My Experience

My name Margaret Preston. I have enjoyed my small experiences with programming up to this point. My experience with programming includes a single, one semester class in Python: ISTA 130. I also was able to spend a small amount of time working with Processing. I had two graphic art classes in highschool where I became very familiar with Adobe programs such as Photoshop and Indesign. I have played with Audacity, and iMovie as well.

Chromatic Typewriter

Tyree Callahan created the Chromatic Typewriter by modifying a vintage typewriter. While the art in the first image was not actually created by the typewriter, the second image was.
As we can see, the typewriter creates a beautiful paragraph of color. While this is a very literal combination of art and computing, I can see so much potential with a machine like this. I think of Mozart's dice game, where the measures changed as the dice was rolled, or the measures were assigned letters so that Mozart could give each girl he fancied her very own unique piece. With the chromatic typewriter, each color takes the place of a specific letter than we would normally associate with that spot on a keyboard. It would be so easy then, to turn a written name, poem, or story into a color piece of art. You would type the story with the keyboard as if the letters were there, and you would be left with not typed words, but a beautiful colorful piece of work that would be different and unique to each sentence, word, or name. Beautiful!

Sol Lewitt

I'm inspired by Sol Lewitt today.
He said, "When an artist uses a conceptual form of art, it means that the planning and decisions are made beforehand and the execution is a perfunctory affair. The idea becomes a machine that makes art." He, as an artist, came up with an idea, but allowed the piece to be created by the audience. I love the idea that a person can make the art their own. I think of a high school art teacher giving instructions on what the next art assignment is. There are specific instructions, but each person is able to make the piece their self and make it their own. Perhaps this is not exactly the same thing as the techniques used by Sol Lewitt, but the social and interactive aspect of the piece seems to be generally the same. There are specific instructions, but lots of space to explore. So perhaps, Sol Lewitt was only ever a glorified art teacher?

Portraying Emotion in Generative Art

I was impressed with a thesis paper this week that is titled,

portraying emotion in generative music composition 

written by Alison Mattek. I was reminded of my definition of art having to do with conveying the emotion of the artist, and this topic name threw me off. I do believe that computers could generate art, but I had never thought about this idea that they can actually portray emotion through that art. Do computers and programs feel anything? Is the computer portraying the emotion of the program creator? Is the generative piece simply modeling the emotion that would be felt if the piece had been written by a specific person? So many questions.

The paper is really very interesting though and it goes on to talk about algorithms that have been created in order to create the same type of emotion that would be felt if the piece had been created by a human. This is done by tweaking and programming different elements of the piece. As the paper states, "Recent research in music perception has correlated the quality of specific musical features (e.g. harmony, tempo, timbre) with certain emotional reactions in the listener." These musical features can then be changed around to evoke the desired emotion, and this process can be taught to computers.

If generative pieces really can evoke and display emotion, then one would argue that computers definitely can make art.

Interactive Installation Art

Camille Utterback is an artist that creates "interactive installations". She creates shapes that move according to user input from video cameras. This input goes into her program and results in the movment and flowing of the piece. In this videro, Utterback states, "When creating a piece its almost like creating a whole environment." This is because the piece is not static, but constantly moving and changing. Utterback addresses the fact that she is using projection now much less than in the past and her pieces are now usually done with LEDs. She worries about what this means for light itself in the art world. I find this interesting myself, because so much of what we do with painting and such is pigmentation and it is all possible because of light. As we move away from light into other means of displaying art, we must find new ways to express those same feelings with a different medium. I appreciate Utterback's pieces because it allows the user to put a say into what the piece means to them. It makes the piece personal, and more meaningful to each distinct individual and their distinct experiences with the piece.

Wonderbook (Augmented Reality)

I am so impressed with Playstation's Wonderbook. The Wonderbook uses augmented reality in the form of a story book that becomes a game. As the player turns the pages of the book, they see things growing out of the pages on the tv screen. The interaction of the book promotes learning, and can be used for many different forms of education. In this video, we see how the Wonderbook becomes a "spell book" from the world of Harry Potter. As the user interacts, they learn spells that they must later use to duel and pass levels. While, not particularly art, I love the idea of using augmented reality in education. It would be absolutely incredible to use the Wonderbook to learn art history. Instead of simply seeing the picture of a sculpture in a textbook, you would be able to see the 3D image, moving it around to see all angles. It would not only be a more interactive way to learn, but more exciting as well.

Today's Spirograph

I remember playing with Spirographs when I was little. It was this drawing toy with little gears that would produce beautiful geometric designs due to its mathematical shapes.

This year I actually learned how to make the same shapes using python on a computer. The result is much faster, and seemingly more intricate, and changeable with a simple backspace and number change. I'm impressed that I do not have to pull out my Spirograph kit and handle the various gears and shapes in order to create the same art that is now so easily accessible. Today, Spirograph programs can be used for all kinds of things up to audio visualization of music. This is possible because computers and the algorithms it uses to create these shapes, can erase and draw faster that I can put my pencil in the little hole of one of the gears in the original Spirograph kit. Modern day technology is faster and more efficient and more intricate than that of the past, and it is exciting to see what has been done to improve art given this new medium.