the un known. independent brief

re-writing the brief

1. Field of study | Where will your work be situated, and what function will it ful-fi l? Describe your chosen subject area.

My chosen fi eld of study is interactive media / installations. I will look at interactive media through the mediums that which are being used by artists / designers. Through that I would derive my own installation or concep-tual idea of it which will represent visually my research and process of thinking.

2. Design Problem/Question | Identify a design problem or question. Is the prob-lem signifi cant? Can Graphic and New Media design contribute and if so, how? Who is the target audience?

As for now the questions are: *what is the interface that connects software {softness} and hardware {hardness}? *is this interface / process noticeble? or is it hidden from the users eyesight? *can this process be visualised?. The problems that these ques-tions are questioning are about the invisible process that connects oppositions and if focused what connects hardware and soft-ware? The reason of why I choose it is that people tend to think about them separately as in fact they are both part of the same thing. And I think especially Graphic De-sign and New Media can answer it or could somehow encourage audience to rethink it.

3. Context | What is the wider social, cultural, historical, economical context for your project?

The context of my brief / research will con-sist of various fl exible/liquid-solid mediums which have unique features, conceptual ideas or installations of artists who had similar thoughts. Also it possibly show the history of hardware and software.

4. Rationale | Why is project important to you and to Graphic Design: New Media?

If successful installation will explore new me-diums that new media artist could explore. Also, it will explore few questions that new media artists / designers are facing every-day.

5. Methods | Describe how you are plan-ning to carry out your project.

Through research I will derive conceptual idea for my installation which would lead me to making of it.

6. Skills Evidence | Describe the practi-cal and theoretical skills necessary to carry out the project.

I have base skills required to produce the installation and I have interest of the theo-retical side of this project which possibly will be developed even further than the deadline.

7. Predicted Resolutions | Describe what you are working towards producing.

As for the deadline of this project I will derive the conceptual statement / idea behind the installation and sketches of making / pro-cess of artwork. However, after that I am quite dedicated towards actually producing this installation and possibly show it in some exhibitions such as GDNM exhibition.

8. Plan of Work | Propose a plan of work to show how you will achieve your pro-ject, week by week and day by day.

Even if I would plan the working process I would not achieve honest dedication to it. Thus, I am working with some mental strange plan in my head.

the starting point

The starting poin of this project was re-writ-ing the brief and conducting a quick brain-storming of what I want to do in this project.

interactive

media

online data basedsoftware

data / infovisualisation

analog data based software

circuit bendingsensoric instalations

interactiveposters

designresearch

info-graphics

interactive promotionfor new media

interactivebooks

software

hardware

animationvideo

grpahicdesign

docummentarytype research

short movie basedon new media

the un known. independent brief

research_part1

During this project I divided my research into 3 parts. The fi rst part of was be scientifi c part which consisted of mediums which could visually could represent my derived questions. The second part of research was artistic. I researched through various of artist who are representing similar idea of bringing opposites together or who are creating their artworks using some mediums which I looked at part 1.

plan of the research

The fi rst medium that I am looking at is possibly the one that I will use in my installation – it is ferroFluid. FerroFluid is a liquid which becomes strongly magnetized in the presence of a magnetic fi eld and produce marvellous shapes and structures.

As you can see from the image it is visually very interesting. This liquid could represent my research as this liquid possess both liquid and solid qualities. Ferrofl uids are colloidal liquids made of magnetic particles of metal suspended in a carrier fl uid- usually an organic solvent (oil) or water. There is few possible ways of how I could make this liquid myself. Here are the links for ways of how

to do them link1 and link2. However, even though the making of it sounds interesting fi rstly I am thinking of buying small quantity of this liquid and experiment with it as the quality would be superb so I will know what to expect if I will continue doing it later. But if I will need larger quantities of it I will defi nitely consider making it myself.

Ferrofl uids are quite widely used in machinery however it is rarely observed by common man as it is used inside some precise equipment which mostly is located in some laboratories. Nonetheless, some museums or galleries do have few installations which is done with it.

1-ferrofl uid

This medium is also very interesting, yet it is harder to control than ferroliquid. There several diff erent non-Newtonian fl uids but most common is Oobleck. It is an inexpensive, non-toxic example of a non-Newtonian fl uid is a suspension of starch (e.g. cornfl our) in water (2 parts corn starch to 1 part water). Uncooked imitation custard, being a suspension of primarily cornfl our, has the same properties. However, when this liquid is experiencing a hit it becomes solid for a moment thus if fl uid is experiencing sound it changes shapes and shows many diff erent motions.

