dedale studio | Homunculus

Architectural Intervention

2008-06-28T21:09:00.007-05:00

The space is imagined as a re-incarnation of itself, the JR Watkins Apothecary.

The behavior of the elevators reveal the buildings occupation and use by transforming into the actuators for a unique composition of light, sound and space. The architectural interventions and programming, which re-shape the building, take point of departure from the abnormal behavior of the elevator cabs and from the historical use of the building. The grotto-esque features: the gaping maw, the descent into the unknown, the technological secrecy, and the elusive niche—is embedded in the design of each intervention.

PRELIMINARY DESIGN DRAWINGS:

27: The Characters

2008-06-28T20:01:00.008-05:00

The elevator emerges as a unique character in fiction and film. It is made increasingly inviting because of its ubiquitous necessity beyond the screen in daily life. The elevator has made possible the vertical architecture so familiar in our cityscapes. The system of the elevator is controlled and regulated by computer programming language and logic that appears as an incomprehensible jumble to most of us. I am interested in the story of the elevator, in the elevator’s persona, which is embedded in each slice of computer-executable code. Manipulating that code changes the behavior of the system and it becomes “open” to interpretation, intervention and imagination.

Two elevators were constructed as characters for my design development. These elevators utilized the stepper motors programmed using an Arduino micro controller and Wiring language to perform the familiar functions of typical elevators.

They were also programmed with 8 aberrant behaviors, 3 of which were used to inform the architectural interventions on site. The 3 chosen programming functions (referred to from now on as behaviors) are:

A. elevator_love_letters
Brief: The notion of being mythically fated for one another. The ups and downs of love merge with the to and fro of traffic in the big city. The hero and heroine fear to loose sight of one another. The chase with the taxi no longer exits, only up and down from floor to floor.

B. coordinates_of_social_space
Brief: The skyscraper is a social microcosm revealing the deformations of its residents. The floors become rigidly separate levels of a social hierarchy, connected by the elevator alone. The elevator maps coordinates in social space. The system is made up of lower floors with oppressive ceilings and spacious upper floors of the executive class.

C. pages_from_a_diary
Brief: The experienced urbanist views the journey upward without danger, getting stuck is a harmless, erotic moment.

Each behavior references a particular elevator cultural construct revealed in contemporary fiction and film. The selected behaviors were then interwoven into the historical tapestry of an existing site and building in North Point Douglas.

Photo: JR Watkins Building (1913) view from freight elevator

Photo: JR Watkins Building (1913) elevator lift mechanism

Photo: JR Watkins Building (1913) view from freight elevator

Photo: JR Watkins Building (1913) Gearless Traction Elevator mechansim

Site

2008-05-07T01:27:00.006-05:00

Joseph Ray Watkins founded Watkins Incorporated in 1868 from the kitchen of his home in Plainview, Minn. He began selling red liniment from a horse-drawn wagon, bringing home remedies to rural areas where few doctors practiced. Watkins traveled the world gathering ingredients and spices for use in his natural concoctions.

JR Watkins Drug Factory and Medical Co. warehouse was built at the corner of Anabella Street and Higgins Avenue in 1913. The CN Trans Canada rail line passes directly behind the building, which allowed for shipments of white cream liniment, camphor oil, turpentine spirits, cinnamon, cleaning solvents, pepper and vanilla to be shipped with ease. Two massive parallel elevators, one for freight and another for passengers, transported JR Watkins products, ingredients and supplies throughout the unique eight-story warehouse.

From 1909 to 1913, Annabella Street (then Rachel) and McFarlane Street made up Winnipegs’ semi official “Red Light” district and the Watkins head offices and distribution centre was right in the thick of it. “Mrs. Watkins frowned on this behavior and ordered the removal of several brothels between the Watkins building and Higgins and replaced them with the current garden. In this act of moral enforcement, Mrs. Watkins effectively quarantined a slice of Point Douglas for her and the Watkins employees. The overgrown trees, bushes and perimeter fence define two worlds: inside the garden and out”.

The JR Watkins Apothecary is a result of the stories about elevators and people, events and characters that make up my particular impression of the Watkins brand, the building, and its site. I imagine the Watkins family to be eccentric pioneers, a bit like the famous Willy Wonka from Raold Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – fiercely independent, innovative, and prone to lunacy from overexposure to potent ingredients.

Code and Motion

2008-04-28T20:43:00.005-05:00

Elevator Programming Code - Upload a Document to Scribd

The elevator code trials made use of several online tutorials and expertise from forum members in the Arudino Online forum, the Ladyada Forum and the Maker forum. The above PDF demonstrates over 3 months worth of continuous research and revision- testing code, inserting code libraries, learning and tweaking. It's still not perfect. The elevator motion began with a hunch-- that is, I could move the elevator using stepper motors controlled by push button switches on a shift register. The idea of the shift register came from the SHIFTIN tutorial written by Carlyn Maw and Tom Igoe.

The last pages of the .pdf contain the final code used to run the elevators.

UPDATE:

The elevators preform based on these evolved behaviors which have been programmed into the elevator code and into the elevator's interface. The following pseudo-code depicts the behaviors most interesting to me and most relevant to the site.

A. elevator_love_letters
Baudelaireʼs poem “ A une Passante” illustrates the essence of modern love, one
which is no longer dependent on the notion of being mythically fated for one
another, but rather, on a chance encounter within the bustle of the big city. The
ups and downs of love merge with the to and fro of traffic. The hero and heroine
fear to loose sight of one another. The chase with the taxi no longer exits, only
up and down from floor to floor.
Charles Baudelaire: Les Fleurs de Mal et autre poemes, Paris, 1964. P 114

Elevator Function:
if switchvar2== n
do
move both freight and passenger elevator in a game of tag. Move passenger to
floor 2 then freight, then pass to 3 then freight to 3 and the 4 and so on until they
both stop at the 6 floor , delay 500ms, and return to the first floor
check the shift register for next call

B. bureaucratic_prostition
In the pre-lift age the blue collar worker occupied the poorly furnished attic room.
High society, on the other hand, resided in the lower storeys of the building. That
gravity could be comfortably overcome by lift led to a re-evaluation of these
physical constructs. The person who was “on top” could live at “the top”. The
vertical polarizations of social hierarchy and of the real world became
synchronous resulting in a new topsy-turvy world.

C. Co-ordinates_of_social_space.
The skyscraper is a social microcosm revealing the deformations of its residents.
The floors become rigidly separate levels of a social hierarchy, connected by the
elevator alone. The elevator maps coordinates in social space. The system is
made up of lower floors with oppressive ceilings and spacious upper floors of the
executive class.

Elevator Function:
if switchvar==
passenger elevator go to floor 3, delay, go to floor 3.5, delay, go to floor 4, delay,
go to floor 2, delay. Continue cycle 3 times and then return to ground floor.
check the shift register for next call

D. make_nice
Elevators have become ubiquitous. Not only are they a functional necessity, but
they pervade our social and cultural life as well. We have developed extensive
social conventions as a way of dealing with them, from where to stand in a
crowded elevator to where to stand when only a stranger is present.

Elevator Function:
If swichvar2=
Passenger_motor go to floor eight and stay there and loop forward one step and
back one step (like a hover) for 300 loops
check the shift register for next call

E. the_fear
"I hate to say this, but this place is getting to me. I think I'm getting the fear"
The tendency towards free-fall as a catastrophic occurrence.

Elevator Function:
passenger_motor
increase rpmʼs move fast to top floor, delay, move fast to bottom floor and reset
rpm's to normal
check the shift register for next call

F. gateway_to_the_soul
Juxtaposition of the banal and the metaphysical trans-dimensional portal.
"Welcome to the New Jersey turnpike".

Elevator Function:
if switchvar =
passenger_motor floorcount 7.5
check the shift register for next call
freight elevator== go to missing floor 4

G. We_have_a_situation_here
The breakdown of lift systems offers the opportunity to occupy areas of the
building meant for machines. Building penetration and invasion occurs through
the labyrinths of shafts that offer protection by their darkness. The urban jungle
as an interior space.

Elevator Function:
If switchvar =
Send passenger_motor to basement, send motor_freight to floor 8, then reverse
it so that passenger_motor goes to 8 and motor_freight goes to B.

I. The_end_of _the_world
Nowhere is the dependency on the function of everyday mechanics as invisible
as it is in the elevator building. Technology runs amok.

