Zoetrope Stuff

Again, I get back to the jokes. It was around Halloween when I first came up with this idea.  I have always had an interest in animation techniques, particularly historic ones, so using the laser cutter to create a zoetrope seemed like an interesting way to go about it.

I began by creating a series of tiles in illustrator (above) to be cut out.  After testing the animation (by importing the individual frames into photoshop and viewing them as a GIF) I was ready to move on.  The tiles were easy enough to produce, though the base for the contraption ended up giving me some trouble.  After adding several more frames to the sequence, the disc I needed ended up being much larger than the bed on the cutter could support, so I used some basic geometry in Illustrator to create a jig that I could then use to cut the thing into MDF (top).  See the "Geometry" post on this blog for a more detailed explanation.  After the base and tiles were cut, I fabricated a simple bearing out of steel.

In terms of concept, I fell back on my long-time standard of playing with the tension between natural and supernatural explanations for observed phenomena.  Using the Jack-o-Lantern as a reference (a type of mobile, flickering light commonly seen in marshes), I came up with a graphical representation of the chemical reaction thought to cause the occurrence ( a combination of various organic decomposition gases and atmospheric Oxygen).  The animation transfers back and forth between this reaction and a smiling pumpkin face winking at the audience to let them know that it is in on the joke.

Big Final Proposal

Immersive narrative experiences have always intrigued me as communication tools.  In the past, I tended to deal in physical environments, which lent themselves particularly well to the concept.  Though specific narrative arcs were often fairly linear in nature, larger installations often allowed viewers to pursue them at their own discretion (in terms of pacing and organization).  Retrofitting this approach to be applied to a web-based project proved to be an interesting approach.  Given that the viewer is not capable of any type of physical encounter in this situation, the task became one of constructing a compelling environment that allowed for the same type of meandering investigation.

Choose-your-own-adventure literature has always occupied something of a soft spot in my memory.  Though they made for aggravating reading, the concept seems particularly well-suited for this type of project.  Using that basic premise, I would like to create a pseudo-evolutionary narrative activity based in several varieties of medieval paganism and late antique theology.  From a starting point, the viewer will be presented with a selection of runic/calligraphic characters with which to begin their journey.  Based on the symbolic and aesthetic associations of the character chosen, the viewer will be presented with a second set of choices (this time dealing with a set of creatures linked to the chosen character according to - mostly - indigenous new-world mythologies) with which to proceed.  According to this second choice, the viewer will be directed to a vague description of the significance and symbolism of the choices made presented in the form of a cladogram (a diagram expressing evolutionary relationships between organisms, based on shared characteristics).

The basic plan for this project is to keep the visuals to a minimum, and a fairly sparse minimum at that.  The majority of the images and text will be provided through transfers (either by scanning or training in Illustrator) of calligraphy and ink drawings (see below for an example of the aesthetic and a rough outline of the general layout).  Though I will be referencing the act of divination and prophecy I should note that, like those particular fields, I have no intention of making any clear predictions and will cloak most of the information I provide in vague mythological, and overly-specific biological terms.

Here Comes Geometry

I had an interesting challenge for this laser cutter project: I needed to cut identical slots, following the path of a polygon, into (what would eventually be) a circular piece of MDF.  I wanted to make sure that everything stayed consistent, so my first impulse was to use the polygon tool in Illustrator, though that turned out to be more trouble than it was worth.  While I was able to construct a perfect 21-sided polygon that was the size I needed, there was no way to mark out the slots I needed to cut on the individual sides, and do so consistently.  Instead, I decided to take a bottom-up approach and construct a jig that would allow me to draw out my pattern by hand.

I started by using the line segment tool to create a horizontal side.

Next, I used the rectangle tool to construct a box of the appropriate size.

Using the Direct Select tool, I clicked on the center of the rectangle, then pressed the Command key and aligned it with the center of the line segment (pressing Command allows you to snap the anchor point to another when moving it).

Then, copy and paste the object.

And rotate.  Using basic geometry, I determined the angle between sides by using the following formula: [180(n-2)] / n, where n equals the number of sides.  I decided on a hexagon for the demonstration, since calculations are much easier (and angles much more precise) than a 21-sided figure.

