'Machine Learning' by Tom M. Mitchell ISBN 0-07-115467-1 Published by McGraw-Hill: http://www.mhcollege.com
The book is a bit technical, with quite a lot of math, but thankfully the math involved is NOT complicated, there's juste quite a bit of it. And it has lots of diagrams & drawings & such, i find this helps enormously. ...
OkDan? Grtjz! StK.
PS. I'll write down what i said about the differences & similarities of Max & PD vs. 'conventional' programming languages... soon ..
said k 11.7.060 comments
draft feedback you should all have some feedback on your drafts by the end of today :) and those of you who still needs to send me your draft - you have another couple of hours to do it....
said k 4.7.062 comments
essay recap - reference your writing [full chicago manual of style humanities style bibliographic references] - avoid unnecessary conjecture - have a clear structure [where is your argument going?] - do not make grandiose statements [throughout history it has always been the case that...] - unless you can absolutely back them up - it is however ok to reference someone else making a grandiose statement :) ... - specify your subject clearly in your introduction - make sure your conclusion actually addresses your introduction and problem/statement - separate references from bibliography - better to write well about a small well defined subject that to write superficially about the world and stuff. - allow yourself to let your personal style show through - email me if you have questions or are stuck
said k 3.7.064 comments
something to do in the summer II Wearable Computer Design Contest
Submissions are now being accepted for the Wearable Computer Design Contest at the International Sympoisum on Wearable Computers. The prize is 1,000 euros. The registration deadline is September 12, 2006.
Full call (also available at http://iswc.net/contest.html ) Students are challenged to propose designs of simple wearable computer-based learning systems that support distance education and training at minimal cost using minimal resources. Example of training courses are: telephone etiquette, basic letter writing skills, time management, introduction to customer service, and sales training. SA has, as do many developing countries, an extensive number of cell phones in use, and that would be one (but not the only) medium to consider. Other examples of simple wearable computers are iPods® and MP3 players. Intermittent electricity supply, extremely limited access to unusual technology and/or replacement parts or repair service, and the difficulties presented by multiple languages in play simultaneously are other factors to ponder. Creating a system that encourages communication across language barriers by relying on more visual cues and interfaces is also important.
The deadline for contest registration is September 12, 2006.
Prizes: The grand prize for winning this contest is 1,000 euros to be awarded as part of the IEEE International Symposium on Wearable Computers (ISWC) in Montreux, Switzerland, October 11-14, 2006. The grand prize trophy and check will be presented by the President of Britefire.
said k 2.7.060 comments
something to do in the summer... FUTURESONIC 2006 Urban Festival of Electronic Music and Arts Manchester 20 - 23 July
Futuresonic celebrates its 10th anniversary with a festival programme of over 100 acts and artists from around the world. Featuring an international conference, ground breaking exhibitions and over 30 events, Futuresonic 2006 has it all. No mud, no tents. Just 3 glorious days of sounds and sights at venues across the city. Futuresonic Live http://10.futuresonic.com/futuresonic_live.html Off The Map http://10.futuresonic.com/off_the_map.html Instrument http://10.futuresonic.com/instrument.html
SUMMIT STRANDS An Audience With... Toshio Iwai Social Arts with Regine Debatty (WeMakeMoneyNotArt) and José Luis de Vicente (Art Futura) Collaborative, Creative and Commercial Digital Mapping Social Technologies Tool Sharing Iterative Architecture (Built On An Internet Of Things) Arphids & the Internet Of Things. Build Your Own City Social Music with Atau Tanaka (Sony CSL)
WORKSHOPS: GET SKILLED UP! Game modification, 17th-19th July Physical computing, 18th-19th July Blender and sound, 19th-21st July Build your own 8bit synth, 20th-21st July
junXion deal ok, the word from the masters is: if you want to keep your junXion board for ever and ever STEIM is offering a super student discount on its user program: 50 euros + your signature on a contract = you can keep the board and get your own software license... otherwise you can just give me the boards back. :)
said k 27.6.060 comments
final presentations
first up: please email me if you have questions about your presentation.
what i would like to see is a presentation that:
- introduces your theme/central question - presents the background [what other work are you aware of in this area] - presents and explains your project/instalation - presents the theoretical background [from your essay work, right?] - ties up in a pretty conclusion [related to your central question/theme]
use powerpoint/keynote or something like that. if your project can be demo'd please do so... and look back to the post 'about presentations' for what i said already.
said k 26.6.060 comments
This Wednesday STEIM presents Audile (Yutaka Makino and dj sniff) + Keir Neuringer playing instrumental electronics and saxophone Oguz Büyükberber’s audio-visual piece Gurth3 (11:30 min) Laura Carmichael playing pieces for clarinet, bassclarinet and electronics by Tolga Tüzün, Jos Zwaanenburg and Ronald Bruce Smith
Date: Wednesday June 28 Venue: STEIM, Utrechtsedwarsstraat 134, Amsterdam Time: 20.30 hour Entrance: 3 euro Reservations and more information: knock@steim.nl or 020-6228690
said k 26.6.060 comments
22nd of june making things work and plugging in. when in doubt: what would piet have done? said k 22.6.060 comments
if anyone is feeling uber confident and already has their installation set up and working BEFORE THURSDAY there is a possibility to join New York-based artists Jonah Brucker-Cohen and Katherine Moriwaki in their famous Scrapyard Challenge workshop a STEIM. [let me know and ill try and get you in]...
For everybody else: you should really attend their talk the evening before at Montevideo at 20.30. Location: Dutch Media Art Institute, Keizersgracht 264, Amsterdam (www.montevideo.nl/en/index.html) [no sign up for this one - just turn up]
said k 20.6.062 comments
15th of june morning: polishing of concepts afternoon: fixing things and agreeing on hardware etc for exhibition
task for next week: poster and cards, exhibition design...
said k 15.6.061 comments
concert june the 20th STEIM presents “Circumference Cycles” Composed and Performed by Tina Blaine and Chris Strollo
“Circumference Cycles” is a sound and light performance piece incorporating the sculpture/instrument of artist Robin Stanaway. This sculpture is called “Circumference” and is made of hand blown glass circular disks suspended by thin steel cables. Vibrations made from striking the glass and strings are amplified and processed while light is projected through the 30 inch diameter rondels. The music created by Tina Blaine and Chris Strollo with The Circumference is both rhythmic and harmonic, resulting in a mesmerizing sound that is a blend of glass tones and “guitar” strings resonating sympathetically. Their unique compositions are inspired by West African, Middle Eastern, Brazilian and Japanese Taiko rhythms, combined with ambient improvisations for good measure.