Elevator Function:
If switchvar =
Motor_passenger and motor_freight
Go to basement then up a bit, then to basement, delay, then up a bit, then back
to basement—keep going for 3 minutes—keep looping for 3 minutes

J. Pages_from_a_diary
The experienced urbanist views the journey upward without danger, getting stuck
is a harmless, erotic moment. Disturbances and confusions in the vertical can
delay the course of love but never ruin it

Elevator Function:
If switchVar2=
Motor_Passenger and Motor_Freight travel to floor 5 and hover and pulse up and
down a few steps 5 minutes.
Delay [long time?]
Check Shift Register for next call.

26: Motor Shield

2008-04-16T20:40:00.002-05:00

24: Motors

2008-03-30T23:09:00.002-05:00

The stepper motors are required to lift the elevator cab to the correct floor. The stepper motor's precision makes it an ideal device for achieving accurate precision. A few trial and error tests were required to determine the number of "steps" between floors. A stepper motor does not spin freely on it’s own when connected to a
current. It is a motor controlled by a series of electromagnetic coils. The
center shaft has a series of magnets mounted on it, and the coils surrounding
the shaft are alternately given current or not, creating magnetic fields which
repulse or attract the magnets on the shaft, causing the motor to rotate. The current is regulated by the Arduino micro controller which is programmed in Arduino programming language (based on Wiring). Like other motors, stepper motors require more power than a microcontroller can give them, so a separate DC power supply is required. Typical voltages for a stepper might be 5V, 9V, 12V, 24V.

25: Elevator Intelligence

2008-03-22T11:45:00.003-05:00

Preliminary Shift Register Test utilizing push button switches.

More digital input than the 13 pins of Arduino board can readily handle were required for the elevator interface. Using a parallel to serial shift register allows information to be gathered from 8 or more switches while only using 3 of the pins on your Arduino. The shift registers can be daisy chained together to create an "unlimited" number of switches.

Elevator Interface Prototype utlizing three Shift Registers

Database Collection

2008-03-17T15:14:00.008-05:00

The database has been an on going experiment. Over the past couple of months I have been culling media sources for the presence of elevators. So far I've amassed a rather robust collection of images, quotes, passages and film clips which demonstrate how elevators pervade social and cultural life both on screen and off. Resources such as Vertical Transportation and Up, Down and Across have been helpful in the pursuit of mechanical knowledge and books such as Vertical reveal that others have been intrigued by the space, place and motions of elevator systems in film and fiction.

I have been loosely grouping my discoveries into genres > thriller, mystery, sci-fi/fantasy, romance and so on. What I've found most intriguing is how elevators (the cab, the shaft and the mechanisms) are utilized in film-- as a vantage point, as a theatre, as a portal, as a brothel etc.

In action movies the elevator is practically cliche. It is the break down of lift systems that offer the opportunity to occupy areas of the building formerly meant for machines. Building penetrations and invasions occur through the labyrinths of shafts that offer protection by their darkness. These films share narrative and cinematic traits with horror/thriller films. The elevator in free fall, plunging wildly to the dismay of its occupants, is a scene familiar in both genres. However, in the action film, the hero/ine eludes death by clinging haphazardly to the frayed remains of the rope some twenty stories up. The horror film reveals an elevator possessed. A manevolant force plunges the elevator occupants to a bloody hell. The invisible technologies that control the elevator run amok, reinforcing the dooms-day prophecy that humans will pay dearly for an ever increasing reliance on machines.

The love and comedy genres tend to portray the awkward social conventions we display when stuck with strangers in a confined space. The journey upward becomes curious and getting stuck a harmless, erotic moment. The elevator experience transcends the mundane to become an act of fate, uniting disparate individuals on a path to love.

I love the trailer I have for this one short film called eleVATE where "An insecure loner develops an unhealthy obsession with a voice activated elevator which leads to a disturbing connection". What appears to happen (since I haven't seen the actual short yet) is that the elevator becomes infatuated with the hero, and ends up jealously executing his human love interest.

For me, the most intriguing works in the database are the science fiction/fantasy books and films. As a group they create a varied continuum that reveals the elevator primarily as a portal of sorts. There is something about the encapsulated vertical motion of elevators, that we enter in one space and exit in another, that lends itself to the otherworldly, or in the case of films such as Being John Malkovich, lead us to the soul. Perhaps it is in these films more explicitly that the elevator reveals the same power of metamorphosis as the grotto. Like the grotto the elevator becomes a harbor for the fantastical; a passage way to a new reality.

Grottoes were (and perhaps still are) invitations to expect the unexpected. I am beginning to suspect elevators offer a similar invitation. I am interested in how the myth of the elevator, cultivated through cultural representations of the mechanism in film and fiction, might impact the behavior of the machine. How might architecture and elevator technology reveal these cultural narrative myths within the confines of a building that possesses it's own unique histories. Might elevator function embed its own narrative into the existing building story in a way that reveals the potency of the elevator space.

Just as the epic of Odysseus lends myth and magic to the grotto of the Emperor Tiberius at Sperlonga, the elevators in the JR Watkins building will inscribed a similar narrative which will inform the architecture of the evolving spaces. The metamorphic tradition of the grotto will infuse the elevator, the resulting built spaces and the occupants of the existing building.

[ On a side note, the original database was built in Appleworks 6.2. I liked the Appleworks platform because of its simple, customizable, straightforward templates -- i didn't want the glossy templates of Bento or FileMaker. Unfortunately though, the database had to be ported to FileMaker in the end because Appleworks kept crashing in OS X. ]

To view a .pdf of the existing Elevator Catalog database see below.

Database Catalog - Upload a doc

The Narrative of Space

2008-02-12T16:01:00.009-06:00

The statues in the Sacro Boscro are guideposts along a path of discovery. Each statue, each carefully carved Latin phrase, each gotto-esque cave demarcates the story of loss, of pain and perpetual misery of the garden's creator. The careful reading of the symbols chosen for the garden is an attempt to have a conversation with it's creator. Understanding, however, remains elusive to those who are unfamiliar with the ancient stories and myths whose lessons and tragedies are manifested in the meandering garden. Without this shared knowledge the poetics of the space are only partially revealed.

I am interested in this poetic interpretation. The idea that conveying ideas and meaning to others who partake of a space might be possible, convincing, and beautiful. The grotto is the architectural participant in this landscape. It is a space that captures the enchantment of the garden within walls, ceilings and floors. Through shared understandings of myths, legends, histories and tales we suggest potent meanings of space and place to visitors. We create specific rather than generic spaces, spaces full of enchantment?

Images from www.artandarchitecture.org

side tracking...fixing a few things up

2008-02-12T12:51:00.000-06:00

24: Lift Lessons

2008-02-10T18:33:00.002-06:00

The doors open-- what happens? The void of the mouth appears before the expectant individual. Entering is just the first step. We assume we will get off somewhere. But what if the destination is within. Is the space of here the same as that of there. I expect not. Does it take you closer to the light?

Evans, Richard. "Glossary." Up Down Across: Elevators, Escalators, and Moving Sidewalks. Ed. Alisa Goetz. London: Merrell Ltd., 2003. 203-208.

23: Potential Site

2008-02-10T18:11:00.001-06:00

A play on a theatre stage is structured as a fixed sequence of acts played out in a series of scenes. The acts are a rigid sequence that propagates the story; it is within each scene, however, where the opportunity for improvisation and adaptation takes place. The dramatic effect of the play is intimately linked to the interplay between story and stage.

Like the grotto, the stage is an object of enchantment that suggests something inherently transformative. Lighting, motion, and sound create spectacle and reveal the unpredictable. In these moments we are spurred to new associations and new meaning, we are engaged in the moment more completely than we are in the everyday.

The site is the stage for my evolving substrate. The site will offer it's own conditions for architectural presence--dictating relationships (or the lack thereof) between environmental, social, economic, historical and cultural players. I'm currently researching a few buildings in the downtown, and another in Point Douglas as potential sites for this project.

1. Scotia Bank Building_209 Portage Street.
2. JR Watkins Warehouse Building_90 Annabelle Street.
3. Evergreen Towers_11 Evergreen Place

22: systems

2008-02-10T10:53:00.001-06:00

Figure 1: Typical wiring for a unipolar stepper motor.

