art306physicaldigitalexperi-blog

[art306physicaldigitalexperi-blog]

Here is the final product. I started the semester with a few sketches and ideas and its finally developed into a working physical experience. I fun seeing the paper scroll over the screen and the screen move along with it. I really like the way the surface helps accents whats on the paper and how the screen acts as a back light. Overall this has been a tough project to get right . There has been many iterations of the electrics for the build and for the project itself but its been really enjoyable to take something that is normally just for digital screens and making it into a physical experience. Im proud of my design and i haven't seen anything like it around however there are some areas i would improve for the next version. Sadly the finish on the piece isn't quite to my standards. I would have made the cables more exposed and fixed them to the wood itself. I also feel the switch assembly is a bit rough and a handmade wood box to house it all would have tied the piece better. Although i do really like the exposed nature of the build. I wanted the children using the piece to learn about how it actually works. This is why all the motors and running gear are exposed. 

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For the interactive side, i wanted to show a GIF on screen because it can be repeated over and over which is ideal for an exhibition space. I ended up using a clip from the you tube channel ‘Primus Animation’. After searching around their animations all had a really nice style and I decided to use their balloon animation. I ended up talking into Adobe premier to just get the balloon animation then converting it into a GIF then importing it into Adobe In Design to make it an online page. This meant the document didn't need to be held locally and would mean if we weren't using my surface we could use another and just load the web link. I kept it simple because i want to add designs to the physical paper and make the animation itself the centre piece. 

Primus Animation - Air Balloon;  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmLKLwv5-jk

Lynda Tutorial; https://www.lynda.com/InDesign-tutorials/Place-animated-GIF/408236/455938-4.html

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I've now re adjusted the mounts and bright them further in. The next challenge was finding a good place for the mouse to be. Initially i was going to position it on the front face so the paper would scroll the mouse however i realised that positioning it above the motor would be more direct. I simply just moved the battery and it all feed into the switch box at the front. 

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Adding the paper to the scroll revealed the mounts are to far to one side so will be re adjusting the mounts to make it more even. 

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This is everything wired up and working. The switch changes the direction of the scrolling. Although the wires are messy i made sure they are safe and there is no exposed wires. I decided to use coat hangers for the ends of the scrolls because i wanted to make the scrolls quick to change out. this would mean if the user wanted a new story i would just change out the scroll.

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Started to hook up the switch. Want to test every component before wiring it fully just to make sure they all function correctly. After many attempts of wiring it myself i ended up looking at this tutorial http://www.robotroom.com/DPDT-Bidirectional-Motor-Switch.html.

It was really useful and helped me wire the whole circuit. I ended up changing my switch because of this.

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Reversed the connecting wires for the motors and one is now reversed meaning the scroll can unreel off one side and reel onto the other.

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Testing the electrics and see if all the motors work. However one of the motors is turning the wrong way so will have to be reversed. 

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Started to secure the various parts together. The main panel is suspended an inch from the base to make sure the paper scroll and possibly the scroll itself can fit in. Also glued the motors to wood back plates so it can be attached to the side of the panel. Due to the size of the adaptors the motors will be positioned on the outside of the main panel. 

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Jenny Morton Presentation

(Critique) 

Jenny Morton is a 4th year student at Abertay University studying Computer Arts and has decided to do her progress presentation on her character designs. Her focus is stereotype within character design for games. She has decided to create an Art Book with three designs, three promotional designs and include all the development artwork as well. Morton has completed a lot of research in the stereotypes mainly in the fantasy category and has started to look into the differences in design styles between the eastern and western sides of the character design. Her research explains the perspective of the original character designs all the way through to the most modern games.  Her three character designs are a mage, elf and a rouge character. However she is now looking into the science fiction genre but this needs more research. Of the few sketches Morton has created they have strong form and are readable. Her designs have unity with one another, she hasn't over saturated the colours and the characters are proportion correctly for the character types. Her elf character is the strongest however. She has managed to make the character feel natural. This is because her form is strong, combined with important design elements like the type of armour and the type of decorative jewellery on the design. She hasn't over designed the characters by adding lots of unneeded colours or overly complicated pattern designs and because of this her character represents the style and time period she is going for. Morton has accumulated a lot of research and this will definitely guide her in the right direction and give her the needed knowledge to create her own unique designs. However she has been focusing too much of her time on this and has created enough sketches or ideas for characters. She is a confident speaker but she is waffling and over speaking to the point were she sounds unsure of certain areas in her project. For her PowerPoint, it isn't presented in a professional manner. The composition of her sketches are off centre leaving a lot of white space on the screen and this shows a lot of gaps in her work. Mortons scope for the project is too large. She need to narrow it down and start focusing on a particular style of characters. She also shouldn't limit herself to only create three designs. Just create as many as you can and if they aren’t linked to the various other designs then just create another design. 

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Mark Wallinger (Critique)

Mark Wallinger is a 57 year old British Artist. He is a 2007 Turner prize winner and this marks his first major exhibition. The first piece is a film recorded in 2011 and focuses on construction. The workers are building the structure on the rocky beach which overlook the vast English channel. The film itself is silent and unlike similar framed films its not time lapsed or sped up. Wallinger exhibited the film in large room with every other wall apart from the screen covered by black cloth. in the centre of the room sits two long stools. The piece itself is very relaxing, from the film itself to the layout of the room. However i doubt most people viewing will stay for the entire film. I like how he is trying to take a capture of life and project it to the user so they feel like they are on the beach as well. The movie is one take, no cuts, no editing and the camera is in a fixed, still position. However its doesn't evoke much emotion and feels just like a recording.

Wallinger’s next piece “Time and Relative Dimensions In Space” was created in 2001 and inspired by the popular TV show “Dr Who”. He states how he was inspired by the limitless time travel made by the Tardis and the reflective coating symbolises that by reflecting anything around it. This piece is the first thing your eye is drawn to and would arguably be the focal point of the exhibit. The structure is large in general but the shinny, reflective structure shows off anything around it. Meaning the piece is constantly changing with the different variations in day light or to the people viewing the exhibition itself. The Police Box itself isn't marked or scuffed. The finish is perfect and this shows Wallingers attention to good craftsmanship. Wallinger wanted you to focus on the image reflected instead of the box itself. When overlooking it your eye wanders around until focusing on the only non reflective item, the light on top. I really like this piece because it symbolises a variation or things and is a modern take on the traditional blue Police Box.

Next to this is an array of four TV’s. They are composed this was to entice the viewer into the centre of the piece. The TV's are displaying a short clip of a large tree in the centre of a roundabout and on each screen is the same tree but in different seasons. The clip is filmed from a car with an iPhone and is only framed to capture the tree. Its one continuous cut and is simply repeated throughout the exhibit. You can immediately tell Wallinger wanted the piece to be as simple as possible and have no distractions. The mounts for the TV’s are simplified and arranged to have asymmetrical symmetry. So the user focuses on the screen itself. However there are cables receding out. These cables however do serve a purpose other than power. They lead the user to the next exhibit round the corner.

Wallingers next piece is the main attraction for the exhibit. Its a series of hand painted, symmetrical paintings all twice his height. From a far you think the pieces are digitally printed but once up close you see his fingerprint marks all over the piece. The adds a lot of depth to the piece because of the various textures and stroke styles. The pieces are monotone and have no colour insight. When looking through all the paintings there are no generic link. They are so different from one another. There are also a few painter errors like misplaced paint marks for example. I feel like it was left in because he wanted the pieces to feel natural and not engineered. The pieces are inspired by Leonardo da Vinci’s Rorschach test and you can see the link to his paintings. They depict the same manic, fluid style and Wallingers hand painted style helps aid this. 

His next piece winch was positioned behind the TV Array is simply a video recording. He named it the ‘Shadow Walker’, this is because the video is recorder from a phone staring at the ground as the recorder walks. You don’t see anything other than the recorder’s shadow which is offset by the bright summer time sunshine. This piece is focused on the background music not the visuals itself. You can understand why this is because the clip has a lot of city noises from all angles making you feel immersed. Thankfully Wallinger has un-distorted, clear audio to help immerse the viewer. Wallinger also positioned the TV on the floor vertically so you could see the full shadow and  to represent the camera phone that the clip was recorded on. 

His last piece in the exhibit is a video of a city barber shop. Its essentially a GIF with the red and white barber spiral repetitively spinning. The piece has been enhanced slightly with some filters and is now low-key compared to the bright untouched stock video. You end up waiting and staring at the piece for a long time trying to find any other moving objects. Only once i read the artists notes that i discovered the clock in the shop would only tick twice then reset. Proving my earlier point of the piece being a GIF. Once you understand this, you can link some of his pieces together in the exhibit because they are revolved around the use of modern technology. The main focus being mobile phones in the particular exhibit.

 Overall i enjoyed the experience of Mark Wallingers exhibit. All the piece felt link in some way to another and it was en lighting to see the world from an artists perspective. However some of the video piece felt lacking. They just weren't immersive enough for me and could have been more of an experience like the Array of TV’s which was the highlight. 

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Lecture Notes 

When reflecting on my notes from the lecture i now appreciate these posters more because i now know the process of layering and the planning that goes into the creation. Spray painting is something i enjoy doing. I’ve painted little projects like gaming controllers or more generic objects like car wheels, phone cases etc. Yet i have never used spray paint to create artistic pieces. So looking at the method of these spray paint creations is really inspirational. The thing i love about spray paints is you can see the artist unique stamp on their creations. Sometimes its the over spray over the stencil or the style of spray stroke they have. Stencils are a more routine method yet so many artists use them. They can control the paint better and it is quicker to lay down images. A lot of street graffiti artists use them because they can re use the stencil to portray their ideas where ever they want. Banksy, arguably the best graffiti artist uses stencils for most of his work. Some artist prefer using the stenciling technique digital. For example the guardians of the galaxy poster is using this stylized effect to emphasis the general colors and the story thats happening in the background. 

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DCA Tour

Although the first maker space tour was canceled the tour of the DCA was really insightful. I have some experience with lino printing but ive never used traditional graphic design tools like screen printing before. Seeing all the design tools really gave me an appreciation fro handmade graphics. There is so little room for error when producing the intricate designs with the various shapes which require little tolerance. However seeing the laser cutter operating and the black out room at the back of the studio was the highlight for me. 

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Tests

Wanted to do some electrical tests to make sure all the parts are functioning properly. Once i sketch a small plan i stripped the wires and simply just twist the wires together to keep the electric loop between the battery switch and the motors. On the final piece the wires will all be neatly packed and safe unlike the method used here. Every thing works well and both motors spin at same rate. 

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Starting steps 

After sourcing a jigsaw, electric drill, sandpaper and the various other tool i needed i started to cut and sand the wood to my plans. The hardest step was the cutting of the inner section, where the surface would inlay to. Before cutting i made sure no wood would escape to the below balcony or onto the main street. Also to not damage the decking i decided to use some plastic foot stools as a worktop. This was perfect because i could cut through the gap without damaging any wood or even plastic. Once i drilled the initial holes to fit the jigsaw into i started to carve out the rectangle from the plywood. Once cut i sanded down every side and face to remove and sharp pieces of wood or and sharp angles. Im trying to make the wood as safe as possible for the users. 

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Birmingham Children’s Hospital Light Canvas 

In 2009 Philips unveiled a joint project with Birmingham Children’s Hospital to create an interactive piece that helps their children interact with each other. The main focus for the project was to add more positive energy and atmosphere to the hospital and make children feel more at ease. The light wall consists of 144 individual LED points and spans 3 meters wide and is 1.5 meters tall.  The canvas is powered by a standard PC that can be loaded with various presets and small games to help interact patients. Philips wanted to create a unique version of medical art. The canvas is in the main reception so its the first thing you see when you enter the hospital. This creates an instant form of distraction to the normal hospital procedure and it increases patient moral. Peter Maskell the Chairman of Philips Electronics explains, “As a Health and Well-being company, we are delighted to have been involved in this project. The Imagination Light Canvas is a perfect example of how lighting can improve well being and uplift people’s spirits. But, the ultimate seal of approval is seeing a child’s face light up when they first walk in – that really what it’s all about after all.”

This is a similar reaction i would want from my exhibition piece. To increase the users moral, educated and help their social skills by interacting with other people using my piece. Hopefully the on screen interaction with my surface will raise moral and the physical paper scrolling will entice people into the piece.

Credit: Philips Case study below 

http://images.philips.com/is/content/PhilipsConsumer/CaseStudies/CSLI20141119_010-ECT-global-birmingham-childrens-hospital.pdf

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Sourcing the materials 

Throughout the whole process of planning i had to think how my design would actually work in reality. Meaning i needed to research actual parts to be able to make my design function. Thankfully wood and paper is easy to source however finding the right electrical parts for my piece was harder than initially thought. Initially i bought the wrong motors. They had too high an RPM and too low a torque load to be able to rotate the paper cylinders. However i found some geared high torque motors with a lower RPM from eBay. Deciding the type of switch was challenging. I needed a switch to be able to have 3 positions. One for forward rotation, one for reverse rotation and the last for stationary rotation (off). I decided on a 3 position rotary selector switch from amazon. Apart from the battery case and a few other parts the mouse was the final link in the puzzle. So i sourced a Bluetooth mouse for only £2. I had no intention of using it for another project so the disassembly started. Since its Bluetooth it would mean no extra wires. Taking it apart was fairly simple but i just had to be careful to not snap any parts. Thankfully the mouse circuit board was actually quite small so can be added easily to the concept. However there was one issue with the mouse wheel. I couldn't modify it to make it larger because of the circuit board design. Yet after some more planning i realized the scroll wheel size wouldn't be an issue as its big enough to make contact with the paper, as long as there is a small cutout at the rear of the display face.