User:Koen van Geel/'''''== PAPER =='''''/'' Paper ''
The origins of my practice lies by Graphic Design, in my opinion an outdated term, it is embroiled with several disciplines. Attendance technology not only ensures change in the way Graphic design applies. The boundary between the amateur designer and professional designer becomes more doubtful. The internet offers a netwerk were everyone is connected, and acts as a source were information can be spread very easily. Media including Youtube or Vimeo can be used as networks which provide Professional Knowledge in ex. the form of tutorials, a group of DIY designers and hobby designers is the result. The modern technology also offers in the form of websites/apps the opportunities to generate a design or website by yourself in a very easy way. Because of this, many designers are forced to work in the way of Design Factories, and generates as many designs in a short time. Personally i think it is a challenge to distinguish myself from the DIY designer by keep digging for potential issues and New Forms of aesthetics. And to apply graphic design to be a form of storytelling.
Robots have the ability to learn human behaviors and technics, and the crafts of people are replaced by technological solutions. This is happening and going to be developed in the field of graphic design. That is precisely why i think it is interesting to search for other perspectives in the spectrum of technology and technological applications as a designer. In general people expect functionality and the ability to solve problems by technology. Technology is often developed with the intention to solve a problem. The Way Dunne & Raby’s approach electronic objects in ’’Technological Dream Series’’ is really interesting and inspiring. The way they place technology outside the context of functionality, and the aesthetic approach is fascinating. Experiments within this research spectrum can revolve in really nice and interesting images and graphic solutions. My motivation is the combination between the urge to understand how objects, devices and people work, and the fascination for shapes and images. Therefore it is a logical step for me to make a visual translation of my findings.
Modern technology is a spectrum that can be explored and appropriated by the professional designer in many ways. The combination of technology, data, materials and technology can provide a metamorphosis of shapes. This offers the exiting opportunity to relinquish the control of a visual result (generated image) In the early 60’s there was already been experimented with the generated image by using the first computers. Hiroshi Kawano is a computer artist who made a series of computer generated images in 1964, that felt like a reinterpretation of Piet Mondriaan. Kawano was already experimenting with computers in the early years of development in this field, by placing it outside the context of its function, this is why I really admire him. The images he have generated are a certain timelessness in itself. I find it interesting to be inspired by designers that guided their work by technological findings. Roger Skinner also saw potential in the approach of computers in a visual way. He uses this technology to generate an transform graphical shapes. I am very excited by the aesthetic approach of shapes and colours in his work.
Outside the possibility to experiment with the output of technology, i find the interrelationship of technology within the society, and the influence of the internet and technology on human behavior very interesting. The urge to understand how objects and people operate and work together in combination with shapes and images is often the feed for my research. Modern technology had a great influence on these aspects, it makes objects not only complex and intelligent, but also affect the daily life of humans. I find it very motivating to dive into this spectrum, and investigate and experiment its values.
A major inspiration and input for my work are the stories of people, i like to get inspired by experiences and sensations of others. Reinterpreting and bringing together different materials, stories and technologies is often the starting point of a project of research. Our accessibility and connectivity has grown dramatically in recent years. The internet ensure that we can get in touch and share information with almost everyone. Different types of media on the internet constitute a platform ore public stage where anyone can drop there story. I find it very interesting to see how people interact with this public stage. For example the difference between the spontaneity of most amateur youtube channels and the directed and forced footage on the television.
The Internet provides a source for me to collect and observe stories. There are a lot of people who are very obsessive to be heard and share their story with the world, it is an must to be heard. It provides an endless source of footage of people who decide to make their lives public. It is also a public stage where everyone get the opportunity to spread their opinion. The internet created a platform with a form debates. There is always the will to be connected and communicate with each other via the internet. This connectivity leads to a differents of social interaction, and the quality of the relationship is often on a different level. The foundation for my research is hotglue, a program I use to document al the steps. It is an application in wich you can freely arrange content on a blank Web page. Throughout the consistence of processing my research documents, i hope to gain overview of my findings. My craft is the translation of stories affected by technology into a visual translation.