Location: STEIM, Utrechtsedwarsstraat 134, Amsterdam Date: Tuesday June 20, 2006 Time: 20:30 Entrance: 3 euros
said k 15.6.060 comments
TOMORROW IN AMSTERDAM same room/entrance as the last time, scroll way down for directions...
said k 14.6.060 comments
talks shahee will present Brian Eno's talk on 'generative music' on thursday. available for download here.
said k 13.6.060 comments
suggestion: i would like to suggest that we have this weeks teaching in amsterdam so that we can made use of the STEIM stuff... if anyone has a problem with this let me know!
oh and i am not kidding about the draft! i need it emailed to me before we start on thursday. 2000 words.
said k 11.6.062 comments
Radio 1:1 - everything is audible. First round: Tune in Now! The free culture radio from Berlin in the summer 2006. radio one to one presents a new cultural radio format on 95,2 MHz UKW and in the Web (radioeinszueins.de). Building on past free radio projects like reboot.fm, an automated Dokuradio develops from broadcasting recordings of concerts, parties, readings, lectures and discussions. Listeners can tune into a broad acoustic spectrum that reflects Berlin's cultural production.
radio 1:1 is a project by klubradio GmbH Produced in the context of a project residency at TESLA Funded by: Hauptstadtkulturfonds Berlin With friendly support of: Terratec producer, Maxx on air, TESLA, Büro Kopernikus, bootlab Presented by: Groove, de:bug, telepolis
http://radioeinszueins.de http://klubradio.de
said k 6.6.060 comments
SoundLab: call for soundart http://netex.nmartproject.net/index.php?blog=8&cat=54 deadline 30 June 2006 ------------------------------------------- Soundlab the sonic art environment of [NewMediaArtProjectNetwork]:||cologne http://soundlab.newmediafest.org will launch EDITION IV online in October 2006 and is inviting sound artists for submitting proposals of soundart works (.mp3) to be included. . All entry information are available on http://netex.nmartproject.net/index.php?blog=8&cat=54 or can be downloaded as PDF http://downloads.nmartproject.net/soundLAB_call_2006.pdf -------------------------------------------- SoundLab - can be accessed directly via http://soundlab.newmediafest.org or via SoundLab Channel/Memory Channel 7--> corporate part of [R][R][F]200x--->XP global networking project http://rrf2006.newmediafest.org
-------------------------------------------- Released by NetEX - networked experience http://netex.nmartproject.net powered by [NewMediaArtProjectNetwork]:||cologne www.nmartproject.net - the experimental platform for art and New Media operating from Cologne/Germany. . info& contact info (at) nmartproject.net
said k 2.6.060 comments
thank you for good presentations yesterday - i hope they were useful to you too :) if anyone needs to talk about what worked, what didn't work, and where to go from here - feel free to email me...
said k 2.6.060 comments
1st of june morning: 1:1 tech solutions / sensor decisions afternon: interim presentations guests: nat muller and takuro mizuta lippit
note: you will have no longer than 10 minuttes each to present, please prepare any technical setup you might need.
said k 31.5.060 comments
comment zone for next week [as requested by shahee] if you have questions / problems / answers between now and the 1st - leave a comment to this post...
said k 23.5.064 comments
the last reader presentations: 8st of June: Andrea and Jorrit 15th of June: Marieke, Shahee and Dominik
said k 23.5.060 comments
updated timing for the rest of project 1 June morning: 1:1 essay doctor 1:1 tech feedback 2 pm: Demo / interim presentation 8 June 1:1 installation advice 15 June ‘making things work’ day essay draft: 2000 words 22 June set up show hand in website 29 June final thematic project presentations 13 July hand in essay
note: there will be no extentions on the essay dedaline.
said k 23.5.060 comments
next week: the interim presentation should include all or most of these elements: - title - one sentence description of the project - concept / idea - background - interaction and experience of use - experiments: video, sound or images of how this should work - how the device works - how the system could evolve - a prototype or mockup
said k 23.5.060 comments
presentations practice giving your presentation - ask a friend to be audience and rehearse it.
powerpoint/keynote is your friend. it can be very useful to design the flow of your presentation and help you make sure you don't forget to say anything important. if you loose your way you can simply go to the next slide and it will jolt your memory. ppt will let you embed video and sound. obviously one should stay well clear of the power point templates...
never: attempt to flick between applications during presentations and if you must: rehearse it so you don’t have to fiddle.
don't put a lot of text on the screen [people cannot read and listen to you at the same time] and don't make the text too small, point 14+.
according to John Thackara one should spend one hour preparation per minute presentation - he is probably right...
make diagrams of the main interactions. [] -> [] drawings and diagrams are good for explaining things. you don't have to be good at drawing :)
illustrate the spririt of your idea. make sure the poetry is there.
think about how your project will be experienced.
visualise your project. see netobjects by victor vina for an example.
own your technology. figure out exactly how your project works so that you can talk about it with confidence.
said k 23.5.060 comments
incomplete representations made to explore / test / visualise: - mock up’s the appearance but not the function. proving that it is desirable/interesting. testing the look and feel /design. - prototypes the functionality but not the appearance. proving that it works. testing the interaction. - proof of concept proving that it can be done. testing technical issues.
said k 23.5.060 comments
thinking about the essays - try to connect you essay with the theme of the project. - you can use your project as a case story for your essay - this makes essay writing miles easier... - what is the theme that your project is investigating? write/read about that. - read outside the reader. - read outside your field ie dont only read hci/design pappers. - begin writing the background / theory sections RIGHT NOW. - email me updates as you go and do ask for help if you are stuck.
said k 21.5.060 comments
link from audrey the man with the musical suit as seen on italian russian television - hard to tell what is the most odd...
