EnterFace - Fall 2001

Monday/Wednesday 7:15 PM to 10:15 PM Hybrid Lab

http://www.well.com/~ddigor/ccac/ccac.html

Todd Blair: Fabrication and Kinetics Don Day: Electronics and Sensors Barney Haynes: Media and Programming

Grade Break Down

Attendance: Miss 3 classes lose 1 grade point, miss 4 you will not pass

Active participation in class exercises and mini assignments and punctuality 20%

Assignment 1 due Week 4 9/26 Random Motion Assignment 10%

Assignment 2 due Week 5 10/1 Presentation Artist Report 15%

Week 7 10/15 and 10/17 Individual Meetings: Feasibility Analysis 15%

Assignment 3 due Week 11 Project Proposal Presentation: Class presentation of Beta Prototype 20%

Week 15 Final show 25%

Missed or late assignments will result in the loss of associated percentage 


Week 1
Wednesday 9/5 Introduction to the class 
  • Delineation of the 3 areas of concentration / departure
  • Expectations: Assignments and show
  • Possible strategies and models
  • Collect contact information for students


Barney: Computers and the Hybrid Lab (RM. 304) 

Don: Power & Control and Electro Safety 
  • Hazards of the disposable flash camera

  • powered by an innocent AA battery 
  • Sources of power

  • Sun, nuclear power plants (PG&E), chemicals, lemons and potatoes 
  • Too much energy getting loose

  • Circuit Breakers, Fuses (flash bulb in socket) 
  • Toxics Soldering, lead with the Romans, smoking the flux 
  • Heat a LITTLE too much energy getting loose 

  • liquid metal on the flesh makes for a nasty burn 
  • Tiny objects close to your eyes
  • Shock causes you to lose motor control
  • Current through your heart can kill you
Todd: Introduction to Fabricating Electromechanical devices 
  • Planing your design - design, prototype
  • Sourcing your materials - surplus, dumpster diving
  • Fabricating - tools, the lab and the metal shop
Some Links
Assignment 1: Random Motion 
Identify and bring in for a class presentation something that moves unpredictibly - it can be mechanical, a household object, fabricated or found. Don't forget heat rises, light is very fast and gravity has a strong pulling force. Due September 26.

Assignment 2: Book Report
Pick an artist working in the field of kinetic and electronic art, write a report and prepare a presentation. Due October 1st.

Steve Wilson's Massive Artist List
 
Classical Kinetic Artists 
  • Hero of Alexandria
  • Jacques de Vaucanson
  • Marcel Duchamp
  • Thomas Wilfred
  • Jean Tinguely
  • Nam June Paik
  • Len Lye
  • Pol Bury
  • Nicolas Schöffer
  • James Seawright
  • Otto Piene
  • Fletcher Benton
  • Billy Klüver
  • Robert Whitman
  • Charles Frazier
Classic Groups and Organizations 
  • USCO
  • EAT (Experiments in Art and Technology)
  • ZERO
  • GRAV
  • PULSA

Sources Field Trip 1: Friday 10/26 Just like a class - absence condemed

Sources Field Trip 2: Saturday 11/17 Optional but strongly encourged but fun

Week 2
Monday 9/10

Introduction to Materials; Demonstrations

Wednesday 9/12

Video tape showing

Week 3
Monday 9/17

Don:

  • Electronic components, subassemblies and systems
  • Their physical corporeal nature
  • Exercise: Connect a circuit and make it go or glow or growl or grow.
    • Power sources
      • Solar Cells
      • Chemical cells and batteries
      • Power supplies (from wall AC to stable DC)
      • AC (from the wall, or transformed to lower voltage)
    • Connection methods
      • Wire nuts
      • Wire wrap
      • Conductive Epoxy
      • Solder
      • Heat shrink tubing
    • Measurement
      • Analogies - electrons as lemmings
      • Multimeter (volts and ohms)
      • Oscilloscope (volts in time)
Todd: 
  • Major Mechanical Components in Kinetic Art
  • Exercise: Make a flimsy articulated mechanism.

