark-making-affect-your-paintings-2577630

“Marks are not just used to form the pictures that artists create, they are also used to add expression to the work. Some marks may express movement while others express stability and strength.

Artists can use slashes as marks to express anger or curves as marks to express calm or peace.

Marks can be descriptive, expressive, conceptual, or symbolic. They may be bold and clearly state the intention or they may be so subtle that the concept is only perceived by the viewer’s subconscious.”

http://www.getty.edu/education/teachers/building_lessons/formal_analysis.html#linehttps://www.sophia.org/tutorials/elements-of-art-linehttps://www.sophia.org/tutorials/elements-of-art-line

The above links explained the different kind of mood different marks have. Here are my notes:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The research is broken down into two different parts: first is identifying the different kinds of lines, and the other is what the lines mean.

The next part was kind of experimental. I really love music, and music makes me feel. So I thought, why don’t I use music to help me find the perfect emotions I should work on.

It is interesting and fun to do this, but it is very inefficient and time consuming. Nonetheless, there’s some effect and I’ll attach each selected emotion with a song to listen to, to immerse myself in the emotion.

I also went to research on artists that make abstract marks in hope to understand more about what different mark means. An example is Picasso.

Picture taken from https://www.thoughtco.com/picasso-the-avant-garde-in-paris-4123059

In this painting, Picasso used strong strokes to represent harder shades, and thin strokes to represent lower toned shadows. In certain parts of the painting, there are no strokes at all at the silhouette of the subject.

I like how Kandinsky can effectively portray the movement of the horse and the man with just abstract strokes. A lot of diagonal lines that depicts movement.

What does each emotion mean? I’ll try to define each emotion subjectively so as to understand them at a personal level. I intend to listen to musics that evoke such feelings to aid my understanding of the emotions.

  • Optimism / Hopeful: Song: Miracle (Someone Special) – ColdPlay
    • Hope is something that makes you look forward. It encourages, and motivates. It is something so strong, yet feels so soft. It leaves you warm and pulsing. It gives energy in a spiritual way. It is as though your soul is trying to reach out to grab hold onto something. It also in some cases helps you to push yourself, physically, to keep pressing on. It goes on and on and on, up and up and up.
    • Hope, to me, is something rich and full. So I’m going to use the mixture of glue and ink to create a thick texture. I’m going to use something that can create a define line, something like a toothbrush, or a piece of sugarcane fibre. The reason is that I feel hope is something solid, and it has a flow to it (from small to big) so it can be represented by the amount of lines present. Perhaps from a single point, some lines, to a lot of lines, all going upwards.
    • Hopeful: Paper? + ink + glue + toothbrush + texture?
  • Enthralment: Song: Captivate – Midst
    • Being captivated is to be brought into another world. It’s, to me, something unconscious. You’re so awed by something that you don’t even know it. Being in wonder. It is also focused, everything else drowned out, sound feels muffled.
    • Enthralment: Fabric + Ink + white ink.
    • Fabric shrinks when you add paint to it. So by creating difference in ink density, the fabric will shrink accordingly and create the funnelling effect I want. The folds on the fabric will represent the energy focused down to the middle. The entire thing shall be pure black because being captivated means not seeing anything else. But maybe I’ll use a bit of white paint to guide the eye.
  • Longing: Song: Touch – Shura
    • It’s a bittersweet feeling. It’s like a push and pull. When you long for someone, you feel sweetened by the thought of someone. But the person is not around so you feel like something is missing, or lost. The feeling is powerful, all over, but it’s more central, near the chest, and quite pulsing. It’s more pain than sweet.
    • Use tissue + ink + water
    • The reason tissue is used is that tissue gives a wrinkly texture, which can represent the aching feeling.
  • Loneliness: Song: All I Want – Stonefox, Ovenbird – Brooke Waggoner
    • Loneliness is knowing that there is nowhere to go, and no one to be with at a given time. Even though there are options, you just feel like it either isn’t enough, or that it isn’t appropriate to make a connection. It comes with a lot of thoughts. It’s stale, it needs comforting.
    • Salt + ink
  • Resentment: Song: Free – Broods, Never Ending Circle – CHVRCHES
    • Resentment is a continuous bitter feeling. It lingers and it can get powerful if uncontrolled. It is quite blunt, and can feel like a sore, which pulses, circles around. Bassy feel. At one point, there is some outbursts. Very prickly, very sharp. But it strikes only once, or for a short period of time, before dying down. It is very focused, at one thing.
    • Ink + tire brush to create an aggressive mark.
  • Regret: Song: Talking with Strangers – Miya Folick
    • Regret is a very down feeling. It’s very low to begin with, and leaves you thinking and thinking, how you can make it better, why did something go this way? It makes you reflect about yourself, and reflect about your past.
    • I feel that regret can be represented in 2 parts: the reflection, and revelation. During the reflection, it is low and dull. It is fuzzy and moving a lot, very fast, because you’re thinking. Then, the revelation comes, it becomes clear. And it starts to get sharp, strong, and overwhelming.
    • Regret: Transit from soft fuzzy strokes to clear, strong, aggressive strokes.