said k 19.5.064 comments
junXion / LiSa assignment from frank using your computer keyboard, you should be able to achieve the following:
junXion - use the 'r' key to record a 10 second sound in LiSa (note nr 48) on midi channel 2 - use the 'p' key to play back this sound (note nr 60) on midi channel 1. This key's 'behavior' should be set to 'toggle'. This means that the first time you hit 'p' it will start the note, the second time it will stop the note, the third time 'start', etc. This allows you to switch on the note without having to hold down the 'p' key all the time. - create a midi continuous control message (ctr nr 2) in junXion using the keys 'z' and 'x' (to decrement and increment ctr nr 2's value. This midi message should be send on midi channel 1. - create another continuous control message (ctr nr 3) in junXion using the keys 'n' and 'm' like above. Also send it out on midi channel 1.
make sure you send those messages over the midi port named 'IAC Bus', 'Bus 1' or whatever the internal MIDI bus is called on your computer.
LiSa - use the default 'Play 5 Sec' zone as your playing zone. Assign it to note nr 60 in Voice Layer 1 (midi channel 1). Set its Movement Range ('mvr' ) to 9 seconds. - In this Voice Layer, assign two parameters to be controlled, the 'Absolute Region Start' and the 'Region Length' parameter. Connect a new Controller to the first parameter. In the Control Editor make sure that the control number you want to use is '2'. Give this new controller an appropriate name (something like 'ctr 2' or 'z<>x'). Do the same thing for the Controller that you connect to the 'Region Length' parameter, only in this case it should use control number '3'. - create a new Zone which will be used to record sound. Make sure that this Zone's function is 'Record' and set its region length to 10 seconds. - select Voice Layer 2 in the Assignment window and assign this new Zone to note nr 48.
Conclusion now you have created an instrument that is able to record 10 second sound samples by pressing the 'r' key and that sound can be played back with the 'p' key. While your sound is playing you can control its region 'window' with the 'z/x' keys and the loop length with the 'n/m' keys. Play with it and also try to record a new sound (using the 'r' key) while the 'old' sound is playing back. As you will notice, this is perfectly possible with LiSa. Try to understand why the recording Zone is assigned to another midi channel than the playing zone.
and...... please read both manuals to get an idea about the concept of both programs.
good luck!
PS. and of course, if you're really in to it, explore the other possibilities as well.......
said k 19.5.060 comments
18th of may text presentations: alex, andrea all day: introducing junXion and super simple LiSa with Frank Baldé handin: essay draft [idea, theme, reading list]
if you have a joystick/gamepad - bring it along!
said k 17.5.060 comments
Article - Call for artistic contributions Article - a nordic biannual exhibition for unstable and electronic artforms
i/o/lab and the curatorial team of Article hereby invite you to submit proposals for artistic work and conference talks to be included in Article 2006.
We are interested in productions from areas including but not limited to: - interactive objects - work for mobile devices - video or concepts for broadcast television - internet-based work - installations for public spaces - installations for gallery spaces - public actions - social events - workshops
We are primarily interested in completed productions but will give equal merit to incomplete/suggested work and proposals in the evaluation of applications.
Article wishes to present work which is either site- or context-specific, or intended for traditional display spaces, work which explores and exploits the potential for artistic expression in everyday surroundings and objects.
The artists/groups we invite will receive artists fees and funding for travel and board. We will also offer some production support, technical as well as financial.
Phoebe Legere’s ‘Color Sneakers’ utilizes a computational system for translating spontaneous music composition and improvisation into visual music abstraction. Aural vocabulary is transformed into visual design. The programming environment is provided by Jitter & MaxMSP. Data sets are collected through the sneakers and translated to abstract visual music using sensors that determine the position of the foot in space. Legere will talk about how the Sneakers of Samothrace grew out of her work with disabled children, and will talk about her dream of a Disabled Avant Garde Color Orchestra, where the handicapped, infirm, injured and congenitally disfigured are given musical superpowers and become the visionaries of an ecstatic post body culture. http://www.phoebelegere.com/
Sven König will present his project / software sCrAmBlEd?HaCkZ! He will try to explain why sampling is not citation or referencing but just working with concrete musical memories and why this assumption made the developement of s?H! necessary. s?H! is a software which can reconstruct any audio input out of short samples of any musical material that was previously analyzed and saved in a database. This works in realtime and if the audio input comes from a microphone the human voice as the original instrument is the direct interface to the samples in the database. Sven is part of the MTV generation, so he extended audio sampling to sampling of complete music videos. The software will be demonstrated and the microphone will be handed over to the audience. http://www.popmodernism.org/scrambledhackz/
said k 16.5.060 comments
inputs if you have any interesting usb input devices [gamepads, joysticks etc] then bring them along on thursday...
said k 15.5.060 comments
conference call Call for Papers, Presentations and Performances (re)Actor: The First International Conference on Digital Live Art September 11, 2006 The Octagon @ Queen Mary, University of London In cooperation with HCI 2006: ENGAGE The 20th British HCI Group conference in co-operation with ACM 11 September - 15 September 2006 Deadline for 2-page proposals May 26, 2006 Digital Live Art is the intersection of human-computer interaction (HCI), live art and computing. This conference seeks to bring together practitioners and academics from the varying worlds of live art, computing and human-computer interaction for a lively debate and event which will explore this emerging field. said k 15.5.060 comments
alex will talk about "experience prototyping"...
said k 15.5.060 comments
andrea will present a text that is not part of the reader: an except from Bruce Sterling: Shaping Things - a different one from the one that IS in the reader :) the except can be downloaded from: http://mitpress.mit.edu/books/chapters/0262693267chap10.pdf [remember that it is ok to talk about different texts - as long as you tell us in advance so we can prepare]
said k 15.5.060 comments
for next week essay draft: submit what you have, write from interest/desire... the draft should include the beginning of an idea or a theme and a reading list.
said k 14.5.060 comments
dream task: andreea What I am interested in is manipulating minds, to lesser or greater extents, whether it be to induce fear, annoyance, panic, discomfort or oppositely happiness, relaxation, calming, immersion. I am interested in the sort of structures that people create in order to manipulate other people, what being effective means, what being ineffective means in these contexts of manipulation, how much is done through objects and how much through human to human interaction. What i would like is to create a set of objects of manipulation, that can be manipulated themselves and that can also manipulate others, whether through direct interaction or indirect interaction.