Stepper motors will be used to control vertical motion within the substrate, raising and lowering components to the desired levels via a pulley system. Stepper motors provide more torque at lower speeds than DC motors. They are capable of moving a precise distance or a specific number of rotations. They also have very high torque when stopped (the motor acts like a break). This will allow parts of the substrate to be suspended without slipping. There is a rule of thumb that can be used to determine the lifting capacity of the stepper motor: holding torque X 0.65 = dynamic torque (g-cm). This means that if your motor has a pulley with a radius of 1cm then the motor can lift a weight of x grams hanging on the string.

To control the stepper, you apply voltage to each of the coils in a specific sequence. The issue is understanding the orientation of the wires--ie. which wire goes to which coil. The schematics below details how to wire the stepper to a Darlington transistor array. The array controls the direction of the motor. An Arduino micro controller will be used to drive the motor. There is rudimentary programming code here .

/*
Stepper Motor Controller
language: Wiring/Arduino

This program drives a unipolar or bipolar stepper motor.
The motor is attached to digital pins 8 and 9 of the Arduino.

The motor moves 100 steps in one direction, then 100 in the other.

Created 11 Mar. 2007
Modified 7 Apr. 2007
by Tom Igoe

O'Sullivan, Dan, and Tom Igoe. Physical Computing: Sensing and Contolling Physical World with Computers. Boston: Thomson Course Technology, 2004. 260-265.

This is the bipolar stepper motor I rescued from an Epson printer. The first and third and second and fourth wires are connect (8.5 ohms). I've ordered SN754410 dual H-bridge(s), which will be used to reverse the polarity in the coils--and the direction of the motor.

21: substrate

2008-02-07T09:50:00.000-06:00

The substrate is a simple investigation into a static system. The purpose of this investigation is to learn about an existing phenomenon so that it might be re-tooled, re-examined, exposed, and re-interpreted. Some questions regarding the structural condition of the substrate came out of a discussion with architect/engineer Lancelot Coar.

1. Believing in the unknown: There is an ubiquitous phenomenon that is being discussed, which is the motion of moving up and down. This phenomenon happens within living systems. How do things flow up? Grow up? What forces are acting on this motion?

2. How does the substrate/skin respond to itself: How is the structure effected by what is happening within it? Is it deformed, strained, uneffected. What are the variables at play? How does the interior condition effect the exterior condition? What is the position of the interior in relation to the exterior--does this remain constant?

3. What is the experience?: What is our spatial awareness of this system? Architecture is in the activation, in the revealing of the space between.

Haruki Murakami ------> Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World (1987)

"The elevator continued its impossible slow ascent. Or at least I imagined it was ascent. There was no telling for sure: it was too slow that all sense of direction simply vanished. It could have been going down for all I knew, or maybe it wasn't moving at all. But let's just assume it was going up. Merely a guess. Maybe I'd gone up twelve stories, then down three? Maybe I'd circled the globe. How would I know?

20: microcontollers and motion

2008-01-28T14:27:00.001-06:00

Learning to activate and control systems with Arduino programming language. From right to left the images depict my success with simple procedures including how to command "on" an LED, how to pulse three LED's at different times, and how to make a simple switch command. The next steps will be to control a stepper motor and light sensors.

19: vertical imagination

2008-01-25T12:08:00.000-06:00

[...Machinic analogues are quite prevalent in architectural history. Books 9 and 10 did refer explicitly to the making of machines a part of the making of architecture. Le Corbusier, was most renown for referring to architecture as a "machine for living". Even Shin Takamatsu took the almost nihilistic approach to developing architectural work as a machine aesthetic. Devoid of human interaction and finished using the same precise techniques and obsessive precision of a mechanical engineer.

Rather than a metaphorical transition or an analogue for a representation. . . meaning, program and ultimately use . . . [will be derived] from the embedded conditions [present in the monster].
--- Studio Brief: Patrick Harrop. 2008.

The above images are laser cutting templates. When assembled these pieces will form a preliminary substrate that will discuss the mechanics necessary to provide a controlled ascent and a controlled descent within a structure.
The next steps will be to determine how the structure will evolve to take into consideration the phenomenon derived from the Homunculus project:

1. EXPECTING THE UNEXPECTED
The puppet’s suggestive power is linked to its paradoxical status: while it is an inanimate object, its appeal depends on its seeming ability to “live.”
-------->micro-contoller programmed to control: sensory input, reducers, increment counters , stepper motors, pulleys, hoisting mechanisms.
-------->theatrical strategies, anamorphosis and illusion.

2. EXPECTING THE UNEXPECTED IN CERTAIN PREDICTABLE WAYS
What is most interesting about the puppet, from an architectural standpoint, is the interplay between its elements and gravity. The inter-relationship between the strings in tension and the load of the puppet creates a parametric situation where when one part moves, the rest follow suit in a predictable manner.
--------> tensile systems, Frei Otto( Institute for Lightweight structures), parametric relationships, iterative components.

18: where have all the grottos gone?

2008-01-21T09:41:00.000-06:00

An aura of expectation surrounds the grotto. It is a relatively immutable element in the ephemeral world of the garden-- a place of repose and reunion, or of solitude, seclusion, and shade; a site of technological assemblages; a theatrical museum; a sanctuary of muses, a locus of enlightenment and poetic inspiration; a harbor for the fantastical; a passage way to a new reality. Grottoes were (and perhaps still are) invitations to expect the unexpected.

Architectural remains and a wealth of literary sources demonstrate the prevalence of grottoes throughout antiquity and the revival and transformation of the architectural motif within the Renaissance. Over time, 17th century grottoes, with their elaborate grotesque features and technologically fantastic gestures, were supplanted by an eighteenth-century enthusiasm for the grotto as a part of a deeper romanticism-- a nostalgia for antiquity and a desire to bring forth the innate or natural "genius of the place". In 1876-7 King Ludwig II constructed a grotto folly at Neuschwanstein castle. Composed of cast-iron stalactites and coated with cement, the artificial grotto was a private realm replete with winding stalactite path, crystal clear lake, and royal platform designed in the form of a shell.

How then, does the enchantment of the grotto resolve itself within a twenty first century perspective. If we dismiss the form of the cave, the waterworks, the mirrors and shells of antiquity--do we dismiss the aura as well? Or, can the aura be achieved through other means, other forms, other interactions. Can technology be a mode of working that re-introduces the metamorphic tradition of the grotto grotesque?

Image credit: from the film Being John Malkovich (1999). Craig Schwartz (John Cusak) stepping out of the elevator on the seven-and-a-halfth floor.

A puppeteer discovers a portal that leads literally into the head of the movie star, John Malkovich.

"The recurring journey within the narrative--from elevator, to tunnel in the wall, to Malkovich's mind, to a stretch of grass beside the Jersey Turnpike-- affirms that technology can serve as a non-standard but still effective gateway to the soul".

1. Miller, Naomi. Heavenly Caves. London: George Allen & Unwin, 1982. 7, 115.
2. Garfinkel, Susan. "Elevator Stories: Vertical Imagination and the Spaces of Possibility." Up Down Across: Elevators, Escalators, and Moving Sidewalks. Ed. Alisa Goetz. London: Merrell Ltd., 2003. 175.

17: simulacra and the "grotto-esque"

2008-01-20T20:38:00.002-06:00

Over the last century, Western scholarly writing and thought trended towards reinterpreting all phenomena of the universe within a secularized psychological framework. This seduction of Western scientific materialism influenced writers to aestheticize the transcendental, summarizing the grotesque as a mere system of images, Roman ornament or architectural conceit. If the "grotto-esque" is to be condescended, then so too must the brilliant and influential individuals who embraced its stylistic and metamorphic traditions—Ovid, Kafka, Shakespeare, Graham Greene, Descartes, E.M Forester, Alexander Pope and the list continues including royalty (Louis XIV), nobility and clergy across Europe. From this position my thesis seeks to ask not: How did the grotto descend from “residence of the genius” into scorn; but rather, Where have all the grottos gone?

The grotesque is a mode that is, first and foremost, about crossing into a different and transformative order of reality—an enchanted space. My thesis proposes an examination of the grotto as the framework for an enchanted space, a space beyond a simple spatial void, drawn by boundaries of walls, floors and ceilings. A space made real through interaction and inhabitation. The intentions of this thesis are to reintroduce the grotto to contemporary architecture as a poetic work—as a space that is at once both mundane and extraordinary, a space that blends technology and myth into an enchanted space. Like the proscenium of the theatre, the grotto is a metaphorical portal, a place of passage— “to enter is to acknowledge the distance between outside and inside, between reality and illusion” .

