PP1: Good Morning, Boredom

Below is a recording of my “finalized” Pressure Project 1 output:

The Creation

I originally had the idea for a DVD-like screensaver creation about an hour into my work on a completely different idea. I hadn’t fallen in love with it, but had sank a decent amount of time in it. It involved hexagons of various sizes popping up into view, revealing a picture I had taken underneath. While trying to move one of the hexagons across the screen, it shot in a diagonal all the way into the top right corner. I instantly felt a dopamine hit since it reminded me of watching the DVD screensaver as a kid and waiting for it to hit a corner. I immediately switched course and started working on getting a square to bounce around the screen in a way where it wouldn’t immediately hit the corner.

Above is a screenshot of the user actor for the shape acting as the DVD logo itself. By using the triangle wave in the wave generator, I was able to make the square “bounce.” It took me some time to figure out how to keep the square changing color only at the moments where it hit the sides, and I still don’t think that part works every time. I used the HSBA Color Maker actor to help randomize the color each time.

While I knew I could probably hold 30 seconds of the audience’s attention (or at least my own attention) with just the screensaver, I thought it would be interesting to subvert expectations by adding another square. I also wanted to incorporate randomness somehow, so I made the other squares move around and change color randomly.

Above is a picture of scene 6, where all of the boxes appear and start moving around the screen. After playing with the “meat” of it for probably around 4-5 hours, I added the beginning and ending. I ended up picking Singin’ in the Rain for the movie framing device since it’s seen as a classic–everyone knows “Good Morning”–and I liked the idea of having a song being paused in the middle. It also helped add the feeling of nostalgia I was going for since it’s an older movie. Below is a video of my Isadora screen while the action played.

The Performance

After six hours of working on a project, I tend to get stuck in the role of creator and have a hard time seeing things from an outside perspective. I’ll admit that I worked on the whole things in two sittings (which was not a great idea in retrospect). By the time I was “done,” I was so immersed in my work that I had no idea if it even made sense anymore. This wasn’t a great feeling, but in a way, it made the experience of watching the class during the performance much more rewarding. I suddenly was able to see the piece in a new light, especially since people were so vocal with their reactions.

CG’s point about the first square going on the hero’s journey resonated with my original thought; once I’d created the other squares, I realized that I had made a main character and edited the rest of the project to reflect that. What Arvcuken said about it being a “series of interruptions” also stuck out to me. I had a hard time summarizing the piece, but that was an eloquent and accurate way to put it.

Finally, the class’ guttural reaction to the first time the screensaver showed up was awesome to watch as the creator of the piece. While I was hoping for more of a lighthearted response, it was in a way rewarding to see the sudden frustration everyone felt knowing that the box would take a while to hit the corner. Even though it wasn’t a positive feeling, I enjoyed getting to see such a large reaction over what I had made. I also apologize for making something so frustrating–once I saw it I couldn’t pass it up.

Bump: Tamryn McDermott “Collective Play”

I am bumping Tamryn’s project: “Collective Play.” I appreciate that she included feedback from her peers and how she might incorporate the feedback later. The feedback also provides additional documentation of people’s experience of the project beyond video and photo.

Bump: “Cycle 3: Puzzlr Final” by Juan Torres Brenes LaRoche

This project really captured my interests as its bridge between digital programing and physical action (puzzle game) is what I want to pursuit in my creation.

The article describes the author’s struggles and achievements in designing and building puzzle units which had to contains electric components while it works as puzzle plates.

As I work on building robots or machines in my art, I could understand how it was difficult to make it functional both physically and electrically (and aesthetically!).

The author’s idea and realization of synching the physical puzzling action at a player’s hands and the reflected image on a monitor is fascinating because it beautifully bridges the relationship between the body of a player and a digitally designed system.

Bump: Cycle III – Bar: Mapped by Alec Reynolds

This project is fascinating to me because of its ability to take an ordinary experience like going to a bar and elevate it into more of a unique and interactive experience. Usually, venues are mostly background settings, but in this project, the venue becomes its own character. In Alec’s post he mentioned how the end product wasn’t what he initially envisioned, but I still found the video to be interesting.

Link: https://dems.asc.ohio-state.edu/?p=3384

Bump: “Cycle 2: Audio Game” – Taylor Olsen

This project jumped out to me because I am always interested in games that are unique, and I have never encountered a game concept like the one described here. I am also interested in making a game that utilizes a unique concept and/or an abnormal control scheme, an idea partially inspired by this project.

A link to the original post: https://dems.asc.ohio-state.edu/?p=2157

cycle 3 : playful practices : katie O

For cycle 3, I chose to continue adding elements of interactive and participation into the work. I created a control panel where participants could change the settings of the image being projected, such as zoom, spin, shimmer, kaleidoscope, and others. I also implemented some textures from my previous work that would add different imagery into the space. The last element I added was my canon 70D camera on a tripod, which I set to a long exposure setting and people could take photos of the space if they wanted. This was in relationship to previous cycles, which included a handheld camera, a phone using NDI watcher, faux Fresnel lenses, a tucked away pico projector and camera feedback loop in micro scale, and emergency blankets.

Part of me wondered if the set up would be too chaotic and if there were too many options in the space. Seeing as this was a very process-oriented course, I decided to keep all the elements out as the idea of pairing down could come in later iterations. It does make me think about my work and how my process tends to involve laying many options out and then slowly scaling back as needed.

I’m excited by how this work has a wide mix of digital elements, software systems, physical interactions, and tangible items. The Isadora patch is surprisingly less complex than I imagined it would be, as it contains a video watcher and an NDI watcher and a movie player. The complexity comes through the triple head set up and matrix connection, and then the rest is left to what choices are being made in the space.

I was considering what aspects of the space participants truly get to interact with. It seems at times that interactive art lets you experience your body’s movements causing change in the space, but distance between participants and the technology itself is still a large divide. In this set up, especially since this group is trained to work with technology, I wanted to let them have their hands on as much tech as possible in addition to experiencing the result. This idea manifested as the participants got to hold the cameras projecting the live feed, they were able to push the button that took photos, and they had the chance to be at the computer and choose which filters to add to the projected images.

While watching participants interact with the space in cycle 3, I noticed how I was beginning to feel drawn to this type of work as a pedogeological method, or as a process in creative making. This differed from my original intention which was thinking of it as an installation or interactive performance. There was a clear sense of curiosity and playfulness in the interactivity of participants, which left me feeling like there was no sense of a wrong choice in what they were drawn to. Instead, it seemed that they followed their instinctual interests and felt free to change their interaction whenever they wanted. As an instructor, I’m inspired by bell hooks theory that learning comes from a place of deep joy, which occurs when you are genuinely interested in what you’re doing. Education can be a place of creating space for students to follow their curiosities, which I felt emerged from this cycle.

I was surprised, considering my previous concerns, in the feedback following this cycle that some people wished for more elements to interact with. After I heard that comment, I thought about my experience in Other World, and realized that it never felt like too much, and that I wasn’t too worried if I didn’t interact with every element. I like the idea of letting ideas flow easily in and out of my process and being able to try something and let it go or realize that may support my work at another time even if it’s not today.

I feel much more confident in this work after cycle 3. It didn’t fully resonate that I was able to fully set up this space alone – not that I always want to work alone, but that I feel a deeper sense of understanding as I cultivated the ability to set it up on my own. I’m very grateful for Alex’s patience and interest in teaching, and his genuine commitment to helping students achieve their goals.