User:Arthur Vince/UTC12/RDA

RESEARCH DOCUMENT

CRAFT AND TECHNOLOGY

“Consumption makes maximum exclusion from the (real, social, historical) world the maximum index of security. It seeks the resolution of tensions – that happiness by default. But it runs up against a contradiction” between the old morality of action and the new values of passive, removed consumption."

The above quote is from the book “The Consumer Society” written by the French sociologist Jean Baudrillard. Baudrillard criticises the meaning of consumerism in our contemporary time. The quote reflects on our urge to consume played by advertising. We constantly feel the social pressure to update and evolve which leads to more consumption.

The core of my craft lays not criticising our consumption society, my interest lays more in how companies use advertising, product design and graphic designers to design new desires. My discipline is graphic design and there was a time that I worked in very commercial agencies. Here I had to find ways to present the list of features that came with the product. I had to finding way to get peoples attention and making them feel like they wanted the product.

The adds present the features in a stable and perfect form. They are adapted to a cultural aesthetics, wherein there is something for everyone. The promise in comparative with reality is very interesting. They often appear less spectaculair, the imperfections are hidden under a layer of sales-talk and are seen as waste, but for me they are the keynote as the characteristics of the product of service. The core for my craft is to show the perfection within the imperfection.

To elaborate on this by using my own work. “Translation” and “Collective Memories”, two projects I did over the last year. Both project have something relevants to the topic of my craft. I will explain them briefly.

In my project “Translation”, I explored the function and disfunction of the 3d scanner. I decided to use the consumers versions because I found it important that my project could be employable by a broader audience. The promise of the different scanning tools lays in most cases in the creation of an 3d model that represents an real object/space or person, but in reality the scanners have a lot of flaws and imperfections. Each imperfection is an signature of the tool. In this project I created a chair collection from a desktop chair with three different 3D scanners. These scans where all completely different and the machine became more than a tool, It became the co-creator of my collection. The leaking date became readable and each chair had it’s own characteristics, translating a product of mass production into an unique new form.

In the second project “Collective Memories” lays the focus on mobile photography. We constantly capture our life as prove of our existence and although most photographs don’t leave our phone we spread some on platforms like Instagram. My original idea was to explore the possibilities of making a panorama with Instagram photos from different angles. The Image Merge function of Photoshop became my tool. The result became something different than I expected, it became an abstract representation of our cultural relation towards our surrounding, with the focus on artefacts.

Although both projects are completely different they have something in common. I started with exploring the tool and by pushing the ways to use them I found the imperfections. Those imperfections lead to new outcomes that were unexpected. They were not created by the knowledge I gained from the features promises but they where found in the unknown.

Although both projects are completely different they have something in common. In my craft I wanted to perfect the way to show imperfections. Show that it’s not only important to know the function of your tool but also the disfunction. Exciting results come finding mistakes, errors and bugs. Not only are they part of the tools we use but they can give us an insight of how the tool works and bring us outcomes that were not scripted, predicted or have completed designed functioning. My craft consist out of pushing tools and finding the flaws. They can generate design that we could not have thought of and tell us more about the time we live in.

"Television tortured the intellectuals for a long time... it is about time that the intellectuals torture television”

Nam June Paik quote from the 60’s is an example that can be applied to all sorts of new media. The torture became more subtile, hidden in an overload of information streams. With the arisen of new media, we have to be the one that pushes the medium in the search of unexpected results.

DAS EXPERIMENT

This minor was based on exploration and experimenting rather than assumption. Getting to the core of something in a short period of time. The first quarter of the minor consisted out of several experiments dealing with the theme “Craft & Radiation”, to get a better understanding of the subject and to find ways to visualise something as abstract as radiation. Every week or two we worked with a sub-theme within this spectrum. The sub themes consisted out of: radiation patterns, electromagnetic radiation, thermal radiation and acoustic radiation. Going through the experiments I will explain my approach through the projects and the steps we took.