Homunculus inhabits the realm of the "grotto-esque". The puppet's suggestive power is linked to its paradoxical status: while it is an inanimate object, its appeal depends on its seeming ability to "live." What is most interesting about the puppet, from an architectural standpoint, is the interplay between its elements and gravity. The inter-relationship between the strings in tension and the load of the puppet creates a parametric situation where when one part moves, the rest follow suit in a predictable manner. This dynamic system reveals how responsive architectonic scaled elements might become gesture. Such architecture becomes something that both changes over time and responds to changes in time.

NEXT STEPS
1. Readings: Richard Sennett's The Fall of Public Man.
2. Researching the contemporary grotto: elevators.

image credit: Monster's mouth. http://www.lindalappin.net/images

Theatrics

2008-01-20T20:38:00.001-06:00

16: teatro delle nozza di cana

2007-12-08T10:32:00.000-06:00

Construction of a conical mirror anamorphosis by Fernandino Galli da Bibena. 1731.

The next steps of this project are twofold:
1. To submit a succinct thesis proposal that will guide my next four months of work.
2. To create a theatre for Homunculus.

This thesis is a design led investigation into the process of finding/making enchanted space. Enchantment is proposed as a means of describing an indeterminate and evolving state of interaction, where poetic meaning of the environment, contains the possibility for "complex, layered interpretation, even the kind of interpretation that surprises the person interpreting". It is this thrill and surprise, by which an artefact or environment is experienced, that becomes measure of the engagement with which we explore our surroundings.

My thesis takes point of departure from an analysis of the conceptualization of space and place in the grotesque, and from the work Hylozoic Soil by architect Phillip Beasley, 2007. A field of reference is also provided by Homunculus, a work I created for the Dedale studio “DeMonster Monster” project instructed by Patrick Harrop and installed in Hexagram’s Black box at Concordia University in November 2007.

Homunculus begins a discourse on puppets and other human simulacra. Even as conventional puppet shows retain timeless theatrical charm and unique architectural circumstance, the autonomous puppet moving without master carries a far stronger charge of the "uncanny". Within this world of the occult, pseudo sciences (such as alchemy) merged with developments in natural science to create within the grotto an illusory realm; it is this place that Homunculus calls home. Homunculus is a performer, a marionette suspended by string from a series of servo motors. The motors are controlled by a sync disc that has been created through a copper etching process. Homunculus has parallels in the story of Daedalus, who uses quicksilver to install a voice in his statues; and of Greek god Hephaestus who created the automata, Talos, an artificial man of bronze, for his workshop. The simulacrum has always traveled both a high road and a low road in human culture— "as highest form of worship and as lowest form of entertainment—but it is a peculiarity of Western culture of the last three hundred years that the two roads have joined into one that runs, as it were, underground" (Nelson, 60)

The theatre for Homunculus is a place of inhabitation and interaction, an "illusory realm" rooted in the grotesque. Like the grotto, the theatre recalls enchanted space-- a space that must be active and elastic. The theatre will reflect an architecture that controls our understanding of the performance. Creating this realm will be the focus of my next week of intensive work.

SOME DIRECTIONS:
The Brothers Quay have been highly successful in collapsing the relationship between figure and ground. The Cabinet of Jan Svankmajer and Anamorphosis reflect nightmarish environments that function as both agent and actor . Stylistic and spatial novelty-- achieved through differing scales, perspectives and gravities, evoke complex and meaningful relationships between creature and composition. The use of anamorphic perspective is of particular techtonic interest. Drawing in this way creates nonsensical forms and misleading diversions suggesting an illusory architecture.

15: drawings continued

2007-12-06T12:53:00.000-06:00

14: drawings

2007-12-06T12:16:00.000-06:00

The next few images are of drawings that begin to discuss the phenomenon of making space through motion and interaction. The movement of Homunculus blends an erie sequence of lurches, with graceful vertical motion. The drawings explore an interior and exterior condition that has become more apparent through analysis of the film footage. This relationship has definite architectural implications. I've been considering the marionettes and how they might transform in a grotesque structure. Something that blends the figures and the mechanism into something stranger. A Wunderkammer of sorts. John Hejduk got into the idea of developing architectural theatre through his masque projects. Architectural theatre, as seen in the works of the Brothers Quay, is interesting because of the uncanny, grotesque quality of the stage. And the intimate relationship of the "figures" to the "surround". The theatre is stage and environment, proposing multiple scales, gravities and perspectives for the inhabitants. Using theatre strategies, such as framing, staging and illusion, the mundane can morph into the monstrous.

13: exhibit performance

2007-11-26T10:50:00.000-06:00

Images courtesy of Morgan Sutherland.

laurie simmons

2007-11-22T16:37:00.001-06:00

Hylozoic Soil

2007-11-21T20:00:00.000-06:00

Annette Messager

2007-11-18T23:21:00.000-06:00

Marine Antony, a dancer and Fine Arts student at Concordia University, stopped by the Black Box to share some thoughts on my project. A few of the dancers were really interested in the idea of locating sensors on themselves and then translating their motion to the marionettes. Marine also brought some fascinating images by French artist Annette Messager. I saw Messager's work when I was at the Centre Pompidou in Paris over last summer. Her pieces are fascinating, grotesque, stuffed, moving, dramatic...I could go on. Messager was awarded the Lion d'Or at the Venice Biennale in 2005.

The 2007 Venice Biennale showcased some of Messager's work as well as a few other very interesting installations working with robotics and inflatable devices.

12: performance

2007-11-18T13:14:00.001-06:00

Installing our work in the black box was really gratifying. The shuffling, spinning, dripping, typing, whirling, jerking and scraping of our grotesque monsters was magnified by the light, sound and video effect wizardry of the TML team. To paraphrase the words of Gregory Beck Rubin, " the projects we brought to Montreal are not the ones we see here tonight". The atmosphere of the black box changed the way we saw our own work and re-established in my mind the importance of light and sound in any environment. The monsters really began to take on a life of their own. The layers of complexity: light, sound, movement, and time created an enchanting space where exhibit-goer's could manipulate and interact with our strange creatures.

Of course, the highlight of Montreal experience for me was watching Homunculus perform. The dance of these puppet creatures confirmed proof of concept for my own work with sync discs. Fundamentally, the circuit worked, the motors ran, the propellers whirled (all except one) and the strings jostled the exo-skeletons around in space almost gracefully. The story was told. The creature's subtle, smaller movements, were just as mesmerizing-- and perhaps even more uncanny than the larger continuous gestures. The system worked. Reflecting on the performance has suggested a few compelling directions in which to begin questioning the tectonic substance and architectural ramifications of my work.

RHYTHM ANALYSIS & DIFFERENCE IN REPETITION:

Because the sync disc I used to control the motors was small in diameter (one revolution every 20 seconds) the dance of Homunculus was a simple continuous repetition over the course of the two hour exhibit. Essentially, over time the dance began to fold back in on itself, and as the motor batteries died, the pattern became less noticeable and the sporadic movements of the strings less determinate thus, unintentionally, ambiguity emerged in the performance. Hume wrote, "Repetition changes nothing in the object repeated but does change something in the mind which contemplates it." Gilles Deleuze proposed the notion that difference is introduced to a system through repetition. A discussion of his seminal work, Repetition and Difference will soon follow. Classical Greek and Roman architecture draws heavily on order and repetition. On repetition, architect, Bernard Tschumi hypothesizes that there is no architecture without repetition: "with its rows of windows, columns, bricks, steps etc. architecture inevitability is the art of repetition". More than any other art, architecture depends on the nearly endless accumulation of similar elements. "A need for commerce has created the repetition of stackable floors (skyskraper), a need for power resulting in the repetition of courtyards (Forbidden city, Beijing), a need for mass housing: repetition of units (Levittown) and the need for economic development creating the repetition of nearly identical cities world wide."