In the wildest way i would like to build things that are both untraceable and capable of immobilizing people as well as infrastructures.
said k 13.5.060 comments
dream task : andreea What I am interested in is manipulating minds, to lesser or greater extents, whether it be to induce fear, annoyance, panic, discomfort or oppositely happiness, relaxation, calming, immersion. I am interested in the sort of structures that people create in order to manipulate other people, what being effective means, what being ineffective means in these contexts of manipulation, how much is done through objects and how much through human to human interaction. What i would like is to create a set of objects of manipulation, that can be manipulated themselves and that can also manipulate others, whether through direct interaction or indirect interaction. In the wildest way i would like to build things that are both untraceable and capable of immobilizing people as well as infrastructures.
said k 13.5.060 comments
dream task: dominik For a moment I don’t really know how it will looks like but I can give you some key concepts and ideas. I’m interested in the relationship between the manipulation of an object and the navigation in a database; for a moment I’m thinking about a sonic, vocal database or maybe a video one. The user holding my object will be able to navigate in a database of sounds and vocal messages and to listen the real time streaming voice messages. I’m thinking about my old idea of cracking skype, actually I would like to create some extensions for this software.
I would like to create a tool to manipulate the gender identity on skype and off course to record sounds (manipulated sounds will be recorded, for a moment I don’t want to manipulate real time conversations). In this project I would like to give a more personal and intimate aspect to the telephony communication system. I'm interested by playing with ideas like the presence of somebody who is not here, try to give an extension to his voice. My referent artists are Felix Gonzalez Torres, artists from fluxus. I will show you some links on my website. Gonzalez Torres made the same work with the photography. He was mostly working on concepts like memory, creating puzzles with pictures, working on the concept of disparition with his sweets, candys installations.
The second functionality for this tool will be to navigate in a sound database thanks to sensors.
The database will be made with skype recordings, or videos videos.
I don’t know if it’s possible to use the touch; play sounds while people are touching or approaching an object. I found a link for an artwork
I have a parking radar for the distance detection but I don’t know how could I create sensors for the tactile surface of an object.
said k 13.5.060 comments
dream task: nancy Magic Stick: I would like to make a stick that has multifaceted functions and usibility: * I can sing into it as a microphone, * That also takes the lyrics away from songs and remixes them and the voice as i sing into it with layers * it is a percussion instrument, beat machine * I can trigger various sound samples from it, * audio streaming is possible from it * also attached is a small camera where i can stream performances to the internet
said k 13.5.060 comments
dream task: shahee The instrument of my desire would be of a minimal clean design with a hint of rawness. The output sound / visual would also reflect these characteristics. The output would be soothing and calm. It would act has an ambient element in working / living environments. Unless purposely looked at or listened to it, it would not be apparently noticeable to the viewer / listener’s mind. It would be like a soft wind on a non-windy day, like gentle waves in a calm sea, or the sound of green leaves in summer. It would reside in the subconscious mind giving people / animals / plants a sensual and a balancing feel. If a colour can make a sound it would be the sound of air (with a bit of impurity). It would be ambiguous but not unclear. Overall, it would be complex but not complicated it would be elegant but not extravagant, it would tend to complete / balance the environment it is set in by slowly reacting to spatial, visual, audio in the surroundings.
said k 13.5.060 comments
dream task: andrea TCP Drops is a device conceived to provide a tangible connection between information spaces and physical spaces. Like electric current, even Internet traffic is often represented and explained in comparison with the most common fluid of the planet: water. TCP Drops wants to take this metaphor literally. Its physical components consist in a water tank, an electronically tunable set of taps, a shiny glass log line, a pump and a pipeline that connect the log line back to the tank. Both the taps and the pump are controlled by a (well hidden) computer that runs the software required to perform the job. Basically the software retrieves traffic related data from the log files of a webserver. Those data consist in different kind of information (IP addresses, referrer pages URLs, requested pages URLs, etc.), but the main values that affect the system behaviour are the kilobytes transferred on each request. When a URL is requested by a web client, an amount of water, directly proportional to the amount of bytes requested, flows down from one or more taps. So, if An HTML page of 4kb size will produce few water drops, a 5 Mb video will cause a bigger fall for several seconds. Of course sever other feature can be added to this basic configuration. Eventually a blue LEDs display, located above the log line where the water falls, can be used to display referrer and requested URLs; even a set of coloured environmental lights could be used to display daily user agents (browser) statistics in the last 24 hours and retuned on a regular interval according to last updates. Anyway, even if TCP2Water has an informative function, it should not be approached as an analytical tool. While real web counters like Shiny Stats and Webizer are applications that require from the user a fully focused attention, the aim of TCP Drops is to provide a fuzzy feeling of what is happening on-line, softly involving only the peripheral attention of its users. Even if water can be scientifically measured, its spreading in space and time is perceived by us a continuous flow.
said k 13.5.060 comments
dream task: audrey the typewriter as poetic icon. the passage of time. writing/the creation of history. the narrative.
my concept for this project is a continuation of my work from last trimester to develop a methodology to capture collective experience in which the collective in question actively engages with this process.
creating a dynamic sound narrative, through play.
i propose to collect short sound snippets from various people, their 'favorite' sound. each of these sounds would be connected to a key from a typewriter (contact triggers key type as well as a sound). upon typing keys from this object, the functionality of text processing remains, whilst a layer of sound is superimposed. the typewriter becomes an instrument, each 'song' a rearrangement of the 26 sounds 'recorded' into the object. each time the typewriter is 'played', a narrative is created, the 'user' becomes a composer/narrator/listener/reader of a community's 'sound collective'.
inspired by composers who use radios as performing instruments (Cage, Stockhausen). i choose to narrow the entire 'electroclimate' by selecting specific sounds which resonate with members of a community, so that the performance becomes a sort recount of that particular community's audio sensitivities and affections. the quasi infinite possibilities in composition begins to reflect the complexity of relationships within a community.
after having 'played' this object, one walks away with a piece of paper. the typed text which appears on it is a flat reminder of the story that was 'summoned', but like archives in a library, can only suggest the event by alluding to its occurrence, each letter bearing witness to a sound like notes of a composition, A,C,D,E, etc.
said k 13.5.060 comments
dream task: marc My ultimate instrument would be a device which is able to produce sound and manipulate existing samples, the instrument should also able to record samples.
What I would like is to make is a very controllable object with which the generated sounds are not based on chance (e.g. the amount of light determines the amount of noise the piece makes), to prevent the instrument from producing a total cacophony. The operator/musician is totally in control of the sounds generated by the instrument by making a variety of gestures which are registered by sensors.
Apart from the sampled sounds the instrument is also capable of playing a variety of different sounds, varying from percussive to more melodic, not necessarily representing the sound of existing instruments.
said k 13.5.060 comments
dream task: jorrit The 'instrument' should not be one single object, performing autistic, but it should act as and form an interconnected chain of communicating or at least transmitting objects which are integrated into a specific space which forms a playground for the objects which should actually deal actively with the relations of the user with the instrument and the behavior of the user within space and time in place. All these participators or actors in the play, form active 'entities' when it comes to give input to and receive output from the instrument.
The first action is the 'user' entering the space, then one is no longer spectator, but has become participator. Although surrounding techniques play an important role, computers still forms the beating heart of the connected objects. These cross-points of technical processors should be able to fully use their anthropomorphic characteristics and artificial intelligence to work collaborative with each other and to deal with the human participators. The designer doesn't use the computer to design something 'with' (traditional role within graphic design) but the computer has multiple faces in this play because it's also an actor. In this case I would like to refer to the work of designer Luna Maurer, where computer, designer and user have an interesting similar relation and are treated as 'equal' when it comes to capabilities, authority and intelligence. In the end this all should result in some kind of tension, a disconnection between input, process and output; controlling the machine and receiving the result (like using an interface on a computer) should contain a large gap of misunderstanding; without hiding its (technical) complexity. Therefore the input methods shouldn't be conventional, but correlate with the expectations of the participator; using for instance water as an interface to control electronics. Tactile senses and the drift for exploration have to be activated by those who enter the space. The instrument lives or dies by that initial startup.
The instrument shouldn't necessary be functional. Although it wouldn't satisfying if participators would leave the scene with just an 'experience'. Their participation should deliver a little more and the active dialogue with the rest of the chain of instruments could result in a physical, tactile, printed object in addition to that; whatever that might be...
said k 13.5.060 comments
dream task: alex Imagine you are in a storehouse; a big space with out colons but only walls. This “box” is 1000 square meters. This space is a game machine in which a VR costume helps you see, smell and touch things. VR technology helps the user to participate in fantastical adventures. His senses including view, hearing and smell are covered by the VR costume and helmet but he still needs to feel the space. For example, when he sit’s on a chair to read in his office he must seat on a chair not just see from the perspective of some one sitting, he must let his body loose and sit on a VR chair for real. So to solve this problem lets imagine that this storehouse game machine is full of Iron Filings which can be controlled by magnetic fields. Software controls the magnetic field and gives a solid shape to the Iron Filings and creates this chair, so the user can sit down for real; he can climb a tree not just see the tree. He can have a full time experience of a virtual space with really time manipulated objects similar with those that a computer creates the 3d graphics on the fly.
said k 13.5.060 comments
dream task: marieke hmmmm… I want to be an orchestra in one person. An orchestra in the classical way with the beautiful sounds of violins, horns, trumpets, flutes, contrabasses etc..
I want to be a complete choir with sopranos and basses and alts.
I want to be the composition of the sounds of the transportation, of the people and animals outside.
In short description: I want to be all sounds that I like. All sounds that make me happy. The enjoyment of a song by the way it’s composed and arranged. It has to be in connection with my brain, it composes what I think. By sitting really still I could perform a complete opera, a kakafonie of the sounds that i hear in my head. New masterpieces…
Maybe it would be nice to compose with the beauty of light. a device integrated in your clothes and by moving around it will act on the amount of light it catches. Many lightsensors on different parts of your body, every sensor is a sound in your own orchestra (all the instruments and sounds you would consider to be the nicest). For instance: It will compose a song about where you go. Like going from A to B is a song/ a composition. The amount of light on your way will compose it, also your own movements. It will be a registration of your physical being/movement in an atmosphere.
Yes I think that would be just lovely to accomplish.
said k 13.5.060 comments
swap i have swapped teaching days with michael so that tuesday the 23rd is now a thematic day and thursday the 25th is now a technical day :)
said k 12.5.060 comments
11th of may morning: audrey does a reading and we begin the work on building our own junXion boards after lunch: kit demos and then continue working on the boards
said k 11.5.060 comments
and alex will talk about the "experience prototyping" text
said k 9.5.060 comments
if anyone are needing a date tonight... Mediamatic Salon Cultural ENGINEERS Monday, May 8th at 8.30 pm
A salon with some NEW GAMES, as thought up by graphic design students from the Rietveld Academy, a presentation by Régine Débatty of her blog we-make-MONEY-not-art.com, a DISPLAY of various products as thought up by the reverse engineering principle of the artist duo HeHe and an ELECTRONIC SÉANCE by Brian McKenna and Robyn Moody.
http://www.mediamatic.net/artefact-11309-en.html
Location: bar-restaurant 11, Post CS Building, Amsterdam
said k 8.5.060 comments
readings next week audrey will deal with ambiguity as a resource for design (gaver,beaver,benford)
said k 7.5.060 comments
concert on the 11th STEIM presents a concert evening with Tim Hecker and Audile
Tim Hecker Tim Hecker is a Canadian-based musician and sound artist, born in Vancouver. Since 1996, he has produced a range of audio works for both international and Canadian recording imprints such as Mille Plateaux, Alien8, Force Inc, Staalplaat, and Fat Cat. His works have been described as “structured ambient”, “tectonic color plates” and “cathedral electronical music” however for the most part, have focused on exploring the intersections of noise, dissonance and melody, fostering an approach to songcraft which is both physical and emotive. The New York Times has described his work as “foreboding, abstract pieces in which static and sub-bass rumbles open up around slow moving notes and chords, like fissures in the earth waiting to swallow them whole”. His Radio Amor was considered to be a key recording in 2003 by Wire magazine. His work has also included commissions for contemporary dance, sound-art installations, and various writings. He is also an acclaimed producer of techno, having toured and produced under the name Jetone. Tim has presented his work extensively including performances at Sonar (Barcelona), MUTEK (Montreal), Impakt Festival (Utrecht), Victoriaville (Quebec), IDEAL (Nantes), Vancouver New Music Festival, and Transmediale (Berlin). His live performances have included collaborations with artists such as Oren Ambarchi and Fly Pan Am, and has supported bands including Godspeed you Black Emperor and Isis. He lives between Montreal and Ottawa.
