Simple Lines and Relationships

I wanted to take a well known font and mess it up.  One of the standard fonts that is used in nearly every modern design template for western characters is Helvetica.  I used to work with this font in very standard way with proper spacing and margins to so it can be used in many digital platforms.  I personally like the Gotham thin style but I didn't have the file on-hand.

messing with transform tools

an interesting replacement for the "raspberry" symbol by only changing source font file

After becoming familiar with the basic transform tools I wanted to intergrete these path tools into a composition.

I really liked this "i", it took me a few tries to work more elements into the code to get a more desired result

s

Coding isn't my strong suit but I wanted to make a composition that had a shared source, same characters, but some were altered to be illegible.  The end results came closer to concrete poetry.

captured that "untitled Tooltip"  but lets say it was intentional

I evoke the feeling of motion was my idea by stretching the x-coordinates in areas.  It would have been cool to use the word "rain" but due to the weird way i glued to code together it ran the array per character.  4 letter words did not look as good as 3 letter words.

/joes-bizzare.ipynb#

I named this post bizzare because I took a different approach to this assignment.  This is inspired from the readings a few weeks ago that showcased the intuitive ways writing was integrated with technology. 

Physicality of the process. 

When I write, traditionally, there is a feeling of elegance and simplicity that makes everything fluid.  I wanted to reflect that in whatever my output was.  I also wanted to introduce ideas and concepts that I could further explore as the course progresses.

adding multiple generated glyphs to create one character

reducing the space between them to make them one object

same thing but curvy

My "signature" series:

I wanted to created the sense of self.  When you used to sign for everything a signature naturally develops.  I thought this reflected a lot of personality.

---

Now the stuff below reminded my of a child scribbling on a notebook.  That's a form of communication not even the child understands.  Pure subconscious.

I took the grid layout and saturated the values till they bled all over each other.


This next one was fun:

Created simple lines, a large blank cell bellow and hit the refresh button for the next frame.  It's a python animation! 

Lot's of fun–

JB

4 channel

I decided to branch off and experiment with different materials. The goal is to create these structures that are like instruments. Self contained input and output devices. Then I take those sounds into the mix and play them through different outputs with EFX. Right now I only have a couple to work with. The delay pedal which I used before to create more space. The other I have yet to try is the Leslie speaker. I currently only used the stereo-out from the mixer and then split that into two more outputs -keeping one signal dry and the other wet. Since each sound source requires prototyping, things progress slowly but the feedback (no pun intended) is getting more positive.

 A simple outline of my project:

Version 2 of wearable bass shaker and microphone connection hub:

Here is some prototyping videos:

Stereo?

The typical idea of stereo is there are two outputs playing different tracks.  How similar or dissimilar those tracks are altered for the desired effect.  However, what I also though is that your inputs have as much importance as the outputs in this setting.  Playing one input into two speakers with a simple pan would make use of two speakers.

My inspiration for this project was the old crossovers built for the big speaker cabs.  With each frequencies being pushed to a certain type of speaker to best emulate that type of sound.  I also used a leslie speaker in my NIME last year.  The idea of have a physical interaction altering the sound felt much more rewarding than a max patch.

I set my system up for two outputs and decided to use a microphone as an input again.  A transducer would capture the lows and the speaker would play the full spectrum with a delay.  I would mess around with different gain settings on the transducer creating sounds reminiscent of the old radios.

It was when I started to get feedback from the transducer I decided to play around with different materials and EQ settings.  I was able to create a feedback loop that was controllable that it wouldn't peak and kill your ear drums.  And as you changed microphone placement the pitch would also change.  The delay FX were used to bring depth to the tones.  It sounded like whales to me.

In-N-Out Language

I started altering the inputs of the example Jupiter Notebook that was provided:

Emojis are fun and immediately gratifying

Going further I wanted to see if I could find patterns in images and text.  So I chose to use a checkerboard to see if I would see any repeats in the text translation.  I tested a few languages.

Seems only this one provided an obvious repeat in the code with the Ø

I also wanted to experiment with audio but changing all the functions and variables yielded the same sub-second audio clip.

