http://e-sa.org/itp/spatial/ Spatial Design en Tue, 04 Dec 2007 01:26 -0500 http://e-sa.org/data/view?fn=20071203_1196743434.txt http://e-sa.org/data/view?fn=20071203_1196743434.txt
Please refer to our final project portfolio.

Q: We often talk about design constraints; what if constraints were not
only coming by the context of your project but also from knowing your
own limits?

A: Knowing my limits is extremely important.

Q: What are your design constraints or limits?

A: I cannot draw, sketch, work with motors or mechical systems well.
This limits the expression of my ideas conceptually, and on occasion
their implementation.

Q: What are you doing very well?

A: I am creative and collaborate with others well. I am good at
designing and implementing quickly.

Q: What is included in your zone of comfort, what is included in your
zone of innovation, what do you place at the intersection of comfort and
innovation? Which breakthroughs may come from acknowledging your limits?

A: The brick screen is in my zone of innovation. Working with materials
and subjects which are unknown to me is usually innovative. However, I
make the best completed piece when I work with materials which are
familiar to me.

Q: From the experience of the final project, how can you rethink your
work flow and production pipeline? What can you improve: organization,
time management, collaboration, skills, budget...

A: Allocating more time would have been good. Paying more attention to
the details, and testing the video/screen idea beforehand would have
led to fewer headaches. The distance between the layers made it
difficult to align the bricks well. Instead of projecting on different
layers, the screen became an object, beautiful from the side and back as
well. Bright, moving objects worked best on screen.

I looked at Spatial Design as an opportunity to work with space,
materials, and drawing. I did get to do all of these things. Best of
all was meeting and working with Ana Maria. I wish I had built a few
more projects which worked with space, but I am more aware of my limits
now, and the amount of time required to complete such a project. Taking
Spatial Design didn't make me an expert in any of these areas. However,
I learned a lot, especially the power of working with others. Keeping
track of artists and photos like Jean-Marc and Despina do is a wonderful
practice. Work with new materials in advance, when it's time to do an
assignment work with the materials you know!

-- Tue, 04 Dec 2007 01:26 -0500
]]> Mon, 26 Nov 2007 12:12 -0500 http://e-sa.org/data/view?fn=20071126_1196096676.txt http://e-sa.org/data/view?fn=20071126_1196096676.txt Week 12, Construction

During Thanksgiving break the team began and completed construction on
our final piece. Regretfully I wasn't able to join everyone, as I was
away for holiday. I did however, contribute by developing an algorithm
for dispersing the bricks between 5 planes. The same algorithm can also
be used to display content on the screen. View an iteration here.

The brick wall is looking wonderful.



The seed used to randomly choose the placement of bricks is from environment
data at Bushwick. Or at least, that's how it should be. The images generated
on this site are seeded by PHP's random function.

-- Mon, 26 Nov 2007 12:12 -0500
]]> Tue, 20 Nov 2007 04:22 -0500 http://e-sa.org/data/view?fn=20071120_1195545331.txt http://e-sa.org/data/view?fn=20071120_1195545331.txt Week 11, Final Project



After a bit of deliberation Ana and I decided to combine our Spatial
Design final with her Metaforms project. Ana, Maria and Rucyl were
already working on an impressive installation, so I will be joining
them! I am working on the layout of the blocks. As a future note, the
laser cutter can't cut foam board over 1/8", it burns. Use something
else!

As of 11/19 the blocks are cute and frame parts purchased. Friday will
be a construction session, regretfully I won't be able to help.

-- Tue, 20 Nov 2007 04:22 -0500
]]> Tue, 13 Nov 2007 02:29 -0500 http://e-sa.org/data/view?fn=20071112_1194875772.txt http://e-sa.org/data/view?fn=20071112_1194875772.txt Week 10, Final Project



What is movement? What is movement to our bodies, nature or a building?
Can we loose ourselves in a structure, only for that structure to find
us within its walls? How can our perception of space be changed so
that we become part of it, rather than just present within it? Our
piece is an installation, but attempts to probe into the possibilities of
reflective space, where the viewer becomes closer to themselves and the
structures they inhabit.

A labyrinth of corridors from two planes have been etched out in human
scale, creating a space for people to walk between and around. Two
projectors display scenes of movement in human and nature scenes which
shine through to play on each others walls. The mirrors catch the
reflection of both projectors, as well as the viewers as they pass,
generating a new perception of space.

