Nautical Theme Party

Ahoy matey! Ye ladies from Dundas West brought in the summer with a Nautical Theme Party. Arrrrh. A tidal wave swept into the apartment and left its guest stranded at sea. One-eye pirates were guzzling Rum and deck boys and girls swabbed the deck. The adventures of a life at sea are too appealing to stay ashore.

Delauney Triangulation using DMesh

The latest post on Creativeapplications.net (a must see for digital artists) is the software DMesh produced by the Dofl. Pictures can be transformed into crystal abstract art using this simple template and free to download from the Mac Apple store. I was first intrigued by this style when I saw Jonathan Puckey‘s work. I immediately downloaded the add-on  for Photoshop, Scriptographer, but never got around to successfully using it. The Dofl doesn’t mention Puckey on their media release which I think is a bit strange. Stranger yet is that Puckey includes a clause on his website stating that his tool is not open-source. My guess is that a company learned the code and was willing to share it. I am happy for that because now I can make my own (as you can see). It is an edgy new style and I wonder if this is the same feeling of awe and wonder people felt when they saw pointilism for the first time.

Wolf Totem Documentation

Wolf Totem is an interactive screen-based installation where distinctive images of chemical models are shown in the torso of a wolf sculpture. The theme is to juxtapose but also harmonize Native American symbolism and Westernized Science.  By combining the two cultures, native science becomes more mechanistic and westernized science becomes more humanistic. To the Haida First Nation, the Wolf symbolizes a protector who will challenge anyone who threatens her young. When presence of another is detected, the chemical stimulator for the fight-or-flight response appears in increasing concentration within the wolf’s abdomen to indicate fear and preparation to defend her young.

At first the wolf is asleep; its eyes are dim and nothing appears in its abdomen. When motion is detected its eyes slowly glow and the first appearance of epinephrine chemical appears in its torso. As the moving object gets closer, more epinephrine appears in the stomach area. If the object were to stop moving, no more epinephrine would be added and some might disappear depending on the distance between the sculpture and object. Get too close for too long and wolf will let out a deep snarl. Conversely, if the moving object is far enough then Cortisol, a rest hormone will appear in the abdomen. The wolf can only see straight ahead, so an object can sneak up behind her and give her a fright indicated by the appearance of a lot of Epinephrine.

Practitioners of Native Science and Westernized Science occupy the same geographic location but experience little diffusion across social circles despite each having something to learn from the other. The use of electronics with Native American imagery produces a wholesome creation that is sophisticated and sensitive. The piece further illustrates its point when it is presented in a gallery setting alongside Native American artifacts. This way the unexpected dynamic visualizations are most startling and intriguing. The scene conjures up scenes from folklore but appropriated to the contemporary gadget era. What can be learned from combining the wisdom from Native American culture and the knowledge from Westernized Science is a heightened awareness of the living things in our ecosystem and a solid understanding of our effect on them.

Native Science

As my 3rd year in the New Media Program comes to a close, I have to assess what I’ve learned over the past few years and start preparing for the big bang – 4th year projects. When I return for my final year in September, I will no longer be consuming the information but spitting it back out into the world to be critiqued. My professors made a deliberate gesture to emphasize the swiftness of our final year. It was a word of warning because many students from this year did not use every moment and were not ready for the final year show. Since this will be the final year I have access to professors/instructors, I want to milk them for everything they got in order to become the artist I want to be known for. I need to answer the questions: what can I achieve through my art? The next little blurb will be an attempt at defining what I want to accomplish in my year-long project:

With a background in Science and a personal goal to strengthen my Aboriginal Heritage, I have chosen the topic of Native Science and decided to represent it using an interactive sculpture or garment. So far I’ve worked with projections, screen-based visualizations (processing), built interactive sculptures using Arduino and used a variety of sensors (light, infrared, motion, range), created websites with HTML and CSS and conceived of and developed many types of concepts. These are the foundational tools that will help me learn the Lilipad (Arduino), textile and conductive thread, humidity and heart rate sensors if I were to choose to make a garment. If I am to make a sculpture, I would need to practice lighting, because I already have the knowledge to use the material now I would need to work on presentation. My understanding is that the type of lighting on a sculpture changes everything. I am taking inspiration from the artist Diffus, who I posted on earlier with a prezi. I admire their conceptual hybrid pieces of eco/garment/new media art. Their motto is “to blur the boundaries in order to become precise.” The only way I understand this is if they were to work with specific elements of each topic and emphasize the commonalities so that they harmonize. To make the Climate Dress, they spent in the thousands making the piece, should I expect the same? Should sponsorship be part of my thesis project? As I look at the schedule our instructors provided us at the pep-talk mentioned earlier, I need to be finished my project in December and polished by end of February. That leaves me 7 months. That may seem like a lot, but 4 of those months I’ll be on summer vacation, looking for a job and visiting friends then only 3 months is spent full-heatedly working on it. But even that is an over-exaggeration. I am far too involved in extracurricular. Is there a solution to my predicament without compromising my involvement in the community? Can I utilize my communities to strengthen and work on my project?

thinkuxd.wordpress.com

I created a blog called Learning as User Experience and filled it with posts that brought attention to the thinking process. By using a blog, I can curate information using multiple media and allow viewers to provide feedback. I made the topic clear and precise in order to create a niche for myself. My audience are students who are looking for perspectives on the learning process and want to develop their learning abilities. I believe my blog is relevant because we live in the information era and there is a need to digest and process all this information. The advancements in computers is also causing a re-evaluation of ourselves. Can I treat my brain as hardware that I need to consciously install and update software?

The internet embodies the spirit of knowledge and so it was natural for me to create a WordPress blog. On it I can choose the most appropriate medium to convey my message. I can link to other websites, inspirational learning theorists… I categorized my information by common topics: math, art, and science. I also included a learning category that mentions nontraditional learning strategies. I made sure to use catchy header images on each post in order to grab the viewer’s attention at least one tag to enhance Search Engine Optimization and respond to any comments from viewers. The URL is short, descriptive and sweet: thinkuxd.wordpress.com. The UXD stands for User Experience Design.

I’ve been to 4 different high schools and there was a general trent to propell us towards a university education. When I was in university, I didn’t know why or what I was doing, nor did I find the material particularly compelling despite being an enthusiastic student in high school. I blame the misalignment of institutional teaching and my innate learning methods. I am constantly being convinced that the internet is replacing schooling because it offers different mediums to convey the message and the formation of common-interest communities. Contributing to the information economy via the internet is a full-time job for some people and because it is an extension of our central nervous system the ability to digest and process information is in demand. My blog is to treat learning as an experience, an activity in itself. It offers strategies and perspectives on the learning process that have come in handy to me in my learning career.

Self Help Readings

Priorities, beliefs, and needs, these are some of the things that guide our behaviour. Last week, David Green, our professor added to the list. Money (I think he said it three times in succession), and user experience. The topic of this post is to elaborate on some of the pointers in two readings: On Getting Paid by Jessica Hische and Make Every Word Count: Tips for Polishing and Tightening Copy by Steve Buttry. Both provide a step-by-step approach to doing better at business. My teacher’s desire to share these articles with us comes from a perception that we have not been educated in our worth nor understand the market place. He hopes that we can start charging prices we deserve. He also hopes that we can deliver. We will see if his hopes for us come true.

On Getting Paid by Jessica Hische

The article is directed to new freelance designers who are trying to figure out pricing for the piece.”The cost of creative work is shrouded in mystery and very subjective.” The moral of the story is that getting paid by the hour only works when the client is needy or when you are working on a long-term project. It is my job as the artist to know how long it will take me to complete a project, but not use it as a quote. She could charge up to $32 000 for a project, not because she works many hours, but because she is signing away her rights to the piece. “You inherently own the rights to anything you create, this is why it’s incredibly important to read every contract for every job.” Be warned for “work for hire” because that essentially means you that they own your piece. Because you are no longer working by the hour, the price is based on how long the client can distribute your piece. A negotiation has to be made in the contract that explicitly outlines the time period. 1 month, 1 year, forever. Furthermore, how will it be used? A subcategory includes a comment on Internships – many organizations will take advantage of students. As a students I should take careful consideration of a potential employer if they are not compensating monetarily. Will I get hands-on training and one-on-one time with the supervisor? She then goes on to talk about getting the work. It appears the only people who get jobs are those with all the friends. She elaborates on all social connections that could lead me to land a job. Finally, she talks to the Illustrators and Letterers directly. There are a number of ways to gain exposure which mostly include putting your work into the art world and entering competition. On the whole, these are the tricks she used to gain her success and tricks of the trade are always helpful. I still feel hestitant to ask for such a large amount of money for a job, but I guess it would depend who I’m telling it too. I’m far to accustomed to working for not-for-profits and for causes I believe in. But its time to change the game. I’m almost graduated!

The second article was : Make Every Word Count: Tips for Polishing and Tightening Copy by Steve Buttry

This article is what I imagine Strunk’s book, Elements of Style, must be like. The theme is economy of words and the audience are fast paced people and have a short-attention span. While I understand the appeal of concentrated information, I am a bit sad that intellectual foreplay is out of style. This article is a list of guidelines to follow when writing. “Be demanding, minimize it is usage, challenge all weak verbs”… these are some of the drills he has for writers. It is this way throughout the entire article and is an impressive complication of the do this, do that, method. But I really prefer my writing to be more intuitive. Otherwise, where’s the fun?

 

 

Photography Final Critique

Posing in front of my photos