Monday, December 6, 2010

Scott Snibbe


Scott Snibbe
Boundary Functions
1998

This is a piece that, although clearly exploratory, remains relevant even today. I'm particularly drawn to the idea of personal space and how it is out of our control, decided on how many people are occupying the same space. Snibbe's clarity and concision make this piece extremely successful.

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Judith Fegerl


Judith Fegerl, Revers, 2010

Rena suggested that I take a look at Judith Fegerl's work. I'm particularly interested in her installation entitled 'Revers', where she turns the gallery space into a blood donation center (the blood becomes part of the work-- a kind of physical manifestation of the abstract social relations that take place in the gallery space).

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Mona Hatoum


Mona Hatoum, Light Sentence, 1992

I've been feeling very dissatisfied with the end result of project 2. The tech in my project doesn't work the way I had planned, and I think there is a severe disconnect between the content and the execution-- the technology does not seem well integrated. I went to the library yesterday and took out a book on Mona Hatoum and found this piece-- I've never seen it before, but it struck me as a perfect example of a work that uses technology sparingly and strategically.





Monday, November 1, 2010

Update on Project 2


Arduino schematic on running a DC motor
------------------------------------

Going slowly. Having trouble figuring out how to drive the motor- getting a MOSFET transistor today (metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor, p70 of "Getting Started with Arduino").

I am trying to create a system that responds to the amount of light in the environment and changes the speed of a motor accordingly.

Analog Input : LDR (light dependent resistor) (p. 64- 68)

Analog Output : 3v DC micro vibration motor (p. 69- 71)

---------------------------

After looking thought the Arduino Playground, I'm unsure whether or not I need a motor shield and/or an external power source. In the Arduino handbook, page 71.

I've also seen an H-Bridge appear on several sites, and I'm wondering if this is vital to run the motor.

Tutorials on Arduino Playground I've been looking at:

controlling a motor tutorial
http://itp.nyu.edu/physcomp/Labs/DCMotorControl

Using an Arduino to control the speed and direction of a DC Motor.
http://www.arduino.cc/playground/Main/DCMotorControl

Arduino Forum on controlling motors via a microphone
http://www.arduino.cc/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1178043224/6

Eduardo Kac



Eduardo Kac
Dialogical Drawing
network diptych
1994
28 x 11.2 in (71 x 28.5 cm)

Before Kac coined the term 'Bio Art', he created work that explores the power of communication over the aura of the art object. Dialogical Drawing is particularly poignant due to both its expanded use of the word 'drawing' and its prescient look at the evolving role of art as a communication tool in the 21st century.

Kac explains his work in the following quote taken from his website:

What is the condition of the art object in the age of networking and telematics? The piece entitled Dialogical Drawing, 1994, by Eduardo Kac, addresses this question by presenting two identical objects simultaneously at two distinct exhibition venues at two geographically remote locations. At first the viewer contemplates the piece in the same manner that she normally looks at wall-mounted works of art. The viewer stands at a comfortable distance and sees a composition of lines, circles, and rectangles created with circuit boards, wires, microphone, and speaker embedded on a vertical mahogany piece. Because the viewer does not see antennae or external wires, she considers the piece a discrete art object, like a painting or sculpture. Soon, however, the viewer notices that sounds are in fact coming from the speaker. The viewer moves closer to the piece and listens more closely. Surprised, the viewer realizes that the sounds are human voices coming live from another location. Ceasing to contemplate the object, the viewer now engages the other viewer co-present in a remote location. Both viewers start an improvised dialogue which constitutes, in essence, the "drawing" alluded to in the title of the piece.