MONO

The Feedback Dance

The idea was to make both the source and the output mobile instead of fixed.  Using a Feedback loop I wanted to see how people moved in order to avoid the blaring feedback spike and if it was possible to find a position where the feedback was balanced and under control.

I also wore the speaker on my back while playing guitar in a stairwell to see how the direction of my body could impact or accentuate the notes being played.  It was hard for me to notice when the speaker was fixed to me unless I came close to the wall in which the reflection of sound was more prominent.

Past Times at ITP

I wanted to enhance the narrative experience in a non traditional way.  My normal process when I return to a writing piece is to re-read, revise, then edit.  However, with this story I wanted to add another dimension.

I describe the point system I created as the subconscious narrative.  It helps contain crucial ideas that run through my process of thinking.  If I were to incorporate inebriation in a traditional way it would be something like this:

You had a drink.
You had another drink.
You start to feel the alcohol fumes escape through your nose.
The outlines of people start to look fuzzy.
You have another drink.
Your muscles start to relax and words slip out of your mouth.

The way I incorporated it in Twine was as environmental factors.  It was changing how the reader interacted with the space.  When you have enough to drink, your vision becomes a little blurry and you can see that.  When you drink certain drinks you get knocked on your ass and the text starts to move, creating an affect that physically takes you longer to read and more disorientating.

The world rules also proved challenging to debug, but also created unique pathways.  Most of the intoxication and karma based hidden paths kind of revealed themselves in their own way.  Selecting a number that would satisfy one situation was all i needed.  In doing so, I created other potential ways to achieve the same result and also pathways that would not work.

I had plenty of fun with the CSS after getting the hang of it.  Twine also needs to update some of the version changes as plenty of these guides are six years old.

Presentation Slide Link

I've fixed some bugs and added two potential endings since the presentation.
I also wrote in some more scenes to the other story arcs.

Twine html file

NIME - rehersal

N a n o g e n m o

Nanogenmo: 50,000 words of computer generated text.

This is my second time writing this post.  Blogger has a nice auto-save feature, which has cursed me into writing this all over again.  Also, I'm still using Blogger, which I started 10 years ago.

So again....

Academic papers were painful.  The length requirements made me cringe and procrastinate until I floated through the halls of school like a maple leaf passed its prime.  One day, during my sophomore year in high school my lit teacher was passing back our assignments.  When she dropped mine off at my desk, she sternly proclaimed I increased the font size to make my text appear longer.  To my defense, I only changed the size of the punctuation marks but I was ignorant to the fact it would alter the spacing as well.

The next year, I took a creative writing class because it had an allure to it.  All the quirky, down-to-earth teachers taught classes like that and I wanted an environment where I could explore.  At the time I was actively rebelling against my parents urge to pursue computers as it makes "good money and I'll have a stable future".  I took the computer courses to make them happy and creative courses because I enjoyed them.  You could say my introduction to coding, design, and expression started to bud then.

After many years in dabbling in the driest of computer courses and the eccentric arts I've arrived here.  A course that seems familiar but there is still a learning curve.  It took me over week to find something I could mash together through a computer to crank out a novel.  The length requirement started to rekindle both fond and traumatic memories of school.  I decided to use my past works as creative food.

Python is a programming language I wanted to become familiar with next.  After being able to flex my personal perspective into JavaScript and C++ it felt like the next logical step.  I re-watched part 1 of the Jupiter Notebook tutorial over and over until it sunk in.

Starting with setting global variables I tweaked the example code to:

line = int(random.randrange (4) + 2)

It's simple, but learning where to put the int prefix was an accomplishment for learning the syntax.

I wanted to use this variable to create variation in how many words there would be in each line.  So rather than it being only 3 or 4 words per line, the randomness could induce a better rhythmic quality.  I tried using the variable in a for loop and it to worked in the 'selected' field.  However, when I put it in the range to accurately make 50,000 words it drew an error requiring an integer.  This is when I made the variable into an int.

for i in range (50,000/line):

It drew the same error.  I was getting remainders with my random line generation of 3's and 4's.   I wanted 3 and 4 word lines because it looked better than other number combinations.