For the final project I am working with Ana Maria Gutierrez.
For conceptual images, please see Ana's blog.

Keywords to describe your project?

movement shadow play autumn visual immersive

Notes on ...

- the laser cutter can handle pieces up to 18"x32"
- using 16:9 aspect ratio of projector, the video is 2:1
- this means the piece will be around 60"x30
- 4 laser cut pieces per plane x 2 = 8 boards
- can we get laser cutting tickets for this?
- distance from projector to wall is 3-4 meters
- haven't found dually reflective mirrors yet, check canal

-- Tue, 13 Nov 2007 02:29 -0500
]]> Mon, 05 Nov 2007 20:58 -0500 http://e-sa.org/data/view?fn=20071105_1194313229.txt http://e-sa.org/data/view?fn=20071105_1194313229.txt Week 9, Organic Architecture



Welcome to my world of horrible drawing. Recently I have been working
with a theme of breathing architecture. I'd like to broaden this to
"organic". The feeling of breath will be purveyed using light. Imagine
the main corridor of ITP, drawn above. The ceiling usually consists of
pipes and lights, but these have been covered by a ceiling of mirrors.



These mirrors are not continuous, but cut into organic shapes, partially
reflecting the floor and people. Behind each piece is a light,
accenting the outline of the mirror to viewers below. These lights
slowly dim in and out in a peaceful breathing theme.



Mirrors are used to combine the viewers sense of self with the building,
as both are contained in the reflection. However, neither the view of
the viewer or building is complete or accurate, since the perceptions of
each are so different. We have sight, smell, and hearing for example,
while buildings can sense heat, and changes to their structure.



As the number of people on the floor increases, the mirrors slowly open
upward, revealing the ceiling above. This ceiling is actually a line of
red, the veins of the building beneath the mirror skin. As the red
line pulsates, messages such as "HI", "DON'T HURT ME", "YOU ARE WARM"
appear in a mixture of English and foreign languages.



Such a project would require at least a 3 yard run of space, the ability
to attach multiple lines to the ceiling (or runners), ample power,
lights, and fabric. The number of people entering the building would be
monitored using an infrared camera pointing down from the ceiling.



-- Mon, 05 Nov 2007 20:58 -0500
]]> Mon, 29 Oct 2007 14:03 -0400 http://e-sa.org/data/view?fn=20071029_1193679208.txt http://e-sa.org/data/view?fn=20071029_1193679208.txt Week 8, Geo Labyrinth

My Labyrinth began with a 2D drawing, landscaping a part of my imagination. As
the lines twisted and turned, which spaces depict inner space versus outer
space?



My hope is that the viewer is drawn in by the twisting lines, which under
inspection reveal a myriad of figures and faces. For the next step to 3D, I
decided to step away from abstract lines, into geometric forms.



Rather than being merely an object, my desire is for it to affect the
space it occupies. I created a 3" triangle which hangs from the ceiling, in
the center of which is a much smaller 2D triangle. Should the user view it in
2D or 3D space? As the triangles hang, the object twists as a mobile.



The upper triangle, which is separated from the space we occupy, it
connected via conductive thread to another obscured object near the
ground. Thus the object is connected to our space as well. The purple
laden object also lights the floor, casting an image of the triangle shape
above. Thus it provides an entryway for the object's labyrinth space.



-- Mon, 29 Oct 2007 14:03 -0400
]]> Tue, 23 Oct 2007 09:40 -0400 http://e-sa.org/data/view?fn=20071023_1193146775.txt http://e-sa.org/data/view?fn=20071023_1193146775.txt Week 7, Labyrinth

I thoroughly enjoyed reading "The Library of Babel". Having no previous
knowledge of the reading, at first I thought it was a Greek text
detailing some ancient library. After a page or two I realized it was
either fiction or extreme exaggeration, and finally I looked up the
details of the story and author, fascinated to learn it had
been written so recently.

In response to the library I sketched my own labyrinth, in a style I
have been drawing since I can remember. It is all done in one resting
of the pen, one flow of consciousness. The style of the line slowly
changes as the drawing progresses, first fluid, then a bit more jagged.
Close inspection reveals faces, viewing it from a distance reveals...?



Responses have likened it to a contour map, or a weather pattern.
Jean-Marc suggested I add narration, perhaps make it into a terrain, or
change the intensity of the color based on the energy level of a
traveller. Perhaps I could film parts of it, not revealing the whole,
using a spotlight.