  • (Please bring cardboard, pushpins and utility knives OR wood scraps and nails) 

Wednesday 9/19

Barney: Max 

  • Intro to Max /MSP and nato.0+55+ modular
  • Anatomy of Simple Patch: Objects, Message Boxes, Number Boxes, User Interfaces and Parameters
Week 4
Monday 9/24

Don: Control elements and amplifiers 

  • Their physical corporeal nature
  • Exercise: Connect a circuit and make it go or glow or growl or grow.
Todd: Fabrication and Materials 
  • Introduction the shop
  • Materials and Fabrication Strategies
  • Exercise: Fastening and Joining with drills and taps
Wednesday 9/26

Assignment 1 Due - Random Motion

Week 5
Monday 10/1

Assignment 2 Due - Report on Artist

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wednesday 10/3

Barney: Max

  • Bangs, Metros, Toggles, Passing Messages
  •  Objects of the Day
  • Cannibalizing Patches
 
Week 6
Monday 10/8

Don

  • Black boxes containing computer crap

Todd

  • Power Transmission
Wednesday 10/10

Video tape showing

Week 7
Monday 10/15

Individual Meetings 1 - Present project ideas

  • 7:00 Ellen
  • 7:20 North
  • 7:40 Erica
  • 8:00 Alex
  • break
  • 8:40 Joseph
  • 9:00 Eli
  • 9:20 Michael C

 

 

Wednesday 10/17

Individual Meetings 2 -Present project ideas

  • 7:00 Sherm
  • 7:20 Eroca
  • 7:40 Michael
  • 8:00 Noah
  • break
  • 8:40 Liz
  • 9:00 Jennavave
  • 9:20 Anne
  • 9:40 Angela Sue

 

Week 8
  • Monday 10/22


Lab Exercise - Relay control of Motor

 

Wednesday 10/24

Barney: Max/MSP

  • Friday 10/26 for a Surplus Fieldtrip
  • Meet at the Hybrid Lab (classroom) Friday morning at Noon
  • or Saturday 10/27 for a Surplus Fieldtrip
  • Meet at the Hybrid Lab (classroom) Saturday morning at 10 am
Week 9
Monday 10/29

Don: Systems 

  • Integrating power and control

  • Exercise: Connect an informationally full sensor-control element-actuator circuit and try to make it work 
Todd: Power Transmission
  • Mechanical movement
  • Major components in power transmission
 
Wednesday 10/31

 

 

Barney: MIDI Interfaces,

  • Connecting MIDI Devices with Max
  • Max and MIDI
  • MIDI related objects

  • Exercise: Make a patch controlling a light strip with a drum machine
  • Processing Input
  • Changing Parameters of objects
  • Right to left order
  • Get Info
  • Sub-patches and Encapsulation
  • Objects of the day
1st Max Assignment Due: 
Create a Patch that strobes a light 
Week 10
Monday 11/5

Lab Exercise - Sensors

 

Wednesday 11/7

Barney: Integrating Max with the ADB/IO, and the EZIO

  • Connecting the Outputs
  • ADB/IO EZIO Objects
  • Drunks and Uzis
  • Exercise: Controlling relays with Max
 
Week 11
Monday 11/12

Don: Debugging Physical Systems 

  • Measurement

  • How to see the invisible properties of the components 
  • When do the components become something else

  • Synergy vs. Entropy 
  • Cartesian decomposition

  • Exercise: make the circuits from week for actually work 
Todd: Power Transmission II 
 
  • Motor Exercise: Build a temporary components to transform rotary motion
 
Wednesday 11/14

Assignment 3 due - Midterm Project Presentation to Class

Saturday 11/17 - Bonus Field Trip

    Triangle again, plus Halted, Alltronics
      

Week 12
Monday 11/19

Lab Exercise - Sound and Light

 

Wednesday 11/21

Barney: Integrating Max with the ADB/IO, and the EZIO cont. 

  • Connecting sensors and switches to the IO
  • Polling and related issues
  • Counters and Conditionals
  • Range Finders
  • Exercise: Connecting and processing light sensors
Week 13
Monday 11/26

Evaluation - everyone must be in attendance

 

Wednesday 11/28

Barney: 2nd Max Assignment: 
Build a patch that processes a range of input data and controls 
a motors direction. 

Barney: nato.0+55+ modular

  • Modular Structures
  • 242.film. 242image objects,242ekran
Week 14
Monday 12/3

Lab

 

Wednesday 12/5

Lab

Week 15
Monday 12/10

Final Lab to work out kinks

Wednesday 12/12

Work Installed and ready to critique

Friday 12/14

Final Show

Old Stuff, to be integrated above:

Barney: nato.0+55+ modular

Barney: nato.0+55+ modular

Barney: Intro to MSP

Barney: MSP & Sequencing

Todd: Motion Lab I

Barney: MSP
Barney: MSP

Todd: Motion Lab II

Individual Meetings with Don and Todd: Problem Solving and Implementation Issues

Barney: Integration and Conclusion of MAX, nato 0.55 & MSP

Lab + Problem Solving

Lab + Problem Solving

Lab + Problem Solving