It was necessary for me to also include measurements for the shape's circumcircle (the circle which encloses a given polygon and shares its radius), so I was able to use basic trigonometry to calculate its radius using the following formula: s / [2 sin (180/n)], where s equals the length of a side and n the number of sides.  Once established (roughly 3" in this case), it was a matter of drawing the appropriate line segment, then rotating it into position (again using Command while moving the segment to snap it to the intersection of the existing sides.

From this point, I was able to create my jig for the laser cutter.  I constructed a shape to enclose the entire object, then deleted all but the rectangles and the end points of the radius.  This device could then be used with a compass, and would allow me to both draw the circle I needed while placing the slots at regular intervals.

Supplemental Material

Here are some links to extra information concerning the artists I brought up in the presentation.  Most of these works are best seen in a moving format, which would have eaten up all of my time.  Enjoy.

Ancient Discoveries - A History Channel documentary series specializing in the historic origins of contemporary technologies.  A little on the sensational side, but they do some interesting re-constructive work.  This episode is particularly relevant to the presentation, but many of them are worth checking out.

Lucky the Dinosaur - The first free-roaming animatronic character ever created, Lucky serves as something of a mascot for Disney theme parks worldwide.

Jean Tinguely - A short video of his Homage to New York.  The quality is rough, but footage of this piece is scarce at best, so any news is good news.

Chico MacMurtrie (Amorphic Robot Works) - A local man, at one time.  This website concerns his most recent organization, specializing in interactive installations of a robotic nature; and includes photo, video and writings.

RobotLab - The makers of Juke Bots.  If anyone speaks German, please come forward.  I would love to know what it says on their website.

Chris Thrash - An Alabama-based enthusiast of the Rock-a-Fire Explosion, who has taken to re-programming the figures to perform current popular songs.  I hear talk of a recent or upcoming DVD release.

Stelarc - This guy has been at it for some time.  He has plenty of material out there, but his youtube page gives a decent survey of some of his major works.

SRL - Another local group (the Bay Area seems to be a hot-spot for this type of activity).  I like this stuff more than Robot Wars.

Bezold . . .

Well, here it is.  This works fairly well in some places, and much more subtly in others (the brown hexagons were a success, but the green triangles and orange rectangles lose their impact the further they get from the boundary.  Overall, though, I have no complaints.

Presentation Outline

This serves as a basic outline of the presentation I plan to give concerning the use/treatment of robots and robotics in Digital and New Media Art.  I have the presentation divided into 3 basic sections, beginning with basic terms and definitions, then progressing to the condition/use of robotics through history and ending with its applications in contemporary societies (both artistic and otherwise).

Section I - Definitions

A brief overview of a few basic characteristics generally thought to define robothood, along with the difficulties involved in assigning any concrete definition:

 - Mechanical and/or electrical origin (a fabricated device)

 - Autonomy (the ability to function, at least to a degree, without direct control)

 - Programmability (possessing the capacity for its behavior to be set, adjusted and refined)

 - Sensory/mental/physical agency (the ability to sense, process and manipulate parts of the environment)

 - Anthropomorphism/zoomorphism (bearing resemblance - physical and/or behavioral - to a living being)

Section II - History

An outline of robotics (both conceptual and practical) throughout human history:

 - Classical Antiquity (mythological precursors,Chinese automata)

 - Late Antiquity (Heron of Alexandria, Ktesibios, Philon of Byzantion)

 - Middle Ages (al-Jazari, Su Song)

 - Renaissance (Da Vinci's mechanical knight)

 - 17th thru 19th centuries (mechanical figures imitating biological functions)

 - Early to Mid 20th century (Tesla, theoretical literature, industrial use)

Section III - Contemporary Presence 

A survey of common applications of robotics in contemporary society:

 - Industrial (assembly, factory work)

 - Scientific/Research (space and deep sea vehicles)

 - Military (unmanned vehicles, smart weapons)

 - Commercial/Service (Japan, software)

 - Entertainment (animatronics, robot toys)

 - Fine arts (Stellarc, SRL, Rock-a-Fire, Paul McCarthy)

Vectorrific

This was a fairly straightforward exercise.  The instructions were clear, and I started to get a feel for how the Pen Tool works.  I think the instructions may have skipped a few numbers, but aside from that it was very informative.  Made the summary file a little easier to understand, also.

Who you gonna call?