ENCHANTMENT AND THE STRUGGLE AGAINST GRAVITY:

Performance has always held an aura of enchantment. The audience, through the proscenium, witnesses the creative drama of the players and is suspended in an expression of delight. Similarly, technology-- automatons and the ghost in the machine, holds mystique. It is this thrill and surprise, by which an artefact or environment is experienced, that measures our engagement with a space and place. The technologically enabled dance of Homunculus, the light, sound and play of shadow created for and during the performance was offered as the object of enchantment, attracting exhibit-goer's to an inherently transformative performance which shifted in significance and understanding over the course of the exhibit. McCarthy, Wright, Wallace and Dearden explore the concept of enchantment as a means of creating criteria for interactive experience in Human-Computer Interaction. They postulate that, "enchantment engages with paradox and ambiguity, putting being into play in an open world. This contributes to creating depth in a system or object that allows it to contain within it the possibility for complex, layered interpretation even the kind of interpretation that surprises the person interpreting." 1 Enchantment becomes a means of describing an indeterminate and evolving state of interaction, where the meaning of the interactive object or environment remains exploratory and unpredictable. 2

Homunculus draws reference from the grotesque and approaches the conceptualizaton of space and place primarily through the motions of the marionette. Heinrich von Kliest's essay "On the Marionette Theatre" argues the relationship between dance and the movement of the puppets. His fictional character Herr C. argues of the puppet that "each movement... will have a center of gravity; it would suffice to direct this crucial point to the inside of the figure. The limbs that function as nothing more than a pendulum, swinging freely, will follow the movement in their own fashion without anyone's aid. He further stated that this movement was really quite simple; that each time the center of gravity was moved in a direct line, the limbs would start to describe a curve; and that often when simply shaken in an arbitrary manner, the whole figure assumed a kind of rhythmic movement that was identical to dance." The dance of the puppets and the loss of the proscenium is an instance of interaction which communicates the boundaries and depth of an interactive space--or an event space* to the audience.3

*The concept of event space is borrowed from the work of architect Mette Ramsgard Thomsen and choreographer Carol Brown, as defined in Sites of Flux: imagining space in the dance-architectures of The Changing Room and Sea Unsea. 2006 .

hexagram//tml//montreal 2007

2007-11-12T16:22:00.001-06:00

02: Monday. Arrive at Concordia

At Concordia we were introduced to Sha Xin Wei and his crew of talented techies at the TML (Topological Media Lab). The TML is a research arm of Hexagram " a media arts and technologies research/creation institute". At their disposal the TML has the "black box" an approximately 25' high space with permanent lighting grid, control booth, a raised concrete floor, black damper panel clad walls and a giant projection screen wall. The space is a dynamic environment for total media and sound work. The TML crew brought new iMacs, high end digital video cameras, streaming spot cameras, microphones-- condenser mics, contact mics (which record vibrations), wireless mics, projectors, sound mixers and synthesizers, a lighting board, and all the software and hardware needed to make the black box into one large grotesque perturbation. It was a pleasure getting to work with Harry, JS, Marie Josee, Morgan, Elliot, Flower and the rest of the crew over the week.

Image courtesy of Daniel MacGibbon.

03: Tuesday. Hexagram Tour

Floors 10 and 11 in the Engineering and Visual Arts building are devoted to Hexagram and the approximately 80 researchers (including graduate students) that are supported by the facilities. Hexagram operates coordinately between the Université du Montréal, L'Université du Québec a Montréal (UQAM) and Concordia University. Hexagram boasts state of the art sound, animation and film editing technology-- including suites for Avid, Final Cut, and Maya. There are also rooms devoted to rapid prototyping equipment such as 3D printers and scanners. The 3D printer uses a sugar-type solution to build objects-- the printer deposits the ink much like an ink jet printer. The user has to have some familiarity with the proccess as the fragility of the objects varies with size. When completing especially small pieces the application of "ink" has to b controlled by physically re-orienting the piece as it is being printed to allow for the best results. There were also large format fabric plotters, which allowed for printing on everything from silk to vinyl, high resolution large format paper plotters, and an amazing collection of looms and other weaving equipment including an automated Jacquard loom. Hexagram also offers a metal machining shop, wood shop and studio space for installations and research.

The Jacquard loom, 3D printer, 3D scanner and prototypes/molds produced by the 3D printing process.

Image(s) courtesy of Nick Bell. Sound studio and editing suite complete with speakers and cube shaped mathematically designed acoustic tiles which decrease reverberation. The corners also have fitted panels to reduce the base reverberation.

Mark Sussman, an assistant Professor in the Department of Theatre and a founder and co-artistic creator of Great Small Works, a theatre collective in NYC, stopped by the black box to discuss his work. I was especially interested in Mark's lecture because his background is in puppetry, performance and the toy theatre. Mark spoke about the importance of staging work, about notions of impression, spectacle and the unpredictable. His talk re-asserted for me the importance of connection through narrative in my own work, and he highlighted for me that the thrill and surprise by which an artifact or environment is experienced becomes a measure of the engagement by which we explore our own surroundings.

Mark also sent me Heinrich von Kleist's essay, " On the Marionnette Theatre" of which I have included a passage below:

In addition, he went on, these puppets possess the virtue of being immune to gravity's force. They know nothing of the inertia of matter, that quality which above all is diametrically opposed to the dance, because the force that lifts them into the air is greater than the one that binds them to the earth. What wouldn't our good G. give to be sixty pounds lighter, or to use a force of this weight to assist her with her entrechats and pirouettes? Like elves, the puppets need only to touch upon the ground, and the soaring of their limbs is newly animated through this momentary hesitation; we dancers need the ground to rest upon and recover from the exertion of the dance; a moment that is certainly no kind of dance in itself and with which nothing further can be done except to at least make it seem to not exist.

Soon I will post further thoughts on Mark's work and on its connections to enchantment, event space (an idea proposed by Mette Ramsgard Thomsen) , and my own theoretical postulations. For more information on Mark click here.

The crew with the TML gave a short show-and-tell about some of the software, namely, Max/Msp and Jitter which can be used to generate video effects in real time via a life camera feed.

04: Wednesday. Textiles and Interactive Fabrics

Today included a discussion and presentation by Barbara Layne who directs the Studio subTela team. Their research at the Hexagram Institute involves the "development of hand-woven fabrics with embed microcomputers and sensors to create surfaces that are receptive and responsive to external stimuli. Light emitting diodes are used to create a flexible message board. Wireless transmission can change the patterns and texts from a distance. Layne's demonstrated a series of electronically embedded garments including a dress with photosensors that reacts to light and a jacket embedded with an LED grid which allows for scrolling text and interactivity between wearers.

idea sketch

2007-11-12T16:20:00.001-06:00

hoffmann: the turk tales

2007-11-02T01:31:00.001-05:00

Excerpt from The Puppet Tractates:
Victoria Nelson. Secret Lives of Puppets. 2001.p 65

... Enthusiast of puppets and automatons (like Goethe, he had puppets, and even as an adult he would often bring them out for guests), composer, and supreme innovator, E.T.A. Hoffmann was also the bearer of what is, on the surface, a more immediately familiar notion of the human simulacrum-- that of the "soulless" automaton that falls far short of its human model. By virtue of his very fascination with puppets and mechanical androids that pass for human, however, Hoffmann kept alive the debate over the presence of souls in matter in the new intellectual environment of the nineteenth century. The entire worldview of Hoffmann's stories, for that matter-- with their alchemical manipulations, metal queens, and talking vegetables that marry humans--remains that of the old living cosmos, the nostalgic worldview of Romanticism that coexists in a certain tension with his views on the sinister imitation of the human by the puppet-machine and is reinforced by the fact that the automaton usually brings about the destruction of the human's hopes and sometimes the human himself...

11: trial BATCH 4 etching

2007-11-01T23:36:00.001-05:00

Despite the poor quality of the transfers, I decided to run the 4"copper plates from trial: BATCH 4 through the etching bath to see the results because I need a better understanding of the overall process of crafting the discs from start to finish. Before etching, the paper remains were removed from the discs. This was completed in the warm soapy water bath with some fine steel wool and a little elbow grease. The ink was quite robust with good adhesion and the paper eventually pealed away.

trial: BATCH 2. You can see decent adhesion of the trace underneath the paper cover. The flip sides of these discs have inaccurate traces. Adhesion on both sides is a must in order for the sync disc to work properly.

After removing the residual paper, I took a sharpie marker (which acts as etch resist) and filled in the areas of the trace that didn't transfer properly. Once the transfer process is perfected the markup/infill will be minimal.

Prepping discs for etching. The different colors are interesting. The tree disc on the left had a white coloring while the star disc on the right was very much blue in nature. The same toner from the same copier was used on both.
I suspended the discs in the Ferric Chloride solution and monitored the process. I did not heat up the etchant but I did plug in the air pump which kept the liquid agitated.

Filling the tank.

Submersing the discs.

The discs were monitored and checked at key intervals throughout the process. From prior research on etching it figured that the overall etching time would probably be approximately 30 mins. This etch went from start to completion in 32 mins.