‘’ Against which I run during the experimentation and application of technology is the complexity of certain techniques. I want to develop like in the technical field that I can work less dependent, and results in more autonomous freedom ‘’
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During my practice in the 3rd year I followed critical studies, where a project is built from a theoretical approach. What I missed was the practical approach and research wich I have encountered during my practice in the 2nd year. It is the metamorphosis, growth and results in a practical research combined with theory i find really instructive and rich in a project. Experimenting with materials, technology and the combination hereof. With this conclusion, I have chosen to go back to Digital Craft again which is closer to the way of working i like. Digital Craft I experience to be more positively surprised during my research. Theme radiation is a topic to be explored a lot of potential in both practical and theoretical terms. That's why I'm happy to go through the minor digital craft with this theme. It's a subject I personally know little about but it is all around me while you can not see it often. It is also a theme which has the potential to interpeteren in different ways and that makes for a lot of diversity within the project.
Acoustic Landscape (Acoustic radiation)
Acoustic radiation is a form of radiation caused by vibrations in the air, and transfers through a medium. therefore, it can not transfer ore exist in a vacuum. What we especially liked very interesting during this project was how this form of radiation can be applied.Because Acoustic radiation needs a medium to transfer and move, it is a form of radiation that is easy been influenced. During our research in the library discovered that ultra sonic sound applied by bats to navigates, is a form of acoustic radiation. And even blind people who have learned to navigate by clicking the tongue to observe their surroundings.
This was a very valuable finding for us because this is a form of radiation which brings sound and space together, in order to navigate.to investigate this issue in practice, we have purchased an ultrasonic sensor, which we could use to create an Arduino radar.
It is the same technology as is been used in automobiles to detect objects, when driving backwards. With this technology we were able to experiment with the relationship between sound and space. The ultrasonic sensor transmit a certain frequency into space, reflected by an object and to be received again by the sensor. The time in which the frequency is returned at the sensor, will be converted to the distance of the object.Through the radar, you get information which we can transform in to shapes. These forms are transformed into a dynamic pattern. By changing the surrounding, you will influence the dynamic pattern, and you will experience the relationship between the surrounding and the pattern.
wiFi collector (Electromagnetic Radiation)
Electro magnetic radiation is a form of radiation in which electrical and magnetic vibrations move through the space. It is also the source of a large part of our technology, and has a lot of influence on our daily existence. Wifi exist within this network of electromagnetic radiation. The interesting thing about the WiFi network, is that in a way we have become dependent. And affected our social and informative lives. It has almost become a primary need in our daily existence. How we can make a Visualization of the wifi signals is a research question we find especially interesting. An inspiration for this research is the project The Ghost in the Field of Timo Armal.
Roel gave us the advise to use a cantenna in order to capture the WiFi waves. With this cantenna, a router can send a pointed LAN signals and a computer can receive a wider spectrum of WiFi signals received from a bigger range. This is why the homemade antenna gave us the ability to detect a huge amount or router signals-which you normally can not receive. The direction of the antenna Determines-which signals you receive. While testing and analyzing it felt like we were sucking up all the wifi channels through our cantenna. We have been trying to generate the incoming raw data into a visual translation. We are working on a processing code-which transforms the wireless signals and the related information into a graphical data visualization. How electro smog is formed in The Netherlands with the use amount of Wi-fi networks brought us to the question: can electrosmog have impact on our health. This quenstion led us to our final project’ ‘’ the electro sensitives’’
light radiation - Parametric orbitals
Our interest in light radiation was mainly in isolating, controlling and absorbing light. We discovered that by bundling light it is easier to control. We discovered an accessible method to control this beam of light by using different sound frequencies.Creating a research spectrum here, which you use sound frequencies to control light. The source of the sound is a speaker containing a can. On the can a balloon is installed and at the balloon a piece of mirror.
By playing sound frequencies through the speaker, it creates vibrations that vibrate the balloon on the oscillation frequency. Once you shine with the laser into mirror, the reflection will take the shape of the vibration (a visual translation of the sound frequency) each frequency has a different vibration so an different shape. A dot, a line, a circle, an oval, a parabola. We discovered The spectrum of Lissajous figures. By adding different parametric frequencies at the same time, we managed to control thesis figures in a way. With this method we defined these acoustic patterns as distinctive figures within their Own spectrum. Sound and light working together to generation of a visual image.