-- Tue, 23 Oct 2007 09:40 -0400
]]> Mon, 15 Oct 2007 18:54 -0400 http://e-sa.org/data/view?fn=20071015_1192486660.txt http://e-sa.org/data/view?fn=20071015_1192486660.txt Week 5 & 6, Structures

Buckminster Fuller. Domes, geometric structures, world change.

Our assignment was two-fold over two weeks, one creating an object,
another expanding on that object in Maya. Steve, Karen and I decided to
tackle the world together. First we set off to create an object.

Materials:
3mm wooden dowels
sexy purple fabric
glue
conductive thread

We wanted to express a shape, starting with triangles. What better way
to start than with 3mm wood? We chopped up several dowels, and sanded
them so they would fit together. From them we created 3d triangles.
The hollow wooden structures were quite beautiful.

From there we started piecing them together. Our first thought was to
make a mobile of some type, Buckminster-esque objects strung
together. Instead, we ended up making two pieces. One is a light, hung
by conductive thread. At the end of the thread is a double 3d triangle,
covered in purple fabric. The second structure is an unlikely
extrusion, made to sprout elegantly from the wall. Our design concept
came more from experimentation and flow of thought than anything else.

Next, we tackled Maya. While it is a past work, Karen created a piece, Tetramorph,
which has excellent synergy with our current work. From it Steve generated a
3d model and animation to compliment our series.





-- Mon, 15 Oct 2007 18:54 -0400
]]> Wed, 19 Sep 2007 21:09 -0400 http://e-sa.org/data/view?fn=20071001_1191277275.txt http://e-sa.org/data/view?fn=20071001_1191277275.txt Week 3 & 4, Mobile

During my week in Japan I focused on the form of a person bowing.
Regretfully, I didn't get any film or sequential photographs of bowing,
so my representation of the movement is based on observation.





The top series of images is a view of the person from the side. The
second is the front, and bottom focuses on the shoulder and arm from the
side. Next I decided to build an interpretation of the bowing movement.
I find the pivoting of the body during bowing fascinating. One pivots
from the hip, and then because the arm is more or less kept straight, you
have interesting movement of the arms against the body. I thought a
mobile would be able to represent the object honestly.

I settled on sculpture wire, and went to work. Regretfully the
connections I made to connect the pieces did not pivot. My work ended
up being closer to a sculpture than a mobile, it was more or less frozen
in place.



I continued to develop this project for intro phys comp.

-- Mon, 01 Oct 2007 18:24 -0400
]]> Wed, 19 Sep 2007 20:57 -0400 http://e-sa.org/data/view?fn=20070919_1190249676.txt http://e-sa.org/data/view?fn=20070919_1190249676.txt Week 2, Point of View

In addition to reading Panopticon, Jean-Marc asked us to express a
point of view. Choose a wall, sit with your back against it and observe
your surroundings for an extended period of time only moving your eyes.
What do you see? How do you interpret the space around you? How does
the space change? The medium for expressing this point of view was at
our digression.

I had an idea in mind before Jean-Marc had even made the assignment. In
my small room in Brooklyn, my wife and I often use ichat to speak with
each other. It is almost a window into my apartment in Ebisu. When she
is not there during the day (evening in New York), I hear the incessant
beeping of the garbage truck backing up. My goal was to express that
space from my perspective, back against the wall in Brooklyn, in a way
which shows two vastly distance spaces in a compact model.

After initiating an ichat session I began my observation. When I was
done I captured my space in photographs. At the same time in Tokyo, my
wife captured the objects in view of the camera. I wanted to capture
not the digital elements visible on screen, but the physical reality, at
a specific time, of both locations.

I printed both collages and glued them to particle board, and made a
thin, wire-like structure to hold it together. I specifically narrowed
the space between the panels, or slices of space, as a juxtaposition of
their actual physical distance. Behind the middle panel, Brooklyn, is
my Tokyo home, and the view is directed by a nail struck through the
middle of the board, directly through the powerbook camera.

I was pleased with the results, but I have a feeling the points of
interest in the object to me and the observe are quite different. Many
of the comments extended beyond the explanation I wrote above, spurring
me into though about redesign and improvement. I may continue to work
expressing slices of time and space.