12 minutes submerged.

12 minutes submerged.

25 minutes submerged.

25 minutes submerged.

At 32 minutes the discs appeared to be finished and were pulled from the etch bath and placed in soapy warm water to be cleaned up.

The copper not covered in the etch resist is dissolved and reveals a yellowish colored epoxy substrate board and the trace patterns on both sides of the disc. The next steps will be to use alcohol and acetone to remove the transfer ink to reveal the copper traces.

10: new media. new headaches

2007-10-31T19:41:00.000-05:00

I have been working all morning on the sync discs. Ironing the transfer paper to the copper boards and cutting, sanding the substrate. The entire transfer process (trial:BATCH 3) had oirr adhesion. The ink didn't transfer although I was using high temperature and tonnes of pressure--following the same recipe I used to complete trial:BATCH 2 successfully. During BATCH 2 I transfered side one to the disc using the same staples copy paper but using images that had just been printed approx.15 minutes before the transfer process. During BATCH 3 I did the printing days ahead of time and waited to transfer the traces later in the week. I think that was a mistake because I'm working with a Canon laser copier on glossy settings and it must be that over time the ink bond to the paper strengthens. Lesson learned.

UPDATE: Apparently, the biggest issue with the transfer application was not time but was, in fact, soap. During the soaking process the copper discs were submerged in hot soapy water to loosen the paper bond to the ink. Oily soapy residues prohibited the transfer process. I discovered this after re-doing the entire batch with fresh trace prints (trial: BATCH 4) only to have the transfer process fail for the second time.

trial: Batch 3 poor quality traces

TIP: Thanks to Darcy for suggesting that copper should be cleaned with soya sauce?! I'll try that next.

graphite sequencer

2007-10-31T09:57:00.000-05:00

I can definitely see some similarities between my sync disc collection and this Graphite Sequencer by Caleb Copock:

From Make Make Magazine

"Graphite conducts electricity. Two wires brush against the surface of a paper disk as it spins. The wires are connected to a simple electronic tone generator. When a line of graphite is drawn across the disk, connecting two wires, a tone is heard. The quality of the line affects the sound. For example, if the line is thick, allowing more current to pass over it, the pitch changes to a lower tone."

the newest script

2007-10-31T09:33:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to quickly post the newest image from the processing script Josh was working on. It's amazing. You can start to see its resemblance to the doodle I posted earlier in the blog. The goal was to use the scripts on my circuit boards but with deadlines approaching I'll have to wait and make do with what I've got. I'll be exploring the processing environment soon enough. Thanks again, Josh!

I also wanted to mention that last Friday I had a crit with visual and sound artist Ken Gregory. His work is really intense and his insight definitely helpful. I explained about the sync discs I'm working on and also showed him Roman Kirschner installation Roots. This led to a really interesting discussion on micro-welding and electrolysis and the possibility of making 3D circuit boards. Ken also suggested a few ways for me to get my toy motors under control and suggested friction fitting some interesting parts to the motor shafts.

Click on image for source

take 5 and focus

2007-10-30T17:19:00.000-05:00

I’ve been busy creating the PCB sync discs and finally have 5 floating in a warm water bath to dissolve the staples copy paper so that they will be ready for etching this afternoon. It’s a bit like removing wine labels from glass bottles. I’ve peaked at the discs briefly and the traces are not adhering correctly. Right now I’m working on the mechanisms that will hold the disc and also the key that will rotate to complete the circuit and fire off the motor bank. I’m still debating how to control the DC toy motors but my studio peer Nick had a spare gearbox from a remote control car that should work nicely (image to follow). Now the key will spin slowly and the pattern of action of the motors will be more apparent. So… great, I have turning motors but the BIG question becomes; what will the motors actuate? I have two current ideas that I’m working on.

Puppet 1: I’d like to get the pony’s eyes to work again without the body. The head will be attached to a sync disc that will cause it to turn and blink intermittently. This puppet is a prime candidate for some microcontroller attention—i.e. I could use the Arduino board. I would love to attach temperature or IR sensors to the mechanism so that as people approach the puppet her head swivels towards the individual and the eyes blink.

Puppet 2: I’ve also laser cut lightweight paper marionettes that will be suspended from a motor bank. The marionettes will be controlled by a bank of servo motors which will be turned on and off randomly by the sync disc. These should be suspended at eye level in the gallery space.

The whole purpose of my investigation is to create areas of play that will engage an audience on some level. This preliminary research has been key to developing my thesis on interactive architectures and how we might be able to play with buildings rather than in them. I’m eager to see how these puppets take up space, how they move and react to each other and how an audience/participant responds to them. I’m attracted to the notion that these puppets will possess a life of their own, and in some highly rudimentary way exhibit “intelligence” with or without human interaction --almost as if they are going about their business and we walked in. Inevitably, these characters will inhabit their new homes while in Montreal in ways that I have yet to imagine.

09: designing switches

2007-10-29T00:14:00.000-05:00

New Designs: Create with Adobe Illustrator

The above images are the newer sync disc designs. Since I'm not sure exactly how many motors I'll be running off these discs, I've made my traces "expandable". I had hoped to learn to write scripts to be able to generate traces for the switches. That will happen at a later date. Better to move one step at a time. I have been using Adobe Illustrator to draw the traces for my discs. I've been creating brushes and using the spiral tool which has produced some really interesting "organic" results. Much more organic than I originally had hoped. I've also been running a few "borrowed" scriptographer scripts and changing the brush patterns for those with decent results. However, I still need to go in and custom cut paths in order to keep the traces separate. I am bound and determined to be etching by tomorrow morning. The Montreal trip is looming largely in the distance...1 wk to go.

08: processing

2007-10-28T23:19:00.001-05:00

After my preliminary idea sketch, Josh sent me this great bit of processing code which starts to execute some of the basic geometries I was looking for. I have to spend some time playing around with the script so that I can understand its parameters, but for now it seems pretty straight forward. The confusing bit is a big chunk of variables part way through the code which I think is truly the "meat" of the spiral form-- (unfortunately, my images aren't better). I also have another script which I'm planning on playing with and posting shortly.

07: scripting

2007-10-27T22:07:00.001-05:00

Immediately after playing with scriptographer you can get a feel for how scripting can work to create dynamic evolving images. An analysis of Ernst Haeckel's work suggests that branching patterns and nesting patterns should work well for the traces. In the case of my sync discs I'm looking for geometric patterns with a "biological feel" that fit some stringent rules. In order for the traces to work on the boards they can't touch one another. I also need to be able to access each trace with a wire so that I can actually solder the switch to the system. I'm soliciting help from java pros to help me script, what I hope will be a fairly simple tool. A big shout out to Josh Cotten who I've already harassed to give me some advice. The curly cue below is a rough sketch example of how the script might appear graphically. The basic outline is such that:

1. I'd like to make spirals with tapering widths.
2. I'd like to draw one "parent" spiral and then have random spirals generated from that single one in tiny curly cues--sort of like branches in a tree script. Where no curly cues touch each other but they do taper.
3. When I execute the script I'd like to make sure that no "parent" script touches another "parent" script but that they almost nest really close together.

06: motion

2007-10-27T18:01:00.000-05:00

Over the last few days I’ve been getting a few different aspects of this project up and running simultaneously. I’ve made minor progress towards the puppet “brain” and I’ve begun sketching out a few possibilities for the puppet “body”.

Demonstration of the sync disc that partially controls the motors. One node of the motor is connect to the switch and the other node is connected to a (+) power supply -- in this case I'm just using the power pack that came with the toy Pony. As the key revolves over the disc it completes the circuit and the motor fires. The motor stops when the key revolves past the patch and disconnects the circuit.

Simple circuit. A speaker has been added to the mix to amplify the sound of the motor. The speaker stops and starts in sync with the firing of the motor.

