after a semester of hearing groans of frustration and technology based angst (not from me, but vicariously through my classmates) matt just uttered the best quote about the software i have heard:
“I just don’t understand how you can have a program that is largely based on trouble shooting.”
sums it up for me!
i guess this is becoming a series, perhaps this is the last one. a ghost, a dragon and a cat, sounds pretty complete (or like the introduction to a joke told at a renaissance faire.)
for GD510, i am working on two a diagrams for visualizing a community structure:
1) an arrangement that represents a community with a centralized leader
2) an arrangement that represents a community with a decentralized, or share, leadership model
as part of this process, i am taking an informal survey around campus using small squares of quilting fabric. i lay out about 6 stacks of all the same size and ask participants to assemble them in two formations, represented the centralized and decentralized communities. so far, i have given the kit and questions to five groups/persons. the results are not meant to be empirically certain, rather to inspire the process of creating the diagrams and the interactive interface. i was in dire need of expanding my vision beyond my own impressions of the project. what better way to visualize community, than to ask the community. here are the results so far. i will add annotations after i transcribe my notes. however, it is apparent just at a glance that there are some similarities! thanks to those who have taken the time to help me …
I thought it was about time for a post about our seventh studiomate, george. when matt brought the foreman grill in, i wrote it off as a meat eaters device. then, as the 2nd years moved up to the second floor and away from the microwave, i re-examined the possibilities that the foreman offered. turns out, its very handy. and unlike the microwave, sandwiches are crispy and melty, not rubbery and gooey after bombardment with particles and waves. here are some of our tasty creations: (all cook for 3 min)
the matt classic:
turkey, mayo, pesto, wheat bread
the sam:
frozen burrito, toasted not nuked! much better.
the steve:
swiss cheese, mustard, tomato on pita or wheat
the kelly:
swiss, avocado, honey mustard dressing, tomato on wheat tortilla
ituna:
tuna from foil packet (or tuna salad if you had time that morning), mayo, swiss, tomato, pita
quesa do ya:
corn tortilla, black beans, corn, cumin, salsa, avocado
(this one leaks out a little)
foreman desserts:
heat a brownie for 1 min
s’mores! (untested idea)
pb, honey & banana sandwich
who knew … so versatile!
scrunch face steve
val ponders
the type ninja is hiding in mattcom
i am a reflection in the glass
a spot of light appeared on my newsprint pad as the sunset spilled through my studio window. a prism somewhere on the ledge filtered the beam and threw a ball of rainbow onto the page. i drew a ghost around it.
i received the following prompt/request from a classmate:
“I am working on a topic of algorithm for seminar mid term (assingment: mapping of any topic). So I’ve been reading books such as “remediation” to understand thoughts about new media and tech. Do you have any approach idea (direction/angle) about mapping of algorithm (or randomised algorithm)? Any thought to poke any aspect?”
turns out, i enjoyed pondering this little missive and its request. i needed a break from the introspective and all consuming world of my thesis anyway.
here is my reply:
hey there! i was working on thesis and in “the groove” so to speak. but i have been thinking about your dilemma. the first thing that came to mind (after looking up the wiki definitions of algorithm and briefly familiarizing myself with the myriad and flexible meanings of the word) was to start with a process that we as designers are familiar with so that there is a visual component ready made, versus invented or culled from the vast universe of information surrounding an unfamiliar topic.
i thought deeply about
the compression and reduction algorithms of photoshop
and how they change the pixel and color content of an image. the algorithms used to compress an image out of image ready, for example, range from vastly altering the appearance of the image to slight, barely perceptible shifts. however, they also change the size of the file, which alludes to the unseen world “behind” the image in the digital and the way that images are realized and brought to life through the technology of the screen. anyway, concept mapping these came to mind:
perception of change of images subjected to algorithms
reduction in a mathematical way
file size change versus visual change
can you map the change in how the image is perceived by a viewer after being subjected to these reductions? this brings in all sorts of cultural connotations … difficult and esoteric, but maybe interesting as well.
in this same vein, i was thinking about algorithms for enlarging images. they basically make complicated guesses at what should appear next to each pixel in terms of color. in this respect, but again thinking very ethereal and esoteric, these huge images (like the photos blown up for billboards or the sides of a bus) have information in them that communicate as “reality” when they were approximated by algorithms.
applications like the rasterbater make even more leaps. the images produced by this tool are usually used for aesthetic reasons, and not to enlarge for “realism”. this too has interesting possibilities to connect algorithm.
so that … is my brainstorm on your topic. take from it what you will.
just a little every day wear in every day situations. a collage i am working on for final project.
here is what i think is my final circle/dot/spot drawing that i will now attempt to animate to show the growth of a small section of a network and then reveal its place within the larger network.
(that sounds like the intro to a trapeze trick, maybe it is …)
You are currently browsing the archives for the studio work category.