February 2, 2022No Comments

Interruptible fade of an LED

It took me a bit to get back into the physical computing mindset with 2 hours of troubleshooting Arduino IDE and my breadboard and digging through old PComp blogs from a year ago, I realized my microcontroller is a Nano 33 BLE sense not an 33 ioT! I utilized this resource to start off my code. It is a simple linear fade in and out then interrupted by a push button. I changed the speed by changing both the delay() and my fadeAmount in my code. Now lets curve this!

int led = 13; // the PWM pin the LED is attached to
int brightness = 0; // how bright the LED is
int fadeAmount = 5; // how many points to fade the LED by
// the setup routine runs once when you press reset:

void setup() {
   pinMode(led, OUTPUT);

   Serial.begin(9600);
}

void loop() {
   analogWrite(led, brightness);
 
   brightness = brightness + fadeAmount;

   if (brightness == 0 || brightness == 255) {
      fadeAmount = -fadeAmount ;
   }

   delay(30);
}

February 2, 2022No Comments

Observation: Candle v1

However I didn't have a lighter nor a candle at home, found a reference on YouTube ~ which I later then realize is unhelpful as I can't observe it in a space. How does once candle effect a dark room? A lit room with natural light? More candles? Candles in different places in the room? I hope to do this again this week prior to the next assignment to understand more the strength of a candle in various environments and conditions.

I realized this video didn't seem in a stable environment as the candles were being pushed by a wind, although there was not any information of where this was filmed and the full setting. A few characteristics that change of the flame itself is height, almost being pushed and pulled as it loses weight as it lengthens, angle, due to wind/environment, and speed of movement.

As they're in glasses, even more light reflects off the other candles and I almost cannot tell what is flickering off each other. Prior to watching this video I almost forgot candles do not flicker themselves, they are very still and constant source. However how it lights the room is what 'flickers'.

This video is much more still in an extremely dark, stable environment. Height shortens when it is burning more of the wick, and height lengthens when less (maybe need for more oxygen?) and the motion of swaying back and forth is minimal.

February 2, 2022No Comments

Lighting Moment: Hoyt-Schermerhorn

Time: July 15, 2021 1:30pm

Location: Hoyt-Schermerhorn St exit off the Subway

The street is facing south and the sun is giving light mid-day, giving a strong source of light. The reflections from the frosted, textured, tiled windows are at a slight angle (Higher Luminous Intensity). I thought the reflections were beautiful and thought of water streaming down the wall. As the reflections head towards the inside, the light gets more pulled and stretched. The additional industrial light is also warm, not taking away from the scene. This scene was very warm per the usual colder, harder lights used in the subway. With the decorated natural light, the warm industrial light, the mirror was a nice last part of this soft scene.

November 16, 2021No Comments

Time Final Proposal: Playtime Clock

"One of the most tenacious conceptual threats to work, and to Captain Clock’s Hegemonic Time, is childhood itself. Children have a dogged, delicious disrespect for work-time, punctuality, efficiency and for schooled uniform time. Their time is an eternal-present." -Jay Griffiths, Sideways Look at Time

"Consumer societies are stealing children away from their kith, their family of nature, in a steady alienation. This is not about some luxury, a hobby, a bit of playtime in the garden." - A Country Called Childhood by Jay Griffiths

As children, time was unstructured in our perspective. How could we bring that back? That feeling of freeing "eternal-present" and innocence?

As children, what were time tellers for us? Light and darkness, seasons, mealtimes, school, play, and being at home. But what about during summer with no school?

I want to focus on the sun, moon, and seasons/weather and integrate sound. I eventually want to give this as a gift to my god son and daughter and want it to be put in the playroom or babyroom, so the main aesthetic would be child-like and friendly and cute.

November 13, 2021No Comments

Thesis Week 1 – Brainstorming

I initially started out with larger ideas I was interested in as of recently:

I continued to explain what exactly about these topics caught my eye. I took ease in writing about how my personal experiences. I noticed some of these overlap and it sparked some thoughts of potential mediums to express my interests in.