Audile Audile is an improvisational duo formed by Yutaka Makino and dj sniff based in the Netherlands. Both musicians utilize custom-built software and hardware to explore new possibilities of expression in contemporary electronic music. Yutaka Makino's primary instrument is a unique real-time granular synthesis software program. dj sniff uses the turntable to generate a wide variety of sound textures that are processed by a set of custom dsp effects. The use of custom tools allows them to break away from the subtle gestures of conventional computer interfaces. Audile strives for the highest musicianship and virtuosity that a modern-day electronic musician can attain in a live improvisational context. However, they realize that this cannot be achieved by the software they write or the speed they cut the fader, but only through the refinement of their audile senses. Yutaka Makino’s work seeks to integrate the historic precedent of electronic music in a contemporary context, involving research in psycho-acoustic phenomena and spatial perception. Dj sniff (Takuro Mizuta Lippit) is dj and turntable musician who believes that artists who create their own tools produce unique work that is distinctively different from those using pre-existing products. He is now residing the Netherlands where he is a visiting researcher for STEIM. www.audile.org
Date: Thursday May 11 2006 Venue: STEIM, Utrechtsedwarsstraat 134, Amsterdam Time: 20.30 hour Entrance: 5 euro
said k 4.5.061 comments
a free, cross-platform sound editor Audacity® is free, open source software for recording and editing sounds. it is available for Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, GNU/Linux, and other operating systems.
said k 1.5.060 comments
task for next time
the instument you would like to play. what is your desire? if you could have anything you want? if technology was not an issue? what kind of magic would you like to wield? submit a short text of about 200 word and an image before the 11th. this is not a design document or a project proposal. this is a fanatsy of how this thing might be experienced. just assume it can be done.
also on the 11th, bring your kit-electronics and we will record small demos of each set... so be carefull to not break them before then :)
said k 27.4.061 comments
notes from stocks talk [sorry about the bad aschii art]
electricity is a lot like water. voltage = preasure current = flow or movement [amount of water that flows]
electrocity flows from plus to minus but the electrons are negative and as such the electrons moves in the opposite direction.
the battery +||- the source of energy
resistor -[]- - restricts the flow, like a narrowing in a water pipe. as the flow goes through the pipe, preasure builds up on one side of the narrowing. ohm is the unit of resistence. the coloured stripes indicate numbers like this: black = 0, brown = 1, red = 2, orange = 3, yellew = 4, green = 5, blue = 6, violet = 7, gray = 8, white = 9. the metal stripes indicate level of precision like this: silver = 10%, gold = 5%, red = 2%.
V = I x R
diode -|>|- semiconductor - electrical one-way valves - allows for electricity to flow through only in one direction. for this reaon you must always pay attention to which way you mount it. the longest leg is always +. an LED is a light emitting diode.
capacitor -||- temporary storage vessels for electricity - stores a little bit of electric currency. farad is the unit of the capacitor. in the water analogy, it acts like a ballon on a pipe, when empty teh baloon fills up and when the presure drops the ballon will empty out into the pipe and even out the flow.
V = I x tC where t = time
inductor -~~- a coil of wire - stores electric energy not as charge but as a magnetic field. the behaviour of an inductor is the opposite of a capacitor but the result is the same. henry is the unit of the inductor. in the water analogy it acts like a water mill being driven by the water flow - ie it takes energy away from the water.
V = I x t/L
transistor -|< a transistor is a currency controlled dial - flow controlls flow. it has three points: base, collector and emittor. electrivity can only flow in one direction. two types: NPN and PNP the difference is their direction. a NPN transistor allows current to flow from base to emittor if current is also flowing from connector to emittor. the PNP one is mirrored, the electricity flows through it the other way.
field effect transistors ->[ voltage controlled resistors. level of preasure controls the flow.
said k 27.4.060 comments
nancy's presentation [if you have notes from your presentation - mail them to me and ill put them on the blog - k]
Our task is to stamp this provisional, perishing earth into ourselves so deeply, so painfully, so passionately, that its being may rise again, ‘invisibly’, in us. Rainer Maria Rilke
Today we explored in movement sensory perception excersises, we experientially investigated: - intercorporeality, phenomenology and embodiment; - fields of flow of intensities and diffuse indeterminate perceptual zones;
These are 'somatic movement techniques' I learnt during my certificate training at Institute of Somatic Movement Studies and working with Lisa Nelson (Judson Dance Choir)
* in partners taking the weight of the head -secondary senses investigations. One person sits comfortable the other lies on the floor and gives the weight of their head to the sitting person. Holding the cerebellum and lowering it to the floor if the person does not let go. On lifting very gentle rotation to release the Nervous System. Slow transition. Changing partners.
* group solar system excersise. Walking around the room noticing the peripheral of the body: the peripheral vision of the Hands arms out stretched.
Finding a guide (one person) and keeping them in your peripheral vision whilst walking around the room. Changing from the right side, to the left side of this vision that you are keeping them in. Moving them in your view from: far to close, clockwise, anti-clockwise. Choosing another guide and keeping both in you vision moving around the room.
Moving around until you create a perfect perpendicular triangle or that you are exactly in the middle of your two guides. Usually the cellular atomic level of things is an expression of the larger picture. A micro solar system, the choices and possibilities that affect the group resonate and are immediately visible. The magnetic force. Open and closed systems.
