7 in 7 - Major Studio 2
A Process for Neither Haste nor Waste
"Devise a repeatable algorithm to find 7 items in the Gimbel Library (or Constoria library). Clearly document the algorithm, how artifacts were selected and the content documentation of the artifact itself. A project shall emerge by the 7th day from pure inspiration. Any combination of artifacts may be used towards the resulting project."
Haste nor Waste Why the title? Because I ponder, and fuss, and pick too much so this project will be firstly about speed. Not haste. Haste means something done without thought. I would like to constrain my thought to manageable increments so that excuses have no time to arise.
DAY 1
My first day at the library I immediately saw six research guides for each of the main topics displayed in colorful paper right at the library entrance. These would be my touchstones for the first 6 days. I will pick a book from one of the call numbers from each of the 6 sheets and then a random 7th artifact of my choosing. By the sixth day I will have learnt the layout of the library well enough that I will challenge myself to choose the 6 subjects and the 7th random without the aid of the research guides. The choosing of artifacts today will be done by listening to the 7th song on a random album in my iPod. once the song is 1:17 seconds in (77 sec) I will stop and choose a book from that section and call number. The book must have a 7 somewhere in the call number.
Once I have selected the books, I will choose seven illustrations/images/designs/paintings etc from each book and scan them.
That is all I can think of for the algorithm for now. I am allowing myself to change the mechanics of the search once a day though not necessarily every day of the 6 days. This will help to encourage fresh thought and trump any redundancies that might occur in the search algorithm.
DAY 2 Today I arrived at the library and had the impulse to find the 7 smallest books I could from each section of the library. Within each tiny book I endeavored to find the smallest image. Sometimes that smallest image wasn't that interesting so I opted for small but more interesting. It was really delightful to find all these tiny books. Tiny books tend to be very focused on their subject. The little-ness also helped me to keep from pondering too much, there was always an obvious choice even if it wasn't the most exciting one.
DAY 3 Today I arrived and decided that I would search for 6 books based on the research guides and a 7th totally random using the constraint of the name of the author or the title had to start with an F (F is the seventh letter of the alphabet). I would then scan the 7th and 77th (and if applicable, the 777th) page of each book. This yielded some interesting results but made the selection of the images a little excruciating since I had no choice in the matter of what was depicted on the 7th and 77th pages of each book.
DAY 4 Today I made an amazing discovery: there are 5 more research guides to choose from with whole sections of the library yet to explore!
So I took to mixing and matching and decided to go by color, taking all warm-toned research guides and finding books from those respective sections that matched those colors and then furthering the algorithm by choosing a photo from inside the book that matched the cover color. I'm pretty pleased with the results. At this point I've abandoned the original search algorithm almost completely in favor adding further randomizing complexity by making a new agolrithm each day. The constants so far have been: 7 books, 6 based on research guide sections, the last a totally unrelated choice.
DAY 5
It's Super Bowl Sunday and I'm planning on celebrating like every good American: eating a lot of meat at a friends house. But first the algorithm. I've brought Nick along and I think I'm going to ask him to compose the strategy for today's selections.
At first I waited, not knowing how he was making his selections. He came back with 7 books, all with covers featuring red and blue prominently, the colors of both teams playing in the super bowl tonight.
Then we headed up and started scanning, with him marking a page quickly and handing it to me. I also marked a page that I selected almost at random, with some quality control to be sure there was image content on the page. Only after a few scans did I realize that Nick had chosen the 77th pages of every book. I was more than pleased with results.
DAY 6 - the last day in the library
Today I arrived at the library wanting build on the loose algorithms I've been developing. Today was all white, or as much white a cover as possible from every aisle until I had 6 appropriate books and the 7th i chose from the Design And Technology section of the stacks in honor of my program. Then I began searching for images within the books that had as much white space as I could find.
Domain Map - Major Studio 2
First started with some post-its I borrowed from Dan. If they were touching I considered the topics and skills related in some way. The singular connection options of a traditional Venn diagram were not flexible enough for me and it took me a while to generate a new variation that conveyed the same connections I had made in this draft.
I was very pleased with the final version on the left. The squares' shapes and proximity to each other within the larger concept squares managed to begin to convey how I feel these ideas are related to each other.
domain map draft
Audio Visualizer Experiments - Audio Visual Systems
a simple step sequencer with C++ and Openframeworks using direct sound card manipulation with SoundFLower
Circle pop audio visualizer using C++ in open frameworks
Graphic Composition - an audio response to a still image, image by Shankari Murali
Create short soundtracks based on a set of 9 images given to the class by our instructors. they are equally split: melodica with filters, loops, and MIDI instruments.
Block Party - GLOBE Course
A survey of my block in Brooklyn.
Party Poster - I printed it and hung around my block. The only Google Voice message I got was a call chastising me for not correcting the Internet-translated Italian I used.
For my final investigation for GLOBE I decided to build on my group work from Occudopt and try to create an intentional community like the one on the block next door. They always have a fun-ass block party every July so I thought “why couldn’t our block have one too?” So this is a document of my foray into block party organizing. Slow work but I hope it will happen summer of 2012! EDIT - it didn’t, still hasn’t. But now
New Bento - Major Studio 1
I set out to make a speculative nutrition piece that explores the convenience of portable food. By using the concept of bento (ancient Japanese slang for "convenience", modern Japanese art form) as a medium with which to investigate how people think about acquiring their food, where is comes from and what it takes to get their meal.
TailorAid Demonstration- Fashionable Technology
A public presentation of TailorAid at EYEBEAM in NYC
Documentation of a User Interface look and feel prototype
TailorAid is a measurement system utilizing the Microsoft Kinect with the OFxKinect library for Opensrameworks
The software uses real-time 3D measurements by combining digital video and infrared cameras to triangulate depth from 2D imagery. The output of the software is accurate body measurement data for sizing of ready-to-wear clothing and custom clothing.
TailorAid Research - Fashionable Technology
TailorAid in the shop.
TailorAid at home
TaiorAid for designers
NYC Cycling Safety - Creativity and Computation
The most frequently used excuse I hear for NOT wearing visibility safety gear among cyclists is simple vanity. This project aims to aesthetcize and simplify safety gear for cyclists by making it attractive and effective.
I'm hoping to make these items detachable from the garment so that no one jacket is the safety jacket. A cyclist would be able to wear protective gear no matter what they're wearing.
Occudopt - GLOBE Course
Adopt an Occupy Wall Street protester
A site where active Occupy Wall Street protesters can connect with people who cannot physically participate in the occupation. People from other states, countries or NYC boroughs can sign up to connect with protesters share ideas and participate indirectly. github.com project
Instruction Set for Strangers - Major Studio 1
Location Creation
A group project in which the brief was to create an interaction that was “readable” without any written instructions or demonstration.
5 in 5 Day 5 - Major Studio 1
View food en route in a larger map
fOOD EN ROUTE RESOURCE MAP
Survival in NYC is the best some people can hope for. The word survive can have a negative connotation but access to free and at-cost food in NYC is really a practical matter of class and access. Especially when you consider that even growing your own food is not possible or even illegal. Some community garden memberships are free. Dumpster diving is free. Crab fishing off a dock with string and chicken bones is free. I don’t believe in freeganism as a viable lifestyle since it springs from wasteful practices that, if freegans achieved their aims, would cease to be a phenomenon. But eithin the context of the costs of feeding yourself in New York City it's an admirable "damn the man" attitude that I wish I was brave enough to try. I've started mapping places where I've seen what I believe to be higher quality discarded food, food growing or food being caught. Hopefully an ongoing project. Here are some links on finding free food, how to dumpster dive and a freegan map (a bit dated)
*This project was not my first idea. My attempts to acquire the parts needed to make what I originally wanted to make (a potato battery) did not happen in time
5 in 5 Day 4 - Major Studio 1
A Game of Squash - Processing Sketch
I designed this simple processing game to teach myself about the numerous sorts of squash that constantly show up in my CSA share. I never know what to do with them and it breaks my heart to see them eventually shrivel on my kitchen table only to be thrown away whole a month later. Squash are cheap, they keep well and and are full of general goodness so there's no reason not to eat 'em all up.
This project is a bit of a failure for me. I feel that I overlaid what I know how to do in web onto processing rather than coding something effective. But it was a great exercise for some coding practice.
UPDATE: Here is the archived source code on openprocessing.org.
5 in 5 Day 3 - Major Studio 1
Recipe Darlin’ Aggregator
The goal for this day’s project was twofold: to aggregate recipes form sites that i like into one place and to learn how to install and customize a hosted WordPress site on my own. Both need work but both are working, so who's complaining? plus I'm making ginger salmon for dinner! recipedarlin.me
Aggregation Results
recipedarlin.com screengrab
5 in 5 Day 2 - Major Studio 1
Hands-Free Shopping
Who doesn't look silly when carrying too many grocery bags in the city? As someone who will go pretty far out of the way for cheap, quality produce I've had my fair share of walks and bike rides that felt like I was setting off on the Oregon Trail.
When carrying delicious things a long distance, it's just impossible to fit it all in one bag and still have the weight distributed properly. I wanted to make a comfortable, portable, carrying aid that would also allow me to have at least one of my hands free. this would make my shopping trips less painful and potentially aid in doing so more frequently.
such modern burdens
Grocery Bra™ in action
prototype of the hands-free bag harness
sketch
5 in 5 Day 1 - Major Studio 1
Personal Food Guide Pyramid
I've decided to use this time to focus on food. Specifically on feeding myself. The act of consuming food has much cultural significance and yet in the last 100 years we've lost our natural priority to commune and sup together. Local bounty, seasonal specialties and annual feasts have lost their connection and meaning. Yet we are inundated with choice.So I've made my own food guide based on my own observations and preferences. Damn the man and his pyramid.
USDA Food Pyramid - 1996
In order to deal with this assault of choice we invented the Four Food Groups. Then the Food Guide Pyramid. Now there's Choose My Plate. All of them a weird visualization of a probable compromise between the USDA and the dairy, beef, corn, and soybean lobbies. But it's hard toss out, even with the knowledge of it's, um, less than nutritional inception. The food guide pyramid was the first data visualization to impact my life. But how did we get to this point? Do we need something like this to remind us of what it means to eat a good meal? And if one were to follow the classic food guide pyramid would you really be eating all that well?
US Food Administration - 1883
US food guide -1916
choosemyplate.gov - 2007