November 11, 2021No Comments

Distorted Mirror: Planning [Progress]

Learning how to connect to MadMapper:

NYU ITP Resident Nico Cabalquinto helped me get introduced with the basics of connecting LED strips and utilizing MadMapper as a visualizer, have not decided if I'll be using MadMapper yet.

Ordering Parts:

Sketch:

Questions that arised:

  • How many LED strips do I need? (I have to do math oh no!)
  • What is the resolution? I do want the visuals to be lower resolution so this will help me determine my size.
  • What will I use to control the LEDs visually? (Resolume, MadMapper, TouchDesigner, etc.)

Planning and mathing it out:

Next Steps: Initially I wanted to solder as I created the mess but I realized now that creating the grid foundation first may be easier then adding and subtracting as I can figure out the math easier with MadMapper and manipulate from the foundation.

  • Solder the grid
  • Create the effects on MadMapper
  • Create .dxf of board
  • CNC boards + spraypaint black

November 10, 2021No Comments

Deconstructed Mirror Idea

Inspirations:

Wanting to explore creating a light sculpture - I started looking at LED grids made by strips as it is more malleable and adaptable.

Talking to Daniel Rozin for advice and his work with mirrors, he suggested looking into Faig Ahmed's distorted carpets. Which then led me to look into more distorted imagery, such as carnival mirrors and scanner warps on a photocopier.

Sketches:

Translating this into an LED grid, I had several ideas for various forms. I ended up choosing #1 out of my sketches.

Next Steps:

  • Buy materials
  • Soldering grid
  • CNC board to hold grid
  • Madmapper for LED Lights
  • Adjust grid - sclupture

November 10, 2021No Comments

Folder Poetry

  • Create a sketch of Folder Poem using only the terminal that describes a speculative liberatory living environment for you
    • Is it in a home with rooms? Is it in a forest, an ocean, in the clouds? How are systems of sexuality and gender facilitated, altered, or represented in the design of this space? Is there anyone with you? Is your family with you? What structures the social life of this living environment and how is that reflected in the architecture? What objects are in each room or space of this living environment? What thoughts are you having here and what kinds of conversations? What are the marks, traces, and records of the kind of life you lead here inside the space? 

Folder Poetry: The practice of using the structure of computer folder organization as a new kind of poetic form like the haiku or iambic pentameter. By naming and nesting folders and files, we can create unfolding narratives, rhythmic prose, and choose-your-own-adventure poetry.

I then created the structure completely through Terminal and Text Edits. Here is the link to the resources to help me do this: https://lovelanguages.melaniehoff.com/folder-poetry-2021/

October 28, 2021No Comments

4,5,6 Axis CNC

4 Axis CNC Machines

A 4 axis CNC machine features the same three axes as on 3 axis machines, but it also has rotation around the X-axis. This is known as the A-axis.

In 4 axis CNC router machining, the workpiece is also usually rotated. This means the machine can act as a milling machine as well as a CNC lathe.

  • Pros: drilling on the side of parts or on cylindrical surfaces, work on four sides of a workpiece

5 Axis CNC Machines

In a 5 axis CNC machine, there are rotations around two of the three axes. The rotation around the X-axis is called the A-axis, the rotation around the Y-axis is the B-axis, and the rotation around the Z-axis is the C axis.

Materials: 5 axis CNC machines are used in the production of a wide range of precise and very complex parts of things like car molds, artificial bones, military products and aerospace parts.

6 Axis CNC Machines

Materials: Machining of aluminium, steel, cast iron and model making materials

Places to go:

NYC Laser Cut

October 26, 2021No Comments

Observational Instrument MIDTERM

Exploring further my first sketch of tree rings as a teller of time.

Presentation Blog Post

With every ring, every year is reminisced, indicating time is unique individual experiences and memories. Instead of trees 'counting down' to death, it counts up. Dendrochronology, or growth rings, is a scientific method of telling the age and history of a tree to the exact year they were formed.

Inspired by surrealist Salvador Dali’s “Persistence of Memory” and Carlo Rovelli’s passage in “Order of Time” about how the world is made of events, not things, the relation between time and patterns of nature is explored through this reflective, meditative experience that is unique to each individual.

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