* There are three phases in the process of perception: first, there is experiencing, the pure sensory contact; second there is the action of the inner observer, witnessing the experience, and third, there is the recording and communication of the experience, which necessarily involves external expression in code, word, or sound, and other artistic forms. The importance of being able to find ways to speak about perception and experience. I believe that here, we are able to discover lost bodily potentialities and make new connections.
* A subjective experience is fundamentally an intersubjective experience.
As Hans Joas interprets Merleau-Ponty, "The basis of all experience is not just corporeality but the interrelatedness of our experience of our bodies to our experience of other bodies". Joas, H., The Creativity of Action, (Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1996).
*Merleau-Ponty’s assertion: I am not in space and time, nor do I conceive space and time; I belong to them, my body combines with them and includes them. Space and time move through my body as I move through them.
said k 27.4.061 comments
all day presentations: nancy on "being in the world" and marc on beuys basic electronics with stock making things work - differently end of day: what can you do? demo/concert
said k 26.4.060 comments
another question of timing the 25th of may is a dutch holiday but pzi is 'in principle' open... if we were to move that day's teaching to the tuesday or wednesday the same week - would that be a huge problem? answers in the comments please...
said k 25.4.063 comments
scheduling just to recap the next few thursdays: 27.04 electronics day two - with small demo/presentation 04.05 spring break 11.05 build your own interface 18.05 introducing junXion and LiSa
said k 24.4.060 comments
audreys sound this is the sound of my phone - in 'rest' position, and then when someone rings me (and finally back to 'rest'). it is recorded via a 'phone pickup' which captures other electromagnetic energies being emitted from the phone, even in idle position. said k 21.4.060 comments
next weeks readings are nancy on Dourish “Being-in-the-World”: Embodied Interaction and mark will let us know by the weekend...
said k 20.4.061 comments
the task for next week study stocks two documents - they are here...
for more basic electronics curtecy of the internet, see: here and here there are lots of them out there - have a look around...
think about how you might want to modify/use/combine the kits you have built...
and remember: - never open anything that plugs into the wall - keep an eye on the soldering iron [dont leave it on when you leave the room] - keep a window open if you can
said k 20.4.060 comments
for extra bits and pieces amsterdam: muco Bilderdykstr 116 - 118 1053KZ Amsterdam Tel: 020-6183781 Fax: 020-6182797 Website: www.muco-group.nl http://www.muco-elektronica.nl/
marieke wanted to share a bunch of links: go to http://www.mohr-i.nl/mawiki/E_2dwaste_99 And scroll down, 1.5 are the links, it is a zip-file so you need download it yourselves. There are a lot of links.
said k 18.4.060 comments
20th of april morning... [readings] andreea - Dunne, the Electronic as Post-Optimal Object walter - Whitehead, Objects, The Concept of Nature [presentations] one minute of sound rest of the day... [practical] basic electronics and soldering 101
said k 18.4.060 comments
oh and nancy, i have a reader for you - you can pick it up from STEIM or ill bring it next thursday
said k 16.4.063 comments
readings next week andreea will talk about: Dunne, the Electronic as Post-Optimal Object and walter will tackle: Whitehead, Objects - The Concept of Nature
please check out the texts before thursday :)
said k 16.4.060 comments
tasks for next week: a. bring me a minute of sound [any format that will play on your computer] b. give me the URL of your project site
said k 13.4.060 comments
reading the reader - the rules - EDITED - you have 15 minutes to present a text from the reader. - let us know which text you will use the weekend before. - the name of the text will be posted here by sunday night. - please prepare for your fellow student's reading by reading the text. - we start in the morning, don't be late. - if you cannot do the date you're assigned: swap with someone and let me know. - EDITED TO ADD: if you want to do a text in the reader, thats fine if you give us all photocopies the week before. in order of appearance: 20th of April: Andreea and Walter 27th of April: Nancy and Mark 11th of May: Alex and Jorrit [audrey] 18th of May: Andrea and Dominik 1st of June: Audrey [jorrit] and Marieke 8th of June: Shahee
said k 13.4.060 comments
welcome to the instrumental project, we will start next thursday with an introduction day at STEIM.
directions: STEIM is in Amsterdam at Achtergracht 19. BUT we will use the back entrance at Utrechtsedwarsstraat 134 [the concert entrance]. Directions from Central Station: tram 4 to Prinsengracht. Walk one street further and and turn left down Utrechtsedwarsstraat. Green anonymous looking door with tree outside. or take the metro from Centraal to Weesperplein [red flag]. Walk down Sarphatistraat towards and across the Amstel and turn right along the river until you reach Utrechtsedwarsstraat [green flag].
object The value of an object is determined not only by its status as a humanly created artefact, but also by its role in a larger system of objects and things. Objects activate or engage their environments in a constant balancing act of meaning and possibilities. Deeply engaged with the systems of the world; it will occasionally turn around and change the very nature of that system. While still sitting there on the table the object speaks to you, it tells you of its own position and it lets you know its weight and texture before it is touched.
said k 6.4.060 comments
instrument A computer is a performer that acts a series of instructions according to a script. By creating (inter) active objects we are finding ways to perform with and through the computer without being glued to the screen and the keyboard. We can begin moving away from the computer, not necessarily very far away but far enough to be able to move and address the space that we are in. In doing this we can be instrument makers, builders of violins and stethoscopes and other things that don’t have names yet.
said k 6.4.060 comments
make your own “If you cant open it you don’t own it.” Says the label in ‘make’ magazine. Nick Collins says: “If it sounds good and doesn’t smoke, don’t worry if you don’t understand it.” “The things that people have made themselves have magic powers. They have hidden meanings that other people can’t see.” Says Ulla-Maaria Mutanen. Charles Leadbeater talks about the pro-am revolution, Chris Anderson is interested in The Long Tail, For Henry Chesbrough it is open innovation, while Niels Gershenfield calls it personal fabrication.
said k 6.4.060 comments
a free fall mash up dictionary Artefact An object made by a human, a tool, weapon, an ornament, a product of human conception or agency. An inaccurate observation, effect, or result, especially one resulting from the technology used in scientific investigation or from experimental error: The apparent pattern in the data was an artefact of the collection method.
Enchantment A feeling of great liking for something wonderful and unusual. A psychological state induced by (or as if induced by) a magical incantation or a magical spell.
Lateral Relating to, or situated at or on the side. Or constituting a change within an organization or a hierarchy to a position at a similar level, as in salary or responsibility, to the one being left: made a lateral move within the company. Or relating to, or being a sound produced by breath passing along one or both sides of the tongue.
Performance Performance of the essential terms of a contract, promise, or obligation. A doctrine which permits a party that acted in good faith to recover from the other party to a contract for a performance that departs in minor respects from what was promised. Or a public rendition or presentation of an artistic work.
Physicality Relating to the body as distinguished from the mind or spirit. Involving or characterized by vigorous bodily activity: a physical dance performance. Or characterized by violence. Relating to material things: our physical environment. Or relating to matter and energy or the sciences dealing with them.
Sonic Relating to, or determined by audible sound: a sonic wave. Having or caused by speed approximately equal to that of sound in air at sea level. Having a frequency within the audibility range of the human ear.
System A group of interacting, interrelated, or interdependent elements forming a complex whole. An organism or body considered as a whole, especially with regard to its vital processes or functions. A group of physiologically or anatomically complementary organs or parts.
Tangible Discernible by the touch; palpable: a tangible roughness of the skin. Possible to touch. Possible to be treated as fact; real or concrete. Possible to understand or realize. In Law, that which can be valued monetarily.
Sources: The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary and Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary. And as always the internet.
said k 6.4.060 comments
reader Anderson, C. 2004. The Long Tail. Wired Issue 12.10 http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.10/tail.html
Beuys, J. 2006. Questions to Joseph Beuys. In Joseph Beuys, The Multiples edited by Jorg Schellmann. Schellman Editions
Brotchie, A. And M. Gooding, 1995. Objects in A book of surrealist games, Shambhala
Brucker-Cohen, J. Gaya, L. Goodman, E. Hill, D. 2004. Panel: Design for Hackability. Proc. DIS2004, ACM Press New York
Buchenau, M. and Fulton Suri, J. 2000. Experience Prototyping, Proc. Of DIS 2000, pages 424-433, ACM Press New York.
Chesbrough, H. 2003. Open Innovation : The New Imperative for Creating and Profiting from Technology. http://www.quickmba.com/entre/open-innovation/
Dourish, P. 2001. “Being-in-the-World”: Embodied Interaction. In Where the Action is: The Foundations of Embodied Interaction, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.
Dunne, A. 1999. The electronic as post optimal object. In Hertzian Tales: Electronic Products, Aesthetic Experience and Critical Design RCA Computer Related Design Research
Gaver, W., Beaver, J., and Benford, S. 2003. Ambiguity as a Resource for Design, CHI Letters, Proc. CHI 2003, pages 233-240, ACM Press New York.
Goldberg, R. 2000. Various extracts from Laurie Anderson, Thames and Hudson Ltd
Holmquist, L. E. 2005. Representations, Mock-Ups, and Prototypes. Extract from Prototyping: tilden ns ideas or cargo cult designs? Interactions Volume 12, Pages: 48 – 54, ACM Press New York
Horn, R. 1993. Rebecca Horn, Guggenheim Museum, New York, and Cantz, Ostfildern
Jalopy, M. 2005. The Maker’s Bill of Rights. Extract from Own Your Own. Make04. http://www.makezine.com/04/
LaBelle B. 2001. Music to the nth degree. In Experimental sound and radio edited by Allan S Waiss. Cambridge, Mass. MIT Press
Leadbeater, C. Miller, P. 2004. The Pro-Am ethic. In The Pro-Am Revolution – How enthusiasts are changing our economy and society. Demos. http://www.demos.co.uk/catalogue/proameconomy/
Levine, R. Locke, C. Searls, D. Weinberger, D. 1999. The Cluetrain Manifesto. http://www.cluetrain.com/
Mohr, M. 1976. Untitled statement. Reprinted in The Anthology of Computer Art – Sonic Acts XI edited by Arie Altena and Lucas van der Velden, Sonic Acts Press 2006, Amsterdam
Mutanen, U. 2005. Crafter Manifesto. Make04. http://www.makezine.com/04/manifesto/
Reas, C. E. B. 2006. Who are the Progenitors of the Contemporary Synthesis of Software and Art? In The Anthology of Computer Art – Sonic Acts XI edited by Arie Altena and Lucas van der Velden, Sonic Acts Press 2006, Amsterdam
Roberts, M. 2001. Wired. In Experimental sound and radio edited by Allan S Waiss. Cambridge, Mass. MIT Press
Ruhe, H. 1979. Various extract from Fluxus: the Most Radical and Experimental Art Movement of the Sixties, Amsterdam
Sterling, B. 2005. The Rubbish Makers in Shaping Things (Mediaworks Pamphlets) The MIT Press
Toop, D. 2003. Humans, are they really necessary? In Undercurrents, the Hidden Wiring of – Modern Music edited by Rob Young. Continuum International Publishing Group
Tymony, C. 2005. Sneaky Uses for Everyday Things. Make04. http://www.makezine.com/04/
Whitehead, A. N. 1920. Objects. in The concept of nature. Cambridge university press, 2nd ed. Dover, 2004.
Young, R. 2003. Worship the glitch. In Undercurrents, the Hidden Wiring of Modern Music edited by Rob Young. Continuum International Publishing Group
said k 6.4.061 comments
[contact: k at this domain]
who
Thematic Project Media Design
Piet Zwart Institute
kristina andersen
in collaboration with STEIM and v2_lab
13.04 introduction and concerts
20.04 electronics
27.04 electronics
04.05 spring break
11.05 junXion board building. hand in desire text and image
18.05 introducing junXion and LiSa. hand in essay draft
25.05 prototype making: junXion and LiSa
01.06 interim presentation. tech + essay doctor
08.06 1:1 installation advice
15.06 making things work. essay draft: 2000 words
22.06 set up show. hand in website
29.06 final presentations
13.07 hand in essay