A-AB-ABA In our first assignment we explored the field of radiation patterns with in particular the focus on the Lindenmeyer system Read more. The project was planned to be exhibit at the Wijnhaven, Red Apple. Working together with Stan Haanappel and Meike Brand we got fascinated by the exponential growth of living organisms such as plants, flowers, mold and bacteria. Astrid Lindenmeyer, a biologist who developed a type of formal language that he extracted from the modelled behaviour of the cells of plants. The system is based on an alphabetic production ruleset that can create strings, each string expands afterwards into a larger set of strings.

We found it interesting how Lindenmeyer’s system is still used as a method to create 3D models with modern software. The project was planned for a short period of two weeks. We used the first week to get a basic understanding of the ruleset and what it was build on. Starting of doing a serie of experiments that we based on the core formula of the L-system, the string consist out of the ruleset A=AB B=A. We connected the ruleset to instructions in different formats. Our first test was walking an algorithmic route through Rotterdam by using A=Left B=Right. It was good to the formula on such a large scale, the path of the route was traced and mapped so afterwards we got a overview of the route. We ended up waling for 1 hours in loops. The second experiment came more from a graphic design perspective. We made the connection between the L-system and conditional design, wherein de designer needs to follow a set of rules set up to create a certain rhythm in the design and can lead to unexpected outcomes. By using the L-system as our ruleset we marked the different generations of the system with coloured tape, later we also tried to translate them into weaving patterns.

Both experiments were basted on a certain rhythm, a routine that made us thing about the way music is constructed. We found a library for processing that draws formulas out into splines. By connecting the crosspoint of the splines to sound elements we wanted to create a audible translation, strengthening the experience. In this exercise we had some difficulties with sinking them together. The composition became monotone and did not live up to the complex form the L-system can take, we had to search for new methods.

The variety of experiments gave us an insight in the matter of the L-system. The experiments that were done felt kind of random and pointless but in the end they became the opposite. Just by doing, instead of assumption we got new ideas and it opened up our approach. The complexity that is generated by a simple algorithm became or point of interest. The artist, Jerobeam Fenderson worked with this. A collection of videos demonstrates the use of the oscilloscope to generate patterns composed by music. His videos give a good indication of the relation between the sound and the generated landscape. We used the second week of the project to create an experience for the visitor that worked through feeling rather than a mathematical explanation of the L-system. The outcome of our previous sound experiments in processing resulted in another experiment with Google Translate. We used the text-to-speech function to get a vocal version of the alphabetic generated strings. The rhythm that came we used as a trigger for an animation in cinema 4d. We discovered that the L-system or cinema 4d terms the turtle spline can be used to use create an 3d object based on a formula. The formula can shape and transform the object. The relation between the sound and the visuals became absolute and led to a video that gave a sense of the L-system algorithm and its biologic nature, surrounding us in this world.

Short, Long, Short, Long, Short, Short, Long, Short After the first exhibition we got to deal with electromagnetic radiation. I started working with Rens van Pinxteren. We both got interested in the signals that are always around us. Rens started experimenting with a boat reflector, a shape that reflects an incoming signal and redirects it towards it's source. We wanted to understand the actual system more and did research about the AIS system. Boats use this to non-stop communicate their position to other boats. Online we found a log that maps live the current position in the biggest harbours. This gave us a better idea of the water traffic around Rotterdam, something you are normally not aware of. We wanted to create a device, based on the radio of things that used the standard communication methods of the sea . The machine, build from a hacked printer collects the AIS data from the server, calculating how many ships are currently in the harbour. Every ships that comes or goes get’s a greeting hello or goodbye transmitted over radio by a self typed morsecode. It was interesting to see how the connection went. Despite the fact that the radio waves would never reach the ships, because of our very tiny antenna and some time issues, was it still interesting to follow the conversation of the printer trying to reach the new visitors.

Disneyfication From electromagnetic we went to thermal radiation. Preparing for our previous presentation Stijn opened a monitor to undo it from it’s case. Without the case, the backlight became detached from the LCD screen, making the screen transparant. The screen became our material. We got the idea to layer a set of monitors; to work with 2D videos in a 3D setting. This way we could tell a story working with foreground and background. Searching on Marktplaats we found a set of sixteen monitors for a very good price and went by car to get them in Wageningen. Back in Rotterdam we build a box, wherein we could layer the screen, rotate them and change the distance. Spaping the tool before shaping the content was an interesting approach. Building the tool, a 3D screen came with it’s difficulties, every monitor was foreseen with a polarizing filter.