The Brain:
In order to give this puppet a story and create the uncanny illusion of “living unpredictability” I’ve started to fabricate my own sync discs. Each disc acts much like a sequencer turning motors connected to the “body” on and off. By etching my own circuit boards I can control how the electrical current moves throughout the board and therefore how the motors will react individually and to each other. The overall idea for the discs is that they begin to form a visual collection of behavior-- or drawings, which embodies behavior. The process for etching the discs requires that a trace pattern be applied to the double copper plated substrate. The copper plates are then placed in a Ferric Chloride copper etchant solution. The trace pattern must be drawn with a material that will resist the ferric chloride and preserve the copper underneath. This resist material can be something as simple as sharpie marker. However, I’m attempting to transfer the plastic micro-particles found in photocopy toner to the copper board. This is done through significant heat (an iron) and pressure. The transfer paper also makes a difference. In my first attempt I used regular copy paper and found the transfer to be awful. My next attempt will use Staples brand copy paper*. The trace patterns themselves are still in an experimental stage. I’m currently exploring the beautiful biological drawings of German biologist Ernst Haeckel (1834-1919) as one avenue of inspiration. I’m also interested in the idea of using scripting as a means of generating related patterns. One approach is to explore scriptographer—a scripting plug-in for Adobe Illustrator. A drawing produced with a script that has been executed 10 times shares a similar geometry but looks entirely different that a script that has been executed 100 times. In this way, the discs would have a systematic relationship to each other but might function in very different ways.

Etching Tank: acrylic panels, silicone seams, suspended clips, air pump and airline tubing, wood base and metal supports.

The Body:
Using the existing mechanics of the Pony as a point of departure, I’ve begun to examine how I might begin to use gears and cam techniques to amplify or transform the rotary movements of the existing DC toy motors. The Pony’s eyes are particularly interesting. When she was intact she could blink her eyes and twist her head from side to side. I’ve taken a closer look at this mechanism and discovered it’s both ingenious and simple. Plastic components are perfect because they are lightweight, strong and completely customizable. So far my major challenge has been in controlling the motors (which revolve so quickly that they require a series of gears to transform the size and speed of rotation. Supporting the gears is tricky and has had required me to re-purpose much of the pony’s “chassis’. Also, I would love to be able to manufacture a few more eyeballs and sockets through a vacuum forming technique, but that will require the assistance of professionals. I’m hoping the crew at Winnipeg Patterns and Model Works will help me out. To date, I've simply cloaked the motors with a flexible skin to see what might happen as they stop and start.

Flexible skin covering the motors. The skin bulges and pulses as the spring attached to the motor makes contact.

hektor: spray can output device

2007-10-26T16:57:00.000-05:00

This is an amazing project called Hektor. Hektor is a portable Spray-paint Output Device created by Uli Franke and Jürg Lehni in 2002. The device is contolled via a laptop computer running Adobe Illustrator and a programming language called Scriptographer.

fyi: lilypad arduino

2007-10-21T23:15:00.000-05:00

Found at Sparkfun Electronics:
LilyPad is a wearable e-textile technology developed by Leah Buechley and cooperatively designed by Leah and SparkFun. Each LilyPad was creatively designed to have large connecting pads to allow them to be sewn into clothing. Various input, output, power, and sensor boards are available. They're even washable!

[the main board consists of an ATmega168V with the Arduino bootloader and a minimum number of external components to keep it as small (and as simple) as possible. Board will run from 2V to 5V].

Processing

2007-10-21T20:38:00.000-05:00

http://www.processingblogs.org/

I've just order the Arudino board and downloaded the Ardunio environment so that I can begin to multi-task--that is, to set up my etching studio for the circuit board switches I'm working on and start to play with the Ardunio so that I'll be ready for our Montreal trip. If that's not ambitious enough, I've been reading Processing by Casey Reas and Ben Fry and have realized that Processing and Arduino environments are not interchangeable but rather complementary. The processing end is responsible for the visualizations (software drawings) while the Arduino is responsible for the physical inputs and outputs. For now my focus is on making the physical gears wind and grind. I hope once I work out these switches I'll be able to turn my pony into a few small bots inspired by puppet motion.

biology, electonics, aesthetics, mechanics

2007-10-20T22:27:00.000-05:00

Gorgeous BEAM creatures created by Zach Debord

narrative environments

2007-10-19T14:19:00.000-05:00

05: switch

2007-10-19T12:53:00.000-05:00

Eureka! I love it when in a moment you feel as though you have a better grip on the trajectory of your work. While performing the vivisection on the pony I came across a really interesting circuit board//switch called a slip ring. "A slip ring (in electrical engineering terms) is a method of making an electrical connection through a rotating assembly" (source: wikipedia.org)*. After a brisk survey of slip rings on-line I realized that most of them are commercial grade and so the connections are hidden within the casing. Not great for the inquiring rookie. Basically, the slip ring works in a rather rudimentary and beautiful way. The disc is a multi-layered circuit board. The top is connected to the underside via tiny conductive holes (Image 1 far left) . Each colored wire is a different switch. The top side shows a continuous circuit which permits the colored wire to only be connected in one place (Image 2 middle) - otherwise the wire would have to connect to each of the semi-circular patches on the bottom side. The bottom side shows the on/off function of the switch. As the key (Figure 3 far left) touches the pattern it creates a connection between the central most circle (called the common) and one or more of the patches. When this happens the switch connected to that path is turned on. When the key rotates off the patch the switch turns off. What is demonstrated is a direct relationship between time and distance - the larger the patch the greater the distance the key will have to pass and the longer the switch will be turned on.

Next steps: The switch function is definitely worth pursuing further. I intend to make my own switch using D.I.Y circuit board techniques such as the ones seen here. The question then really becomes what do I want this switch to control? Unfortunately, I'm still trying to figure out what the slip disc was responsible for activating within the pony. My best guess is syncing the variety of leg movements with the voice recordings. In that case, it would be fairly straight forward to have the switch operating on motors. So what to the motors do? The second issue is that once I commit to the switch I maybe precluding the use of programing and a microcontroller set up in the project. Something I'm also interested in. The switch itself is a rudimentary form of programming with a digital on/off function. Perhaps I could introduce some analog life into the overall design through a micro-controller. My hunch at this point in time is that the switch will control the puppets operation when human interaction is not sensed. However, once the machine senses someone to interact with the system will evolve.

* Don't give me grief about this source!

04: software/hardware

2007-10-14T11:58:00.001-05:00

Cycling '74 offers discounts on some of its software to currently enrolled students. You can purchase Max/Msp with Jitter for only $59 dollars for a nine month lease. [Mac and PC versions]. Click on the cycling image above to get more information. Physical computing recommends Teleo microcontrollers for Max environments but I know that the MAKE microcontroller will work too. Not sure about Teleo costs. Anyone looked into it?

FYI. http://www.makingthings.com/
microcontrollers/sensors/electronics (in canada):
http://www.robotshop.ca/c214708.2.html

paskian environments

2007-10-14T00:03:00.000-05:00

This video is a little long but I thought it added a little perspective to the monster-machine dialogue. The Cybernetics "tutorial" is provided by Paul Pangaro.

"The Paskian model is much more difficult to implement, though far more productive, in particular because it relies on intrinsically more "intelligent"-type interactions, and because it requires a stronger foundational model of what an intelligent interaction is. We analogise it this way: when we meet new people, being intelligent does not necessarily mean we will like them; we tend instinctively to like people if they are amenable and affable rather than if they are intelligent. However, it is conversations with intelligent people (in whatever terms) that in the long term are most productive because they are generative. That is, they lead to new perspectives and actions."

I'm currently reading through Microman: Living and Growing with Computers which was written by Gordon Pask & Susan Curran in 1982. Obviously, technology has come a-l-o-n-g way since then but the discussion is still the same. I would argue that it is even more apparent today that computers are no longer merely tools but a species in their own right. Gone are the easy distinctions between living and non-living systems, between human intelligence and machine intelligence.

Just a little something to chew on.

03: interface and interaction

2007-10-13T13:31:00.000-05:00

After observing Jean Pierre Gauthier's magical drawing creatures I finally decided to explore a hunch I've been kicking around. That is, I've begun to research puppetry as an approach to discussing narrative, interface and play as a physical and cultural construct. There are so many cultures that use puppetry as part of their traditions, to teach ancient narratives or to expose lessons that effect social change. I think I would be able to produce a substantial body of work which looks at puppet making and puppetry in a historical context and as myth and legend. As well as techniques and tools of the trade. I am also drawn to the intimate connection between the puppet and the puppet master. The puppets are extensions of the people who control and operate them. As an appendage, the puppet exerts a certain freedom for the puppet master, allowing them to act, create or play in ways that can skirt social conventions. This intimate interface between operator and operatee can be seen in custom made puppets which respond to the dexterity of their owners. There is also an intense relationship between the puppet and the audience. This interface is primarily sight and sound but also highly interactive. Puppets are approached and accepted by the audience not as mere machines but as personalities.