Get it?  The painter's name is Egon.  Did I just date myself?  At any rate; I ended up keeping this one fairly simple.  I wanted to add a little more depth than I was seeing in the original image, and also play around with what the viewer's perception of the space might be.  I followed the overall form of the figure pretty faithfully, while flattening it into 3 basic planes (skin on hands and head, undershirt and jacket), each of which was given its own color.  I noticed an interesting thing happening here: it struck me that the depths implied by what I had done did not entirely follow those given in the original image.  I suppose this was the effect I was going for, though, so mission accomplished.

Photoshop Workshop

Well, this is it.  The right (cat's left) side of the moustache seemed to not come out as dark as I was hoping.  I probably messed something up when I was creating the layer masks.  Otherwise, not so bad.

GIF

Well, this is it.  I've noticed a problem, though.  The frame rate that I set in Photoshop isn't being preserved when I save the file and try to view it in a browser.  I'll look into this, but here's something for the moment.

This was my first time using Photoshop in this way, so this particular animation became more of a gag than a fully developed statement.  I've always found clowns to be funny, so I thought it might be fun to create something that catered to the kind of zany, over-the-top stunts you might find in your standard circus.  It always seems important for me to add my own humor into the situation, so I ended up coming up with a twist on the classic "snakes in a can" gag.  To add a little bit of history, I decided to use standard depictions of clown archetypes (for more information, this Wikipedia article gives a decent summary) and set the scene in a historic-looking circus setting.  That is the basic narrative.  In terms of aesthetics, I thought it best to keep things simple.  The figures have relatively limited motions, and there is a clear stylistic disconnect between figure and background.  This gives the whole thing a kind of chunky low-tech cartoon or B-movie aesthetic that has always been attractive to me, as well as adding the kind of cultural and iconographic blending that I like to do. I suppose I also learned some useful Photoshop techniques.  Win-win.

Also, a Trick

I thought I might share an obvious time-saver: duplicating layers.  I spent about 3 hours trying the drawn-out linear approach before I realized that it would be a hell of a lot easier to compartmentalize my operation.  Rather than populating then altering each frame individually, I made a mental storyboard of the entire sequence and divided it into sections based on what action was taking place.  For each action, I created a base layer that included all of the non-moving elements, then duplicated that for as many frames as I needed (copying and pasting the moving elements from a separate file into their desired positions).  This way, I was able to keep better track of what I was doing and everything stayed pretty consistent while I was doing it.

This image was used as a background plate for the first 9 frames (the entry of the Auguste clown and the production of the peanut brittle can)

This image is then used as the background plate for the next several frames (the only alterations being the cobra and its movements)

Not fancy, but it helped me out quite a bit.

Propose This

It seems to be a common sentiment that technology did not exist before the 20th century. I have always been severely skeptical of this particular claim. While certain advancements constitute a necessary and welcome element in any progressing society, I have rarely felt the need to situate my practice on the cutting edge in any field. It has, however, become painfully apparent of late that a working artist lacking (at the least) a passing acquaintance with emerging practices is considered something of an oxymoron. Circumlocutions aside, the point seems clear: I need to learn what all the fuss is about. Keeping my skeptic wits about me, I have always preferred long trial periods when approaching new skill-sets.

While digital media may one day become a more substantial part of my research, at this point my interest in and intentions for this course are to gain a rudimentary understanding of techniques to support and manage the professional end of my practice. As my experience with digital techniques and tools leaves a great deal to be desired, I would like to develop at least a basic familiarity with the programs and skills mentioned in the course description (the Adobe suite, photo editing, basic animation and web design). It is my hope that after a semester of practice I will be equipped with the basic understanding necessary to both improve the documentation of my work and begin to develop a more substantial presence within various creative communities. Aside from these more pressing goals, a possible long-term application of the course material may present itself in the context of hypothetical future exhibitions. Over the course of the last year I have been developing a group of fictional societies based around major commercial holidays, each derived from a factual historical culture that has been transported into the present (and future) through various means ranging from disturbingly plausible to downright absurd (see below).

Norse News is Good News: Dimensional Assistance for the Homesick Viking
2011

ValhallAir: Flight 1225
2011

The First Easter (concept drawing)
2012

This semester, I plan to create an installation dealing with a war between these groups for control of a post-apocalyptic America. While primarily a sculptural installation, I intend to augment the physical structures with interactive lighting and audio. Through not directly tied to the content of this course, this upcoming show may serve as a sort of platform to investigate the compatibility of digital media with my current body of work. If successful, future projects may include digital elements (such as projections or animation) applied to the more tangible material:

Untitled (Coyote Tells Me His Secrets)
2012