I conceded and went with 4 words per line to make the math easier for me.

This text is generated from my fiction works written back in 2008-09.

 Nanogenmo

Lab 2

Going off of sequenced effects.  I wanted something you can hit hard, like a drum pad.  I build up layers of felt to give a more structural integrity.  Once I put the Velostat in, I don't think the conductive thread was prominent enough to create a circuit and made the circuit even harder to activate.  I ended up removing the Velostat because I liked feel of the switch without.  I think it'd be good as a "stomp" sensor for your foot.  Maybe a punch sensor?  I could rework the Velostat to give an "impact velocity" value.

Lab 1

This was my first intro into building soft circuits.  I wanted to play with the structure and design to see what different interactions I can create.

Battery and LED demo:

To play more with the structure, I wanted to create a sequence that would play/activate something every-time the circuit was complete.  Here is my multi-meter ping composition.

Touch Interface

For my interface I wanted to create give a musical aesthetic associated with the controls.  Ideally this would be used in a serial interface with a midi program such as Ableton.

This would be the virtual bass.  By selecting the bass clef you activate the instrument, and there would be notes that would correspond with midi notes on a musical staff.

The bass clef was really responsive.

I found out later that the LEDs were wired inverse of each other. So only one goes on depending on how it is wired. This is good for debugging the polarity.  The velostat was a variable resistor so the LED brightness can be controlled as way of haptic feedback.  Maybe can be used for setting tempo or rhythm.

The second switch was troublesome.  I'm not sure if it was the connection or the arduino but it wouldn't register off easily once it was turned on.  I checked for shorts and the multimeter wouldn't beep, rather it would show the resistance go lower.  Even after rebuilding the contact points and making them smaller so they wouldn't short I still had some issues.

NIME staging

Commentary

[i didn’t realize how much I rely on spellcheck till I put the code into a word doc.  It’s surprisingly sad.]

[A monster is a creature in the outside. //breaks code]

[A mirror is in the Bedroom.  //doesn't make sense because i turned exercise verbs into nouns]

[Looking is an action applying to one touchable thing.   Understand "look[something]" as looking. // applying to one touchable thing, breaks code]

[How would I create a condition that you have to carry out all three exercises before you go bald?]

[How can I put a marker in after you complete all 3 exercises that "a year has passed of you doing these exercises everyday" ?]

[Report looking:

    say "You look in the [the noun].  You have [if work out]you've trained so hard you went bald![else] a beautiful head of hair[end if]." ]

   

[error console says, "violence isn't the answer to this one" is this program being coy?]

    

    [This programming language is not like traditional writing and it's not like coding.  It is a weird syntax in between that. I've had countless compilation errors for small spelling and grammar mistakes.  The error console feels condescending. I enjoy the possibilities but this not agreeing with me like a day old burrito that is difficult to digest.  I wanted to re-create a mundane, absurdist superhero story but it turned into a regurgitated mess staining my brain tissue. I need to take a saline nasal spray and fill my entire head cavity. As the dark matter painfully drips slowly from my face holes I will try to suppress a nightmarish sleep tonight.]

Twining

Visual programming is a nice, but I still have an aversion to Max and TouchDesigner interfaces.  Perhaps it was all the academic brainstorm formats that haunt me.  The time of my life when I had to do my homework because my parents will be happy if I get good grades and will know if I Photoshop them to look better.

Twine was nice because of the immediate gratification.  You write a story point and it's there.  You can add on or it can stand on its own.  In the previous sketch, I mentioned it changed the way I thought.  I've always found dialogue to be the easiest thing to write.  Scenes are not always held responsible to carry the weight of a narrative. It's like banter with an old friend after a few beers on an empty stomach.  Twine enforced a rule-set to connect scenes.  If I can have any form of organization that promotes clarity in my work i'm a happy banana.