Puppetry is also explicitly spatial: it challenges accepted dichotomies between audiences and performers and it deals with the movements and actions of people and puppets in space. As you blend the audience and the stage, as children clamor to get near puppets, as marionettes walk down the street, they suggest a model of spatial design (and by extension architecture) that employs interaction to create spatial experience. I’d like to explore this line of thinking further through research and also through the vivisection. I think it could be really interesting to create a series of puppets which might:

Function differently for whoever is operating them based on sensory information.
Look at how a puppet might exist for a non-human—such as how the action of a door closing might direct puppet movement.

I'm sure this discussion will evolve and change as the research continues.

drawing machine

2007-10-13T01:41:00.000-05:00

Jean Pierre Gauthier, Montreal : Uncertainty Markers
Marqueurs D' Incertitude

02: vivisection

2007-10-13T01:18:00.000-05:00

Hasbro ™ My Little Pony Good Morning Sunshine
The first stage of the dissection processes—the removal and catalog of all the external components is finally completed. This preliminary vivisection revealed that most of the electronic components that run the toy are housed in a 4mm hard plastic shell. The power supply consists of 4 x 1.5V “AA” batteries. Pressure sensors on the back and rump are connected to play and demo circuit boards. Each sensor corresponds to a preset number of greetings, sounds, and pauses. The speaker is located on the rear of the toy and is connected to the main circuit board at the front of the toy. Wires running from a sensor in the head of the toy connect the head with the body. Front leg motion is generated by a series of plastic gears and springs. Head motion will be determined soon. Next steps will be to further investigate the interior circuitry and wiring.

on a side note: ACADIA 2007

2007-10-12T20:30:00.000-05:00

02 October – 03 October. The Metabolic Network Sensory Workshop provided a hands-on approach to the concept of interactivity, modeling of dynamic systems, software craft, sensors and actuators, fabrication and textile arts. That last bit is ripped off from the ACADIA website but it's all true. We spent a very intense few days—unwinding, stretching, inserting, imagining, laser cutting and manipulating a tangle of ropes and fiberglass cable dangling from a rigging 20ft in the air at the Dalhousie School of Architecture.

After listening to the general vision proposed by the workshop leaders, I found myself gravitating towards the group led by architect and computer scientist Mette Ramsgard Thomsen. Her approach was biological in nature—suggesting that motors and actuators might be implanted or grafted within the overall rope matrix. She challenged us to visualize the overall installation moving, flexing and pulsing like an organism.

In this test version the servo motor and its corresponding lever is fastened to the rope with a makeshift cardboard buckle. Eventually, this approach led to an alternative acrylic harness for the servos which kept the motor suspended within the rope coils. Working with the servo motors led to a few key realizations, namely, that the motor's rotational abilities had to be amplified in order to maximize the overall effect to the rest of the matrix. Also, the servos themselves were limited to 180 degrees of rotation and weren't able to move the solid grey ropes. Because of this, the servos were situated within the ropes but actuated the light weight fiberglass cables and thinner membranes.

The eventual installation had four different apparatus which were responsible for actuating different areas of the overall matrix. The clam apparatus, the infinity apparatus, the swerving apparatus and the sway apparatus. The clam apparatus was designed to flex a bamboo rod which was connected to several circles of fibreglass cables. This mechanism created an instantaneous localized movement within the mesh of fibres. The infinity apparatus and the swerving apparatus were connected to one another to help form a servo bank which created slight sporadic horizontal movement through the installation. Together these mechanisms caused a less determinate, pull and push of the fibreglass cables. Finally, the sway apparatus was designed by Allan Macy and installed on the mezzanine level above the installation floor. A DC motor pulled ropes connected to the rigging which caused the suspended polls to sway back and forth.

Matt's clever demonstration of the clam apparatus (with me bossing him in the background).

Mathias Gmachl (from the design research studio Loop.ph, based in London) and Carole Collet (course director MA Textile Futures, Central Saint Martins College of Art, London) discuss the direction of the installation.

Each servo motor was attached to a micro-controller. We used Arduino boards attached to daughter boards for added flexibility. Each servo had to be programmed independently from the others. Although I'm not sure why this was the case. For a quicker alternative the servos were tested using a MAKE micro controller (hardware) and MAX MSP (software).

01: range of motion

2007-10-12T16:46:00.001-05:00

Through out the vivisection I’ve also been looking closely at architectural works and theories inspired by my previously posted list of obsessions. I’ve also been trolling through pictures of my recent travels through Western Europe, Italy and Croatia. The work of John Hedjuk and the short stories of Argentinean writer Jorge Luis Borges are currently, at the forefront of my explorations. I am arrested by the cultural poetics in both of these works and I plan to incorporate the richness of narrative into my own approach as it progresses. I have just read Borges’ The Library of Babel from his collection of short stories entitled Labyrinth. For now, I am fascinated by Borges delicate description of the universe as a many tiered library of hexagonal galleries and interconnected air shafts. The library is “unlimited and cyclical. If an eternal traveler were to cross it in any direction, after centuries he would see that the same volumes were repeated in the same disorder (which, thus repeated, would be an order: the Order)”. I can’t help but imagine that this eternal traveler must be a machine or a program running repeatedly through the matrix of the library. I wonder what the web of this machine in continuous motion would look like after centuries of travel.

I’ve also been reading way too much Douglas Adams. I keep getting trapped in his fantastical world of machines, aliens and the ridiculously unexplained. I read Hitchhiker a while ago—but for now I’ve read The Restaurant at the End of the Universe and Life, the Universe and Everything. I think what I find so interesting about Adams is that his narratives seem to mimic my thought processes. I have a tendency to hop, skip and jump from one interest to another, dappling intensely for a while in areas only to be attracted by something “shiny” – another idea, or inspiration that can’t be ignored. The creative process is an intimate one, and I think the more we learn about how we work and think, the easier it becomes to create successfully. Adam manages to haul the reader back and forth across his narrative, sometimes violently, sometimes s-l-o-w-l-y, but you never forget that he is in control. The story makes sense despite itself. I hope to manifest some of this manipulated chaos in my own work. I want to explore my own idiosyncrasies through this final project.

getting up to speed: introducing PONY

2007-10-12T15:21:00.001-05:00

I’ve almost completed the vivisection of my original pink cow/pony toy. For now I’ll refer to her as a pony for simplicity sake. The vivisection exercise was designed to introduce us to electronic processes and components, as well as to familiarize us more intimately with the materials, textures, forms and organization of the object at hand. The vivisection has been a painstaking process of cutting and drawing to reveal the automaton within. This pony doesn’t really serve a function beyond amusing small children—most likely, girls under 4. The pony has, however, become a point of departure for my thesis project. The notions of toy, play and interactivity have started to influence an idea for how we might play with our buildings as opposed to in them. When I first brought the pony out of her battered box I was amazed at her range of motion. She is able to prop herself up, lie down and rotate her head from one side to the other while blinking her eyes and laughing. She also has a litany of phrases, giggles and exclamations such as “oh-oh”. “Good morning, Mommy”. “I love you”. “Let’s play!” “Can I have a kiss?” “Yawn, good night!” and “Brush my hair please.” It appears when activated, pony will sit up, lie down, move her head or blink. When she moves, she makes baby sounds or says one of the seven expressions. I’ve included images and video of her talents. The pony also has several accessories: a pacifier, bottle and brush. If you feed her the bottle she'll make drinking sounds, if you press her foot she'll giggle and if you give her the pacifier she proceeds to fall asleep. Each time pony has completed an action and/or expression, you can pat her back, press her foot or re-insert the bottle or pacifier to reactivate her. At first I was repulsed by this strange little creature, but the more time I’ve spent analyzing her, the more I’ve grown attached. Once I remove her over-sized pink head and expose her inner mutant the more attractive she’ll become.

a few minor obsessions

2007-09-19T21:37:00.001-05:00

momentum & fingerprints

2007-09-19T00:53:00.002-05:00

"I go up", said the elevator, "or down."
"Good," said Zaphod, "We're going up."
"Or down," the elevator reminded him.
"Yeah, OK, up please."
There was a moment of silence.
"Down's very nice," suggested the elevator hopefully.
"Oh yeah?"
"Super."
"Good," said Zaphod, "Now will you take us up?"
"May I ask you," inquired the elevator in its sweetest, most reasonable voice, "if you've considered all the possibilities that down might offer you?"

Conversation with an elevator designed by the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation in The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams