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For this assignment we made two different cuts, and then used one side from each cut to (attempt to) make two different casts our intention was to have them be able to fit together to explore wholeness. We were interested in thinness and perceived materiality in our casts, so we attempted to cast as thin a block as we could. Pictures to come!

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Puzzle Casts

This displays the process that came with our attempt to separate our foam pieces and reconnect with the other cuts in our cast. Unfortunately one of the iterations of the cast leaked, but it developed into an interesting display of our process! 

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Today we attempted to create a Kuka program which would investigate the relationship between a curved spline and a straight line. We are super excited to see what sort of surface will be created from the rigid wire cutting through the foam! We expect the surface to look similar to the rendering, however, also different because of the straight line of the foam cutter.  

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Crawford

Crawford, in Agency vs. Autonomy describes a tension created by the increasing autonomy present as machines get better and better at working without human help. He expresses an opinion that human agency can arise only in non-human contexts, using the example of musicians gaining agency through learning an instrument. He also looks at the relationship between agency and autonomy through the lens of capitalism, citing consumerist culture to be one of agency, while creative, or craft, culture is one of true agency. Attempts from advertisers and companies to brand their product as one where craft is involved shows the basic human desire for agency in their belongings, and by being vetted already by an unknown figure, provide a false sense evaluation.

In The Jig, the Nudge, and Local Ecology, Crawford looks at the concept of a jig and how it can be applied to less conventional methods of work. He explains that many situations utilize informational jigs, which “constrain his mental degrees of freedom,” (33) in order to lessen the likelihood of them forgetting their task or performing it incorrectly. These jigs build up and act as abiotic elements in an ecosystem, providing help in their relationship to each other and the workers.

Both of these articles apply to themes we have been discussing throughout the course - namely, the translation of aspects of physical craft to digital craft. The fact that there are equivalencies to physical jigs in digital and cognitive work suggests that their isn't a complete disconnect between physical craftsmanship and the digital.

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EXERCISE 7, KUKA ROBOT LIGHT DRAWING

In experimenting with the Kuka Robot, we ran into some difficulties with the robot itself and our camera. Our first trial only ended in half of a light drawing. We are further exploring this code in the meantime. After reconciling our errors with the Kuka and our camera, we successfully conducted this exercise. It was interesting to see the difference in light drawings based on a code including a drawing that did not have a continuous line versus a picture with one fluid motion.

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Robot Technology, James Keramus

James Keramus, in Robot Technology, provides an overview of the history and functions of robots today, emphasizing their contribution to the automation of production processes. It also discusses the different types of automization, fixed automation, flexible automation, and programmable automation, describing robots to be examples of the latter, but often involved in the other forms as well.

Keramus explains that robots are used mainly to reduce labor costs and perform tasks dangerous or tedious for people. This sounds reasonable, but when done at a mass scale can, by removing large numbers of jobs, be very dangerous for the economy. This is even more worrisome given Keramus’ statement that robots behavior is getting closer and closer to that of humans.

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I derived my curve from Wassily Kandinsky’s Diagram 17 - a piece of art that I have admired for a long time. Here are some images of the Kuka robots drawing my curve at various places in the process. 

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The cut sheet that created our folded surface

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The Generation Effect, Nicholas Carr

Nicholas Carr’s The Generation Effect discusses the ways in which an increase in assistive technology in our society has effected our skill and ability. He opens with a story about a common opinion - that the use of machines takes mundane tasks off of our hands, and leaves us more time to do more important things. He then, throughout the article, explains why this is not the case. He explains that information is better learned and retained if one is forced to generate it, rather than just recite it from a source. By relying on machines to provide information or act as a replacement for knowledge, we are losing skill and ability. Carr cites many examples of this putting people in danger, from blind dependence on GPS trackers to increased error in architectural digital drawing.

This seemingly relates to the subject matter of this course in that we are, essentially, learning how to use machines to designs. I have a hard time, however, absolutely applying Carr’s theory to our work in this class because much of what we do is a computer-based process, rather than a process aided by a computer. Carr’s theory only holds in situations where a computer is aiding in a predetermined process, or one that previously existed as an analog process. But, as DeLanda explains in Deleuze and the Use of the Genetic Algorithm in Architecture, the importance of much of the work we do in this class lies in the preparation of systems of computation. Because of this, we are creating products that could not have been realized without a computer and are not necessarily replacing any analog skill with a computer. While it is conceivable that one could always use these new digital processes in replacement of old analog ones, it is neither necessary, nor more productive.

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Exercise 5… Part 2

Continuing on from last week, we find a surface reborn. Rather than a method of subtraction, we must now unroll this once “chunky surface” in order to provide it a sterile envelope to house the former.

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Kolarevic Reading

The reading revisiting the concept of craft and how it applies to digital design. In this essay, Kolarevic supports McCullough’s theory that craft in digital technology exists through editing and selection of digitally produced iterations. The discussion of risk in craft is also brought up in this discussion. Kolarevic asserts that although there isn't physical risk of damaging material in making, the risk exists in the manipulation of parameters. Digital technology focuses on adjusting parameters in order to achieve the desired designs, and therefor relies heavily on an intuitive ability to understand the ways in which the numeric adjustments of these parameters expresses physically in the product. The risk associated with digital creation lies in the design process, rather than in the process of production, like the risk involved with analog design.

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Architectural and Material Techniques, Lisa Iwamoto

This writing, in its introduction, explains that in the process of creating architecture through only 2D representation, a gap emerges between drawings of a building and its construction. We understood this through Robin Evans’ The Projective Cast. Iwamoto cites Evans when explaining the opportunity that lies in this gap for creativity and invention. Iwamoto then goes on to describe computational 3D modeling as a process in which construction information can be derived “directly from design information,” essentially bridging that projective cast. It seems as though this is a situation in which the emergence of new digital technology has eradicated a fruitful aspect of the design process, and I have to wonder if design has suffered from that. In considering this, one must also remember the ways in which digital technology has progressed because of this same technology. Through this we can recognize that technological progress, like many advances, exists as a give and take, and that with its positives come negatives as well.

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In this weeks readings, both Carpo and Delanda discuss new roles of technology in architecture, and how the field is changing based on these changes. In The Alphabet and the Algorithm, Carpo discusses the movement from architects as craftsmen to architects as designers as a step towards allography (from what was previously an autographic field). The use of algorithms in design, as discussed in this weeks readings, is yet another step towards the allographic. Does this make the architect less involved in their design? Not necessarily. Delanda asserts an important aspect of algorithmic design - the preparation. The ability to use technology to produce forms that could not necessarily be created by hand creates a whole new set of necessary steps in order to create an environment in which these forms can be created. This situation is very relevant to how we understand the work we do in this course and what it means.

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Unfortunately, our second vase wasn’t so successful. As it turns out, its design was too curvy, and its assembly was not possible with the material we used (PETG). This was a good example of material constraints for our whole group, and as it was all of our first times working with PETG and making objects in this way, it helped us learn more about the restraints of both the material and the technique. 

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Putting our vase to good use.

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Our vase, along with its snow angels.