There is a draw to structuring my work.  I usually go by feeling and it is much harder to organize feelings since they are so unstable.  Also, I noticed in writing this way, I was able to move the story faster. Once you finish a container, you can leave that idea there rather than re-working it to a soggy page of eraser marks.

Twine html doc

Generate me

Tracery Generated Story - Sketch #1

This was my first experience of programming generative text.  It encouraged thinking in a modular way –like a puzzle but each piece had multiple functions.

The form or structure had to be hardcoded unless you really wanted to tweak your brain with the code.  This structure did not promote new ideas of narrative arcs but new outfits for the story to live in.

I enjoyed how the code told its own story of the narrator.  It was a new way to look at the language instead of the usual, linear sentence structure.  The thought process and the organization methods are unique to each person in our class.  It was fun to see the internal dialogue between human and computer during class presentations.

Code Link

Action cycles of nature

I poked my head outside for a breath of fresh air.  As soon as I opened the door a big mosquito flew right to me and instinctively I had to kill it.  After a few stomps on the ground I vanquished the nuisance.  I forgot which of the many mosquito  articles I've read but they said evolutionary if each human being kills enough mosquitoes in their lifetimes then eventually mosquitoes will evolve to avoid human beings.

Anyway, shortly after, a big moth ran into my face.  The second one of the evening.  Perhaps the same one.  As watched it flutter around the porch light in disarray it got caught in a spider web.  And I've never seen such a big insect caught in one of those webs before.  Well actually, I saw a dead stink bug in one earlier today but they move slower than grass grows.  So, I saw the moth struggling and the spider came down but it was too lively to do anything.  The spider kept climbing down and I was wondering why it wouldn't wait until the moth was tired.  I stared longer into the porch light at this exchange happening between two creatures.  The spider would go down and it looked like  it was flaying its arms trying to grab hold of the moth.  As  I looked closer it was actually tossing web on it trying to immobilize it further.  I saw ball of web collecting by the moths feet.  It was then I said "oh you're fucked".  It was beautiful.  An interaction I saw within moments of stepping foot outside.  A tiny event relative to the universe.  These events are happening everywhere even if we don't notice. There is always a big dance everything is constantly participating in.


It's cold though.  I don't need to film it.  It happens all the time, right?


I thought about how I could incorporate the Gen-space lab for projects in this class.  However, it reminded me of my first job out of college.  I was cleaning a cancer research lab overnight.  There was a cool feeling working there.  I had to wear these body suit to clean the inoculation room and had to call-in when there was waste in the red bio bags.  But this was also the job that was so exhausting that I ran out of gas on the drive home –twice.

I want to pursue more observation and be present with my current surroundings, rather than the isolation of a lab.  Reading these articles and being enveloped in bio has made me too aware of every detail that goes into how humans support themselves.  Everything is far off balance.

If I can create tangible experiences that translates even some of the small things I have been starting to observe more it would feel fulfilling to me.  I want to be more of a vehicle that inspires people to investigate further and if that means seeking out a lab then that would be great!  If it means "oh god we are doomed as a human race," then a message is still conveyed.

Like in the p5 sketch I presented  in class, I want to emulate a type of balance and show how certain actions will make it collapse or have the opposite effect of the original intent.

I could have saved that moth from that web.  I thought long about it.  I'm usually  the guy who finds insects indoors and catches them to release outside.  Usually saying, "be free, live your best life."  But I  didn't want to do that here.  To see how hard the spider was working to eat and survive.  It was this dance that would ultimately come full circle that I didn't want to disrupt.

Also, moths eat my wool clothes.

semi being

In vitro semi being with a functional purpose sounds pretty stale.  Not to brandish off the words chosen in some of these articles but in "Synthetic Aesthetics" the ideas of art and future progress made with design concepts fell flat to me.  Where is the synergy between life and grown meat and muscle tissue?   I can see the point of how wasteful it is to cultivate a complex multi cellular living organism, how does creating a "muscle" actuator compare to a design perspective.  That seems like a chemistry viewpoint, breaking down substances and reconstructing simple compounds to do specific tasks.  You are using living growing parts but without the brain and the guts of the rest that make up it.  I think that cut and paste theory is a flaw that I keep seeing over and over again.  These processes may seem simple to edit under intense magnification, but muscle tissues (lets say in the human body) are related to our ecosystem.  Do we keep tampering or not?

