Lead The Way Final Documentation

Our big idea for this final project was fate. It is something that we both believe in and have discussed a lot while working on this project, discovering what exactly it means to us and why. We believe that we are where we are supposed to be in life and that the decisions we make along the way, although seem very important, are in fact insignificant in the grand scheme of life. Our future is determined before we can even make these decisions and there is an end result waiting for us that is consistent. We believe the end image of our individual lives is the same regardless of the path we chose to get there and that it is made up of small decisions. We created an interactive space where the user is physically able to make decisions and move onto the next choice. It has been concluded that our piece cannot be classified as either a narrative or non-narrative as the images do not quite make an obvious story; there is not one path that is mapped out as more significant than another, nor is there a real connection between the images. However, the point of this exercise is for the user to build their own narrative. The path they choose is completely up to them and their destination is determined based on the choices they make, forming their own story with an individual and unique meaning.

As seen in our documentation video, we have a total of 15 boards (13 decisions and 2 final images), each with two photographs that we have taken ourselves. The images and background music are a combination of architecture and nature used to represent a negative or a positive choice. We were not indicating in anyway that one is positive and the other is negative nor are we comparing the two; we simply used them as a tool, as things we are constantly surrounded by to prove our point. We really wanted to get away from making this a piece about a daily routine or having the good and bad so obvious that it is easy to make decisions. It is all about the viewer being in control and shaping their own story, resembling the uncertainties in life.

The purpose of this installation is to be a reflection of where we are in or lives right now. We are at a young age where we have so many uncertainties and are worried that the choices we make will drastically shape our future. We approach every decision with caution; frightful of the consequences they may have in the long run. Yet all of these choices make up the final image of our life, shaping us into the person we finally grow into with the end result as a place where one is at peace with who they are and feel confident in what they are doing. We chose an image of darkness leading to a light place for the final image. For some it could represent death, for others hope of a new beginning, or even the unknown. The image is symbolic because at the time of making these life decisions, one can be seen as standing "in the dark" unable to see what is around them and unclear of where to go. As they approach the light at the end of the tunnel, things start to become visible and they can finally see things falling into place. We projected the final image of the tunnel onto the boards as it showed that the smaller images make up the bigger life picture and it is not always perfect. We chose to present the boards scattered throughout the entire room creating somewhat of a physical maze where the viewer has to navigate their way through, arriving at different decisions. The maze may have been somewhat confusing and the user could spotted the other images in the background, however, just like in life sometimes we have an idea of what is in our future but we cannot see the whole picture until we are in the moment. It is important to make choices based on what is happening in the moment, as whatever comes next is inevitable and meant to be.

Reflecting back, we are proud of the piece we created and feel our intended message was clearly conveyed. The critique we had last week was very beneficial in exposing what we could improve. If we could change one thing about our piece, it would be the lighting. We encountered many problems and ultimately, due to cost and availability we were not able to find what we were looking for. Ideally we would have much brighter lights and enough for each individual image as opposed to lighting the whole board at once. For the purpose of the presentation, we should have let more light into the room so our images appeared stronger and explained our issue with lighting.

As New Media artists, we were able to create an interactive environment that gave the viewer the power of being in control. The users were presented with alternative options every time, proving that they always have a choice, ultimately deciding their path. We created a place for the user to exercise their imagination, and take their own journey, not only through our installation but also in life. Each image symbolized something different for every user, therefore making each experience unique and meaningful. 

Lead The Way Proposal

Our BIG IDEA for this final project is fate. It is something that we both believe in and have discussed a lot while working on this project, discovering what exactly it means to us and why. We believe that we are where we are supposed to be in life and that the decisions we make along the way, although seem very important, are in fact insignificant in the giant scheme of life. Our future is determined before we can even make these decisions and there is an end result waiting for us that is consistent. We believe the end image of our individual lives is the same regardless of the path we chose to get there and that it is made up of small decisions. We have decided to make a space where the user is physically able to make decisions and move onto the next choice. We have concluded that it cannot be classified as either a narrative or non-narrative as the images do not quite make an obvious story; there is not one path that is mapped out as more significant than another, nor is there a real connection between each image. However, the point of this exercise is for the user to build their own narrative. It is completely up to them the path that they choose and their destination is determined based on the choices they make, forming their own story with individual meanings.

As you can see with our prototype we only have 3 boards here now, but we plan on having a total of 19, each with 2 photographs on them. We have a total of 15 boards (13 decisions and 2 final images) and have taken all of the photographs ourselves. We decided to use images of architecture and nature to represent a negative or a positive. We are not however indicating in any way that one is positive or negative; we are not comparing the two. We are simply using them as a tool, as things we are constantly surrounded by, to prove our point. We really wanted to get away from making this a piece about a daily routine or having the good and bad so obvious that it is easy to make the decisions or even life in general. It is all about the viewer being in control and shaping their own story, resembling the uncertainties in life.

