Digital Art 2

In this class we will use technology to create digital works of art.

Introduction

Over the past several years, I have done some study in digital art. I have mostly worked in 2D. My first few projects were done in HP Sketchpad. I used a stylus and drew on my computer screen as if it was a piece of paper. I followed reference images very closely, but drastically changed the original colors.

In general, I like to work with very realistic imagery with elements of surrealism, especially in my color choices and scaling. I am usually influenced by things that happen in my everyday life. Even though they may be simple things, they can be thought of in very complex ways and reveal interesting ideas. In my art, I want to explain these things in a visual way.

I have also done some work with Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop and even some photography. When using Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop, I tend to stick with my usual style. With photography I cannot implement as many surrealist aspects, but I love to photograph landscapes with an almost surreal beauty, or simple objects in a unique and unusual way. My photographs tend to capture vibrant colors and fit in very nicely with my other work.

I enjoy using Arduino as well, to create projects that are interactive and engaging.

Though my predominant focus is drawing, I have found digital art allows for many more complex and involved projects and I am very excited to explore more mediums in this field. My art discuses complexity in the most insignificant things, and I hope to use digital art to push this concept even further.

Pop Quiz 1 - .gif

For this exercise, we were tasked with making a gif in Adobe Photoshop. This is what I came up with:

Pop Quiz 2 - Green Screen

For this exercise, we were tasked with making a video with a green screen effect. This is what I came up with:

Pop Quiz 3 - After Effects

For this exercise, we were tasked with making an animation using Adobe After Effects.

Pop Quiz 4 - VDMX

For this exercise, we were tasked with making a video performance using VDMX software. I used the program to layer and add effects to videos. I then used the MIDI pad to control these effects in a live performance.

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Pop Quiz 5 - MadMapper

For this exercise, we were tasked with using MadMapper to project a video performance from VDMX onto 3D objects. I used the same videos and VDMX effects. I then used a projector to put the videos onto a 3D scene I built from objects found in the trash.

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For my first project I can draw from the skills learned in the past 5 "Pop quiz". I plan on making a projection mapping project with gifs and animations that I will make myself as well as videos. I love the contrast of black and white imagery and vibrant, high-saturation, overwhelming color images so I will try to incorporate both into this project.

Project 1 WIP

I am planning on going to thrift stores and looking through dumpsters to find objects that speak to me. I will then arrange these objects and projection map onto them. I would also like to include video of a person in my project. I can project the person into the set of objects I end up with and make it look like the person is moving through the space and interacting with the objects. Or I could even incorporate a live video feed to show people interacting in real time.

I like the idea of incorporating mirrors so the projection will reflect onto other surfaces like the walls as well. Today I learned that it is possible to rent out a room in the art building for a week at a time to use as an installation space. If my final design ends up being vary elaborate, it might be smart to rent a space.

Bellow is a list of words, images, concepts, and inspiration that I made while brainstorming for this project:

fingerprints of life
charged objects
reflective/ see through surfaces
shoes - "walk in someone else's shoes"
eyes - "window to the soul"
moving through rooms
outlines of objects visible through solid object
portal
black and white
cascading computer code
vibrant colors/organic shapes
chaotic

Project 1

I am very pleased with the way this project turned out. I used projection mapping to project onto four objects piled on a table and onto the wall behind them instead of using a mirror like I had originally planned. I used this project to represent how we as humans overcome obstacles and challenges in our own personal, everyday lives. The objects on the table represent mountains of these obstacles and challenges. The book shows the stress of school and trying to gain knowledge and complete homework in time to meet deadlines. The STAFF shirt with swirling colors represents work and how dizzying and chaotic it can be. The open backpack with a swirling vortex inside shows the endless weight of all these personal responsibilities that each of us carry. Finally, the mirror shows an image of a face that is not happy with what they are seeing in the mirror. It shows a feeling of inadequacy reflected onto oneself. These objects create a shadow like a silhouette of mountains onto the wall behind. As the performance foes on, the background shifts from a night sky to video of moving colors. This shows that beyond the mountains of challenges we are facing, in a larger perspective there is still joy and beauty in what we do.

Research Blog 1

For this research post, I chose to read a collection of excerpts from Malcolm McCullough’s Abstracting Craft: The Practiced Digital Hand. It discusses the definition of craft and whether or not that definition currently applies to digital technology. He argues that the term “craft” is in fact applicable to modern technology and making in the digital age. I agree with his assessment.

One of his major points involved how connected the hands are to the process of crafting. With current digital technology, we do use our hands extensively, but not in the same fully immersive and tactile way we often associate with crafting. As technology advances and we gain the ability to create tools and interfaces that are more tactile and involved this counterargument will no longer be relevant.

To me, when I hear the word “craft”, I immediately think “hand-made”. This association further connects craft to the hands. In digital fabrication, we do use our hands a lot. The hand movements that we use with a computer interface are different from the ones we use in traditional crafting, but they are still skilled and precise. Just like any other craft, creating through digital interface requires learning and technical skills. There is direct manipulation involved, and as technology continues to improve, this direct manipulation will become increasingly tactile and get closer to what we could consider a tactile crafting medium.

The term craft also implies creation at a personal scale rather than at a mass produced level. Today, in the current state of digital technology, most everyone has a personal computer. This allows digital fabrication to occur at a personal level. Digital creation is a craft that, with the future advancement of technology, will hopefully begin to be recognized as such.

Project 2 WIP

For my second project I need to make something that switches between analog and digital mediums. I am planning on creating a 3D model of my hand. I will then attach wires and sensors to the hand that, with the help of arduino, will make lights change colors.

To make the hand, I need to decide weather to make it with 3D printing or plaster. I already took a 3D scan of my hand to 3D print, but I think the plaster version will look better.

I will also need to create a base for the hand that will have a strip of neopixels going around the edge to shine light onto the hand. I will laser cut the base box out of wood. It must be tall enough to contain the arduino and electronics. I will also probably paint the box white to match the hand.

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The lights will be controlled with wires using capacitive touch and pressure sensors. I will attach these to the hand in an artistic way, probably along creases and veins in the hand. When people come up and touch the hand, the lights will change in response to where touch and pressure are being applied.

I will need the following items for this project:

What I already have:

neopixels
arduino
plaster
paper
foil
paint
paper

What I still need:

alginate powder
nice wire
wood

Research Blog 2

For this assignment, I will make a tutorial on how to use the laser cuter.

A laser cutter is a machine that uses a high powered laser to cut through, or etch into various different materials. Before using the laser cutter, you must choose a material that can be cut by laser. This is a very important step because some materials contain chemicals that will become toxic when melted. Here are some examples of the materials that can be cut and those that cannot:

Laser cutters can make vector cuts or raster cuts pictured below.

Once you have chosen a material and you understand vector and raster cuts, you must create a file containing the shapes or images that you want to cut. We will use illustrator to make our file in this example. Create a design and make sure the scale is correct. For vector cuts, the lines must be changed to true RGB red and they must have a stroke weight of 0.001. For vector etching, the lines must be true RGB blue and they must also have a stroke weight of 0.001. Raster etching shapes must be filled in with true RGB black.

Now that your file is ready you can upload it to the lab computer and prepare to cut it. Turn on the laser cutter and air system, place your material in the bed, and focus the laser by moving the bed up or down so it just barely touches the removable guide.

Next prepare your file for printing by setting the preferences on the computer to the correct values for the material you have chosen. You can look up these values on the table below.

Once this is all done you can press start on the laser cutter and watch your design come to life!

Project 2

The idea for this project was to create an interactive representation of touch as it manifests in both loving and violent ways. The first thing I notice about a person in their hands. Hands can tell you a lot about a person. The state of them and the way they move tell you about their lives and their current emotions. In this project, I represented myself with a model of my hand. The wires wrapped around the model emphasize the shape of my hand and show details like the creases in my skin, a scar, and my fingerprints. The hand print wrapped around my hand belongs to a person with whom I have a very complicated relationship. As the wires are touched, the lights will change color. The colors move from a calming blue to a soft orange glow. These colors represent my natural state of calm, represented by the blue, changing to a loving glow, shown by the orange. The blinking red lights happen when all the wires are touched at once. This light pattern looks like a warning light signalling danger. When this happens, a touch has gone from a kind and loving action to an aggressive and violent one.

To make this project, I first made a digital 3D model of my hand with the intention of 3D printing it. I ended up making a plaster cast of my hand instead. The cast did not turn out perfectly, but I spent some time sculpting the plaster cast to make it look better.

The next step was to make the hand print that is wrapped around my hand sculpture. I used a photo of the hand with a quarter next to it for scale. I used Adobe Illustrator to draw in a hand print that matches his hand in shape and scale. I then used a laser cutter to cut the hand print out of a piece of paper. I tried a couple of different hand print designs before deciding on the best one. I then used these paper cut outs as stencils to paint the shape onto the plaster hand sculpture.

Next I added wire to the plaster sculpture. I wrapped three different pieces of wire around the hand. These wires emphasize features of my hand. It shows creases in my skin, my finger prints, scars, and just the basic shape of my hand. The three separate wires do not touch each other, because they will be used to control the lights.

The wires are used in this project with capacitive touch to send signals to an arduino micro controller and control a strip of neopixels that project light onto the sculpture itself. The wires will each control different RGB values to make the lights change colors. When all three wires are touched at the same time, the lights will blink red. To make this happen, I had too write code to convert the value received from the wire to a value that matches RGB color values.

Here is a link to my code: https://gist.github.com/sarahenglish/e1f80ffb713dc07f3d6ebad005a8c3ea

The last step was to create a box to stabilize the sculpture and hide the electronics. The main part of the base is made of a box I found in my recycle bin. The top of the base that covers the lights was laser cut out of cardboard and attached.

This is the final project in action:

Pop Quiz - Processing

The program Processing is an open source software. It can be used in many different ways, including the creation of fun visual, interactive "sketches". Here are 12 different sketches I learned to write code for with photos and videos of how they work.

Project 3 WIP

For the last project, I will use Processing to make a piece. Right now I am very stressed going into the finals season. I want to make a piece that shows that stress. I have chosen a picture that shows water. I t looks calm and beautiful. I want to start the project with this calm image, and then layer other things on top to create new stress.

I want to use some glitch effects to create a stressful visual.

I think I would also like to include text in some form in this piece. Artists like Barbara Kruger, Ed Ruscha, and Bruce Nauman use a lot of text in their work and it is very powerful.

This project will be fun and involve playing with code. I am excited to make a project that is not so serious.

Project 3

This Processing project was so much fun to make. I looked at several Processing sketches and used a lot of examples from my Processing tutorial pop quizzes. I was nice to mess with code and mash together different sketches without having to write all the code myself.

In this sketch I tried to capture the stress I am currently experiencing as I go into finals for the semester. I started with a calming water picture to show how I try really hard to go into finals week with a calm, clear head space.

By layering this image over itself and having it move with the mouse I was able to create a first layer of disorientation. By adding a tint into the mix, all the colors of all of the elements were distorted and inverted.

I added a mouse click feature that creates a circle that expands like a ripple on the surface of water. The more you click on the screen, the more agitated the water gets. This pushes my theme of adding stress.

I also added a typing feature. People can type whatever they want onto the screen and it will disappear when they type something new. this mimics messages and notifications popping up on a computer screen and creates more stress.

Over all, this project was very fun and I learned a lot about Processing.