The filter blocked a lot of the transparency of the screen and because we used multiply monitors the degrees of the filter blocked each other, making our screen unusable. We experimented with polarising the different screens and the backlight. After some time we discovered that the best way to do it is with giving the front screen a polarising filter at the front and the last screen in the row a back filter. This stopt the filters from blocking each other. Another problem was the light source. The backlight of a monitor is build out of a plastic board surrounded by a row of white led lights. The board is made that the light is equally divided; making the LCD screen visible. Since we used a serie of monotors, we had to create a brighter light source. Yellow light and construction lights did not work, so we build our own backlight with LED strips, this way we could control the brightness and see what worked best.

Now that we had finished the 3D screen it was time to think about the content. The layering of the screen gave us a lot of options: using it as a timeline, foreground and background or to have different scenes per monitor.

Seeking or meaning we looked back to it historical relevants. Storytelling through layering was seen in the early 20th century; cell animations. It was the first form of creating cartoons. Each frame was hand-drawn on a transparant sheet. Scenes were created by stacking the sheets, this way the animation could work with a foreground, center and background. By moving and changing the sheets, movement was created.

"The Walt Disney Company” was, and still is the pioneer in (cel)animation. In the early days it was entertainment for the American people. With the millions of people watching the animations and heros as Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck playing the role of ordinary American people Disney became more than just fiction. The characters were a reflection of the American society, maintaining the American Dream, of which I spoke earlier called this phenomenon “Disneyfication”. The characters became so influential that they became in the interest of politics. Due to their innocence; Disney became perfect as a propaganda machine. Who better to promote tax pay, American dreams, pride and warfare? The Idea that by this time, something so adorable, build up out of transparant sheets could hide another layer, a political layer. This was something we wanted to elaborate on and tell in our contemporary version of the cel animation. Thinking about making a layered story; wherein our 3D screen displayed our response to Disneyfication and the current problematics in the United States.

The end result went in many directions, using three screens with all their own version of the story. The front screen was based on Disney animations and Disneyland. The second screen displayed the relation with the American society both visual and context content-wise. For example every character plas a certain roll within Disneyworld, in the real world you could say the same for us. Police trying to keep control over a riot for example. We all have and get our rolls within the system.

The last screen, shows a mixture of propaganda used in Disney over the last century. Remixing it with the events that happening today. The hate that Trumps spreads, gun control, police violence. It all becomes this mixture of themes that step out of the fictional zone, inviting the audience to make their own connections.

Degradation In the last experiment I had to deal again with radiation patterns. In class I spoke about Kevin Bray, a French video-artist living in The Hague. He made the music video “Glass Figures” wherein all the frames were abstracted using reaction diffusion. I was intrigued by the video and that only through movement the shapes become somehow recognisable. The search for the line between recognisable and abstract became something I wanted to look into.

TV TV’s a Japanese television program from the 80’s showed an experiment with a feedback loop that had analog a visual similar result as the previously discussed work from Kevin Bray. I rebuilt the feedback loop with a digital video signal working with a handy cam and a video delay, giving the result of an endless-zoom leading to a form of compression. What fascinates me is the odd relationship between our image culture and the products we use. Advertising and product design play such a big part in the iconoclasm of our century. These images are shared and remixed and their visual formats are slowly detached from the original. For this experiment I used the boy from Kinder Chocolate as my example. By using the feedback loop as a metaphor for reproduction I wanted to play with this degradation and the idea of identity versus recognisable. This project became the starting point for my collaboration with Boris Smeenk and our shared interest in compression/degradation.

Overall the minor was based on our own initiative, this gave us the space to work as autonomous based artist/designers. It showed us that through hard work, testing and reflection you can find new outcomes within the spectrum of Radiation. The short experiments were done with time pressure and were very open to undergo a experiment without directly trying to conceptualise it. I really liked to feel this freedom of just opening things or break them, reading in combination with trying and getting new ideas through reflecting on what is actually happening.