The purpose of this instillation is to be a reflection of where we are in or lives right now. We both feel this way and are sure many of our classmates do as well. We are in a place in our lives where we have so many uncertainties and we are worried that the choices we make will drastically shape our future. We make everyone with caution, frightful of the consequences they may have in the long run. We believe things happen for a reason and we will end up in the same place regardless of those choices made along the way. All of these decisions make up the final image of our life, shaping us into the person we finally grow into. We are not indicating the end result is death but rather a place where you are at peace with who you are and know what you are doing. We have chosen an image of darkness leading to a light place. For some it could even represent death, for others hope of a new beginning, or even the unknown. This image is symbolic because at the time of making these decisions, one can be seen as standing "in the dark" and as they approach the light at the end of the tunnel, things become more clear. We projected the final image of the tunnel onto the boards with the photographs on them. This is symbolizes that all the smaller images make up the bigger life picture and it is not always perfect. Another reason why we have chosen to present this way with the boards scattered throughout the entire room is as the viewer makes their way through, they may be able to spot the other images  in the background. Just like in life, sometimes we have an idea of what is in our future but we cannot see the whole picture until we are in the moment. It is important to make choices based on what is happening in the moment as whatever comes next is inevitable.

Prototype Automata

Automata Project

For our Automata project, Karen and I are doing a video of the three installations we built. We are really interested in presenting the unfair challenges that some women go through daily and the heroic strength needed to move on and stand on their feet. Therefore, we thought that the story of Zues and Io (Greek Mythology) is a great example for our big idea, where Io were used an d mistreated by the Gods of ancient Greece and had to live with forever since she was turned to an immortal. We are also influenced by the stye of Caroline’s movie, so we wanted our piece to look cute yet creepy.

We choose three beats from the story to present our idea.

Beat 1: where Zues turn Io int a cow when his wife suspected his affair. Then, Io was taken by the wife and tied to a giant tree with many-eyed Argus Panoptes guarding her.

Beat 2: where Hermes is sent by Zues to save Io from the Argus.

Beat 3: where Io met a man named Prometheus - he was chained by Zues because he taught men how to make fire, where a giant eagle would eat his liver every day - where he told her that one day she will be restored to human form and be the mother of one of the greatest heroes of all time.
To convey the cute and creepy style that we wanted, we created separate built scene for each beat with mis-proportioned characters and big shadows.

Furthermore, we chose a Surrealism like style, because it fits with our idea and our story where the concept is real and strong but the narrative we are using is fiction. We are also using a video as our medium to make sure that the audience see the story in sequence and not miss the details. I think that we are touching an important issue and try to make people relate to it or feel emotions through our narrative and robotics movements is an interesting medium and approach.

Beat 1:

Beat 2:

Beat 3:

Final Project Documentation

Title:

Arabic Identity Patterns

Project Description & Intentions:

For this project, I wanted to bring the beauty of my culture, yet make everyone relate to it. Therefore, I have decided to use the Arabic letters to create different patterns according to a certain rules or locations set for every letter. The participant will be able to type three letters to create different patterns every time they play. I chose three as a number for the viewer’s inputs, because it is an enough input to represent a person’s identity and to create an interesting patterns. To clarify, people will start relating to the piece by their inputs such as, having their first initial of their full name or their loved ones. Moreover, choosing three letters will help with creating a high range of patterns, which will keep the participant interested to interact with the piece longer. However, each participant will read or see the piece differently according to their background. To clarify, a person who do not understand Arabic will only be able to see the transformation of the English letters and the beauty of the positive and negative space its creating. On the other hand, a participant who can read arabic will have an extra layer of understanding the letters and being able to read them. Therefore, each participant will have different experiences according to their inputs and knowledge.

Class Material Connection:

Desmond Paul Henry was my inspiration for my final project. I liked the simplicity of his work, where he repeated a simple shape in a piece and created an interesting dynamic results. I found it fascinating how a simple shape being continuously placed in a certain rule could have so much power on affecting the positive and negative space. Therefore, I decided for my final project to create patterns from repeated Arabic letters. When the participant will type three letters, positive and negative space will start playing a role in how people visualize each result. Moreover, I decided to use Processing to create my piece, so I can have a more playful and people engaged piece. Therefore, the computer will keep reacting to participants’ inputs and create different patterns through time.