Patterns
As a child I was always fascinated by simple-generated rhythms, such as a dripping coffee machine or a race between two drops on the window!
A project by Zimoun at the dutch design week two years ago in which he explored mechanical rhythm and flow in prepared systems, made me think of this simple but fascinating rhythms. With this intention I went researching easy-generated rhythms. My first attempt was through coffee filters in a prepared system to control the rhythm of drops. Later, i was inspired by a project of Shizuku Tokei, in which he experiments with the rhythm of melting ice. An installation with seven funnels fit together and influence each other was the basis for my experiments. By adding color to ice i wanted to capture the rhythm of melting ice by means of making a time lapse.
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+/-1000 words presenting/reflecting your on your final project
Wifi is everywhere and everyone wants to be connected, it has almost become a primary need in life. Social dependency and accessibility is causing this, and It affects the way we behave. In our electromagnetic radiation workshop, we discovered the amount of Electrosmog in the Netherlands. The highest density of Electrosmog, and the highest standard of electromagnetic radiation are located in the Netherlands. This brought us to the question what impact this electro smog has on our health, and how we can escape the electromagnetic field. This questions led us to the Contested illness called electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS)
People suffering from this disorder have many physical complaints caused by the electromagnetic radiation. Within the theme of radiation we are not only thinking and interested by the radiation itself, but also the consequences at the edge of this theme. It raises a lot of questions and curiosity. Now we needed to get in touch with people who suffer from EHS. Through the foundation (EHS), which was established to bring people together and share information, we got in contact with Patrick. During this conversation we found out that it is a close-knit community, with people who really suffer from there condition. The opportunity to interview Monique reached us, and this was the first real life contact.
Monique brought us in contact with Ineke and so we came further in our research step by step, right into this close-knit community. The motivation of the interviews was not to refuse or conform their claims, just to hear there stories in order to under stand the problem. We documented the conversations in order to bring out a publication about this later. During these conversations, we discussed there complaints, the moment they found out about there sensitivity and the way they organize their daily lives and escape the electro smog.
Every conversation we discovered different findings, as being designers we reflected and responded on this findings and stories.
This resulted into six chapters which represent our project, The electro-sensitives. We explored very real objects and stories directly from Those Who see the darker side of our wireless world.
1. We received a lot of documentaries, research documents and presentation videos who all claim: “electromagnetic radiation is dangerous”. In these we saw one specific argument about the dangers of mobile phone radiation which occurs in almost all of these documentaries.
Far away, hidden in the manual of an iPhone, apple says that you actually can not touch your phone. For example the restriction’s of a iPhone 3 is telling you, not to keep the phone closer than 15 mm to your body. The transparent iPhone shells are revealing this hidden sentence in a tangible object.
2. DEKT is the most threatening and common radiation source at home. The wireless phone gives the same radiation as transmission tower with a distance of 500 meters. The electro sensitives suffer a lot from these devices, and especially those of there neighbors. In order to identify the threat of the DECT, we recorded the sound of the electro magnetic radiation generated by a radiation analyzer. We hacked the speaker of a old DECT phone and played this impressive sound with the speaker.
3. The HFE35C Analyzer is a device designed to measure high-frequency radiation. The Electro Sensitives use this device to detect radiation and chase the origin of their symptoms. The analyzer translates the frequency into sound, which means you have to recognize the sound to understand which elektrosmog is present. We made a guide which includes these sounds and helps to identify the most threatening high frequency radiation in your home.
4. In our journey we met Dieneke. A women who voluntarily maintains a list of radiation poor places to stay. This list consists out of tips and reviews written by electro sensitive people who emailed the Dutch foundation: stichting ehs. We visualized this list by translating it into a travel map.
5. During a few conversations we discovered a lot of stones and crystals near electronic objects. One of those is the black tourmaline, which seems to convert the negative electro magnetic radiation of a television into positive radiation. We went a step further and gave this stone the ability to not only convert, but also kill all of the emitted radiation by simply smashing the device.
People describe the moment they discovered their sensitivity to electro magnetic radiation as drowning in panic and helplessness. The Radiation Emergency Hammer refers to a life-hammer, world-wide used for escaping a sinking car.
6. n order to experience ‘’escaping the electromagnetic fields’’, we went to zero fields, a radiation poor camping in Hoog Mierde. One of the owners Marian suffers from EHS herself. In exchange for her story, we helped them at the farm for 2 days. We din’t experienced a physical difference our selves by staying in this area. But it was also a experience of being disconnected. As response of this experience, we wanted to create a radiation free area within a radiation exhibition ourselves, by installing aluminium foil at the wall of the toilet.
This project changed the perspective we think about being connected. While we are searching for connectivity, these people are electro magnetic refugees, they are forced to search for disconnection. It is for these people to isolate themselves from the outside worlds so they seems harmless for there complains.
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During my study graphic design I my curiosity about people, their stories and perspectives. The ability to empathize with others comes very handy with this interest. You can learn a lot by observing people, anthropology combined with technology is a valuable research spectrum. Human behavior in terms of communication and the desire to always being connected, I find very interesting. The rise of technology and the Internet created a public stage wich can be used by everyone. I find it very interesting how people create a platform, and express themselves here. There is also a group of lonely people who record themselves in order to tell their story, it's a way of enriching their loneliness and get the feeling they are being heard. Personally I think it is a very drastic decision to make your personal story public for the rest of the world. There is no middle ground between their social flaws in real life, and their connectivity at the Internet. It is a form of amateur documentation and an interesting form of journalism.
Again, this has to do with the border between amateur and professional actions. I like it how sincerely the amateur often express there selves, this often makes it more a lot more spontaneous. Vice has a weekly collum which presents every week an other youtube channel. An example is the chanel of Ad Looij, a former truck driver from Brabant.
Ad uses his youtube channel to tel his daily story, like the documentation of Thursday 17-11-2016 "How I eat my big container of noodles’’. or Sunday 06-11-2016 "" I need to get rid of my story somewhere” The deferents between this kind of media and the way media on television is presenting is fascinating. The quality is much more spontaneous and more pure. Ad Looij is an icon, purely by document how he is being himself. Vice says that youtube is the sickest anthropological project that has ever existed. It seems to me an interesting spectrum to explore and gather stories. It has a potential to be placed in a different context. I want to collect as much content as possible in this field and make a collection of the most potential and interesting themes. This way I want to create issues that could form the core principle of my research.
Sensory overload is a topic which i am also very much interested in. Robot restaurant in Tokyo is an example. It is a restaurant where all the senses are stimulated, you will almost get traumatized. In daily life, there are many people who have been traumatized by sensory overload of al all this information. Think of people with ADHD or the autism spectrum and psychosis. They suffer from all the tingling of the senses. Michuel Jiron’s project Sensory Overload (Interacting with Autism Project), applying this Sensory overload very wel in a animation which is a intens experience.
It shows how often our sensory experiences intertwine in every day life. Sensory overload have a close connection to the subject Electo hypersenitiviy, in a world where you hardly escape the electromagnetic radiation. You can hardly escape the overload of the senses in daily life and the city. It does really reming me at the way TV and Games are changed, each generation get used to prickles of the senses and get to proces lots of impressions. If you observe the difference between programs my parents watched in there childhood, and the thinks i watched is a big difference. But when you look at you television screen now a days, its even more intense en fast. Children get used to an overcharge of information they have to process daily. The appreciation of silents and peace seems hard to find.
This has also to do with the fact that children grow up with mobile phones and tablets. In Robbie Coopers Immersion video, he films children their faces while playing a game or watching TV. The expressions on the face show how these children are sucked into the screen. It seems they are on another planet with their thought. Immersion has also a lot to do with te way we use Virtual Reality, were you find yourself literally in a different visual world. Sensory overload also relates to the world of the graphic design. There is so much in the field that it is very difficult to stand out among all these manifestations. And it only becomes more and more. The way VR commercials are going to be applied, and the experience of VR forms of propoganda i find really interesting themes. It is a subject which has much potential to be discovered. Also very interesting in terms of technology and aesthetics.
Those are my topics of intersent to research for my graduation. I want to focus at one of the explored results in this research.
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