Also this fl uid could produce sound patterns similar as Chladni Patterns when some particular sound wave is playing on it. I will also include a separate research of Chladni Patterns or Cymatics in separate post. Thus this medium is also quite interesting to use in my installation or even a combination of both could be used.

2-non-Newtonian fl uid

It is more a technique or phenomena than medium however it is worth looking at. By using sound waves to excite liquids & solids Cymatics reveal a beautiful symmetry through this interaction. Strange & alien looking patterns emerge evolve and transform, constantly shifting between states of order and chaos. The way it works is when a surface is subject to vibration it distorts in a non-uniform way with areas of greater or lesser distortion. Imagine attaching a stick to the centre of a large fl oppy piece of card. Now holding the stick in your hand with the card on top, move the stick directly up and down. The card begins to fl ex or distort loosing it’s fl at appearance. The energy from

the movement of the stick radiates outwards from the centre of the card where the stick is attached.

To make this patter occur is not technically diffi cult, you could do that with a metal plate, sand and violin bow and that is the simplest way although there are other ways.

3-cymatics

As most of you now LCD stands for Liquid Crystal Display thus you can quickly understand how widely this material is used. The optical properties of certain liquid crystalline substances in the presence or absence of an electric fi eld. In a typical device, a liquid crystal layer (typically 10 μm thick) sits between two polarizers that are crossed (oriented at 90° to one another). But I think it could also be used in some artistic way as through my research I found many marvellous images of patterns which is formed by LCs.

4-liquid crystals

the un known. independent brief

research_part1

Through this a bit scientifi c research that I have made few good mediums have been found. Ferroliquid, non-Newtonian fl uid and Cymatics technique. As from before I think I will continue work and think about working with ferrofl uid, however I could combine it with Cymatics method as I could by using controllable electromagnets I could also play some sound waves on it thus it would make this liquid to wobble.

analysis of research_part1

the un known. independent brief

research_part2

I think Sachiko Kodama is the reason why I am currently fascinated with mixed media and various mediums. Doing this research I found many projects that Sachiko has created and most of them are fascinating projects. For instance, ‘Pulsate’ is the installation done in year 2002, it consists of white dinning room in which centre of the table stands a plate with black ferroliquid. This black substance moves, vibrates, makes spikes according to the environment.

Also, through my research I have found an interview with her about her installations / sculptures. During this interview she briefl y explains her work and how it was

created. Through it I understood that her installations are quite interactive and similar to my original idea yet when asked why she decides to use this material for her installations?, she replied explaining what spikes meant for her: “Spikes symbolize “life” and “growth”, and can sometimes also symbolize “violence”. I was just very drawn to the paradoxical beauty and ugliness of the ferrofl uids; in other words, I was struck by their ambiguity.” Therefore she explores diff erent concepts through this medium than mine.

1-Sachiko Kodama

Herwig Weiser is in my opinion one fascinating artist, as he explains decomposes and exposes the insides of industrial media modules through the use of software. He explores visual and audio interfaces and in my opinion show gives a intimate interaction with the technology, electronic circuit systems.

I have found few interviews with him particularly this excerpt from his interview is very interesting: “The works draw the attention to the hidden body of computer technology and transforms the materials into dynamic kinetic sculptures. In this sense my method could be described as “software-

action painting”, a successive unmasking of the “invisible”, and as a creation of opportunities to experience the ‘matter’ of digital culture. The relationships I construct are essentially a de construction in sound and image, reconstructed as “analogue matter and liquid codes? The increasing superfi ciality of the technological object masks the actual components that drive the artifi cial existence of these techno objects. As a consumer society we fetishize the slick design and the desirable, smooth surfaces of the latest computer hardware.“ (http://www.zgodlocator.org/pdf/interview_andreas_broeckmann.pdf)

2-Herwig Weiser

the un known. independent brief

research_part2

Carsten Nicolai is a new media artist. He created a various installations / artworks that are of huge interest for me. The above image is a diff usion cloud chamber is an existing scientifi c medium to observe natural background radiation such as cosmic radiation or the natural radioactivity of the earth. although such radiation is very subtle and invisible, it can be made visible. Each second, numerous traces of cosmic and terrestrial radiation, which ionize the gaseous ethanol steam inside the cloud chamber, can be witnessed. The corresponding particles can be deduced according to their shape and path. the cloud tracks gradually dissolve, allowing new

particle tracks to become visible. Ultimately, the cloud chamber is one of the few works that is able to visualize randomness.

The thing that supervised me about his works are that his works are versatile with lots of diff erent mediums. But he keeps his works quite high tech exploring new technologies and showing all technologies to the audience, showing it inside and out.

3-Carsten Nicolai

So far I have looked through 3 interactive / new media artist works. From it some interesting thoughts have appeared about my own idea. First of all, my idea is not just for showing the interaction of software and hardware or soft and hard as I initially thought. It is more about the ‘interface’ which connects oppositions and how we could visualise it, change ordinary point of view on it, etc.

Sachiko Kodama in her artwork often concerns about visual aesthetics of the installation, sometimes it also includes the sound into it but still everything is focused with the ferroliquid looks and

shapes that it produces. Herwig Weiser works are more interesting from conceptual side, well at least for me, as especially artwork / installation ‘zgodlocator‘ as the software retransmits and writes codes directly onto raw materials. This emphasis on transparency metaphorically draws spectator attention to the materiality of the work: plexi glass and translucent materials literally take viewers inside the computer to investigate its bodily make up. Carsten Nicolai’s work just helped me to think outside ‘regular’ media as you could use everything for art / design as a medium even some physics experiments in order to express your ideas, concepts.

thoughts so far

the unknown. independent brief

outcome_#1 // concept

The fi rst installation that I am thinking of produce will be showing the connection between sound & vision / sound & text. It will use Chladni plate as the medium on which the visualisation will commence.Bellow is rough visualisation of how the installation should look like and of what it should consist. Actually not a lot of things I need to do it, I need only a wide range speaker, old PS2 keyboard, LCD screen, Arduino controller, LEDs and plastic or metallic plate.

• LEDs will be just to light the sand / salt / coff ee grains up that they will be shown more easily.

• The plate will be attached to the speaker or it will be just placed on it (it depends how it will get the vibrations from the speaker).

• Speaker should be wide range in order to play high frequency sounds.

• Keyboard is the input.• LCD will display the text and messages.

Arduino will control the installation: 1) by transforming text into sounds 2) by altering the sounds that the fi nal sound will be extended and noticeable onto the plate.

scheme / parts neededI think that this installation should as Weiser’s work show the inside of the hardware, thus it will show all the wiring (maybe cosmetic changes could be done: more wiring, LEDs, some motors could be added for more visually intense eff ect). As well due to the speaker this installation will be noisy thus I think the look should be in a

Cyberpunk theme – broken technology into the parts and connected again.

Similar to how computers are portrayed in fi lm Brazil (1985, director Terry Gilliam). Thus also the keyboard could be not only taken apart but also could even look as old typewriter.

the look / theme

the unknown. independent brief

outcome_#2 // concept

The second installation that I am thinking of producing is using ferrofl uid. As for now it may seem similar to Sachiko Kodama’s installation but through the process I think I could achieve a very unique ‘remix’ of it.

The main focus of this installation will be absolutely high contrast as my original idea is to show the interface (the invisible) of the opposites, hence high contrast could refl ect that.

scheme & sketchesOn the left side are a photoshop mock-up and a scheme of the parts that it should consist of. The diagram kind of explains everything but here is a detail explanation of each component• Lamp – it should hide top electromagnet

as well as provide spot lightning.• 2 or more electromagnets which

strength is controlled.• A plate, a bowl or anything else that

could contain the fl uid.• The main medium – ferrofl uid.• A sensor that will gather some data from

the environment.• Arduino Controller which would get the

data from the sensor and thus control the electromagnets.

As mentioned before this installations design should be focused on the high contrast of the environment. For the mock-up I used Sachiko Kodama’s installation idea of dinner table. But in time it could change into something diff erent but still nonetheless I should be aware of the similarities that may

appear between this installation and Sachiko Kodama’s one.

Also some equilibrium between the black & white should be kept that it would visually look attractive but yet minimalistic.

the look / theme