Technical Description:

I used Processing, where I chose a specific studied locations for each letter to have a more interesting pattern. Then, I downloaded an Arabic font into Processing and used the Arabic keyboard to transfer each English letter the viewer press into Arabic. Therefore, the viewer will be using an English keyboard, but actually pressing Arabic letters, which creates a nice transformation between the input and the output. Finally, I have the piece projected on a wall for a better final presentation.

Images:

I started working on visualizing how I can have more interesting shapes to help me with setting the rules in Processing. I found that having the letters in flipped horizontally of vertically helps with that as you can see bellow:

I started experimenting my idea on English letters to see how it will work first:

Some examples of the final results:

Code:

PFont font;

char[] input = {'ا', 'ب', 'ت'};

int inputIndex = 0;

int x= 35;

int y= 50;

void keyPressed() {

if ( key >= 'ا' && key <= 'ي' && inputIndex < 3) {

input[inputIndex] = (char)(key);

inputIndex++;

}

if ( key == BACKSPACE && inputIndex > 0) {

inputIndex--;

input[inputIndex] = ' ';

}

if (key == ' ') {

input[0] = ' ';

input[1] = ' ';

input[2] = ' ';

inputIndex = 0;

}

}

void setup() {

size(350,303 );

background(255);

stroke(0);

//font = loadFont ("BankGothic-Medium-100.vlw");

font = createFont ("GEMBFaresMedium-Medium", 75);

}

void draw() {

background(0);

textFont (font);

textAlign(CENTER);

fill(255);

//1st

text(input[0], x, y);

pushMatrix();

translate(x+53, y);

scale(-1,1);

text(input[1], 0, 0);

popMatrix();

text(input[2], x+28, y+25);

//2nd

text(input[1], x+112, y);

pushMatrix();

translate(x+168, y);

scale(-1,1);

text(input[0], 0, 0);

popMatrix();

pushMatrix();

translate(x+140, y+25);

scale(-1,1);

text(input[2], 0, 0);

popMatrix();

//3rd

pushMatrix();

translate(x+29, y+75);

scale(1,-1);

text(input[2], 0, 0);

popMatrix();

pushMatrix();

translate(x, y+100);

scale(1,-1);

text(input[0], 0, 0);

popMatrix();

pushMatrix();

translate(x+56, y+99);

scale(-1,-1);

text(input[1], 0, 0);

popMatrix();

//4th

pushMatrix();

translate(x+138, y+75);

scale(-1,-1);

text(input[2], 0, 0);

popMatrix();

pushMatrix();

translate(x+168, y+100);

scale(-1,-1);

text(input[0], 0, 0);

popMatrix();

pushMatrix();

translate(x+112, y+100);

scale(1,-1);

text(input[1], 0, 0);

popMatrix();

}

Johnny Cash Project's Response

In the Johnny Cash Project, fans from everywhere can participate in recreating Johnny Cash’s last video. On this website, people will be able to choose any frame of his video and draw it in their own way and style. They will be able to see different variations of the video as people keep adding more drawings with time. Viewers will also be able to see the process of peoples’ drawings, which portraits what Cash and his music meant to each one of them. Cash’s fans have also added some symbols to help them deliver their messages to others and help keeping Cash’s memory alive. This website is a living evolving memorial for Johnny Cash and what a better way to keep remembering and honoring such a great musician by being part of his own work. Moreover, combining all the different styles of each drawing is creating an amazing result of a final video. This work is example of how people participating for the same cause could create a great piece of work. In my opinion, it helps his fans to get over their grief by knowing that they have participated and connected with some of his other fans.

Chris Jordan's Response

Chris Jordan’s work points out some facts and statistics that causes problems in the American society. He is showing some examples of addictions such as, smoking, abuse or misuse of prescription drugs, and breast augmentation surgeries. For each piece, he uses the right object hoping to trigger people’s feelings of anger or grief back. To clarify, he used prisoners’ uniforms to present the 2.3 million american prisoners in the american prison in 2005, while he used barbie dolls to present the 32000 of breast augmentation surgeries that happens in America each month. Moreover, Jordan is not only showing the statistics visually, he is also creating a piece of art for each topic. For example, to raise awareness of the number of people dying each year from smoking cigarettes, he created a collage of boxes of cigarettes laid out to create the painting by Van Gogh “skull with cigarette”. In other words, Jordan is choosing the right visual to present each data for each topic, and laying the visuals in the right layout to create an appropriate big picture for the topic. In my opinion, his work is really inspiring people and other artists. He is using art to raise awareness and deliver an important message to people, which is what art is all about. Furthermore, he is using technology to help them rethink their decisions. Hoping for people to start changing our societies for the best.