This is where many fields overlap and my brain starts to overlap.  I'm currently fighting a cold.  I don't know what my body looks like on the inside but it is affecting everything, even if it's subtle.  I had a conversation with a friend earlier (and this is where I digress) and she mentioned she knew people who believed that sickness was all in your mind.  I think your brain is a very weak element in fighting your bodies ailments.  It's more of an audience member for an immersive film... And this is where I digress farther into a rabbit hole.

I had a concussion last spring break.  I woke up, went to the bathroom, walked back to my room and passed out on my face.  The moments of recovery were the most confusing.  My brain was jostled around much like I was in that punk show the other night.  I was slow.  I had a hard time concentrating, bright lights made me puke, people told me my brain can be bleeding, doctors told me I should go to the ER.  But as walking towards the ER a week later trying to make logic out of everyones words, I paused outside of a brownstone and felt something say "this isn't right".  And it was in this moment my body felt like...."let me debug your code man."  My body's voice might be a stoner nerd.

Anyway, I booked an appointment with a Neurologist in 3 weeks.

And.

I was fine.  I was healing from a concussion but everything my body was telling me was the right thing to do (which was the opposite of the popular opinion).  The neurologist told me I knew my body well.  Hell, I even got a couple free MRI scans for participating in a research study of first time concussion patients –where my brain looked fine.  My mom also said I was fine when I spoke over the phone, but that's some mom super power that hasn't been defined in biology (yet?).

As I dive closer and closer into these ideas of synthetic biology.  The more the issues of morality and human intervention, and all these counterpoints, counter arguments, and complexities emerge.
Is this a topic that is destined to increase in social complexity?

Franko-Punk

The ideas of biohacking, diverging from nature, and the unknown result.  It is a controversial area.  It is a human topic dealing with human nature itself.  But the metaphors I found most interesting was the punk rock idea of a genre.  Living as outcasts from the mainstream.  It is a form of expression that not everyone understands.

My teenage years were filled with a wandering sense of identity.  Not truly knowing which group to belong to, what friends are really my friends, should I act "white" or "asian", and what I should be pursuing in life.  I felt like I was mimicking other people's ideas and aspirations because I was not secure with what I wanted.

What I became attracted to were the punk kids in high-school.  They were intimidating to others so no one bothered them, they didn't care what others thought so nobody got the satisfaction of picking on them, and they fell prey to bad habits but were honest about their issues.   That honesty prevailed even with the everyday troubles they also lived though.

They welcomed you –whoever you were.  You didn't have to wear the same clothes or act a certain way to be a part of the group.  It felt safer than any other high school cliques.  We used to hang out before homeroom at the end of the hallway, looking like a bunch of delinquents sitting on the floor against the wall.  It was a casual meeting place to meet and say hi each day.  One day, one of the girls came around and grabbed my butt, saying "you have such a nice butt."  It became her way of saying hey what's up.  The raging hormones never opposed.  Another day, a guy wanted to split a couple painkillers with me (I was too scared too so he shrugged and took both then threw up a few classes later).

Anyway, where I digress is where I see this social connection between these people expressing themselves in biology.  You share a bond that is positive, reassuring, and welcoming.  However, sometimes people vomit during 3rd period because they don't know the limits of their bodies.

I went to a ska-punk concert last week.  And ska punk is a genre that started and ended mostly in the 90's.  So the band was older.  The audience had kids.  Hell, even I felt old.  But the songs still drive the same energy, the beer is still being spilt on everyone, and the guitar riffs make you move the same way.  We crowd-surfed children on a giant pizza inflatable during the concert with the upmost care and precision.  Appearances can be deceiving, right?   If we can open peoples eyes like that, I believe biology can flourish like the giant pizza delivering a delicate human life above the crowd of sweaty, dancing/moshing/skanking, concertgoers.

Reactive light chandelier