Wed, 19 Sep 2007 20:57 -0400
]]> Mon, 17 Sep 2007 11:18 -0400 http://e-sa.org/data/view?fn=20070917_1190039023.txt http://e-sa.org/data/view?fn=20070917_1190039023.txt Discipline & Punish: The Birth of the Prison

Having read just part three, and not Foucault's entire book, I found the
flow of his writing jarring and difficult to follow. While Foucault
constantly quotes Bentham, there is little other material to fortify his
other broad reaching comments. While using the Panopticon as the
vehicle of separation between the disciplines and the roots of
surveillance society, we must remember it is hardly the sole catalyst
of such changes. Prisons and the Panopticon existed before modern
institutionalization, and the restructuring of the economy into larger
and larger systems has been more spurred the gathering of power than
anything else (in my opinion).

The principle of the unknown, faceless observer is still the same today, but
with technology, the observer is no longer restricted to what is visible
from a watching post. By installing cameras across the city we have
created a web of data controlled centrally, but dispersed over any
physical distance. Amusingly, after reading this article I came across
Big Brother is watching us all on the BBC.

We must also remember that our society is more accepting of criticism to
its institutions, and we have more freedom to live outside its defined
boundaries, depending on privileges of our nationality. What I find
more concerning is the increasing specialization required in disciplines
to be considered knowledgeable, and then the sheer effort needed to
contribute to that knowledge base. The amount of capital required to
create a sustainable business or piece of work is continually
increasing, feeding the development of ever larger institutions to
continue our perceived forward technological momentum. I digress.

Except in cases where those being observed are somehow stigmatized, be
prisoners, or the ill, many institutions allow the observed to enter the
pinnacle from which they are being observed, fostering a sense of
closeness void from the Panopticon. For example, in schools we are
allowed to visit the main office, and the offices of its staff. The
troubling exception to this is public surveillance, where multiple
sources such as video cameras and internet routers are constantly
pooling information. The methods for combing this information is often
performed by a computer which has no sense of morality, privacy, or
restriction programmed into its software. Ethics is something which has
yet to filtrate into computer programming, which overtime will hopefully
change.

-- Mon, 17 Sep 2007 11:18 -0400
]]> Mon, 10 Sep 2007 01:04 -0400 http://e-sa.org/data/view?fn=20070910_1189398713.txt http://e-sa.org/data/view?fn=20070910_1189398713.txt
Photos

My day began with a bike ride. From Bay Ridge, Brooklyn to the museum,
probably 15 miles give or take a few. I love biking through Brooklyn.
Every 20 blocks you hit a different neighborhood, with a different
ethnic prevalence. Probably not too dislike what Isamu Noguchi's life
was like. Having been born in the US, raised in both the US and Japan,
yet being accepted by neither. The major events of his life were
likely more painful than any of the potholes I ran into on my way to the
Pulaski Bridge.

Despite having so many of his project proposals rejected, being neither
allowed in the US or Japan to undertake government funded projects on
grounds of his nationality, Noguchi prevailed. Despite failure,
Noguchi's works are nothing but soft, delicate, and natural.

The museum and its grounds were an excellent space to display his work.
While I enjoyed the garden, probably one of the few landscapes Noguchi
has completed, I thought it was a bit cluttered. I wonder if, or how it
has evolved over time. I particularly liked the greenery which was
planted, Japanese pine and American trees, representations of both
his cultural backgrounds.

I found many of Noguchi's works difficult to understand. If I looked at
the title of the piece, then back at the work, stood and furrowed my
brow... I saw Noguchi's work as being highly abstract. In each work is
a piece of Noguchi's philosophy. I couldn't hope to understand it in one
viewing. On the other hand, I found his marble works easy to approach.

The marble itself is beautiful, and in many cases Noguchi is consciously
crafting it into a shape. The "Sun at Noon", or its dark half are
amazing. I love how Noguchi drilled holes and left their wake apparent.
It is almost as if he wants you to see how he approached the stone. If
only the museum had done a better job lighting these pieces so they
could have come to life.

My favorite piece has to be "unmei". Many of Noguchi's works are titled
in English, but this huge piece in the garden was not. Unmei in English
means fate. Why did he name it "unmei" and not "fate"? Was he
referring to the fate of his life or the rock's sculpting? Regardless,
I felt a sense of fate as I looked down the deep corridor which had been
carved through the top of the stone. There was only one path.

My path home was to jump on the tram across to 59th street, then back
through Manhattan to Brooklyn.

-- Mon, 10 Sep 2007 01:04 -0400
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