ASK-HOW Art Tech Expo - On-line Exhibition

Art Tech Statement

This Algorithmic Composition is a new work written by a computer and performed by people. Each movement of the new work, called NTrope Suite, was made by mixing two old works in a way that preserves their mutual entropy. Entropy is a mathematical measure of uncertainty about which note will come next as the piece proceeds.

The composer (computer) begins by randomly choosing a note (say “A”) in one of two old works (say #1). Next an old work (#1 or #2) is chosen at random and searched for all “A” notes. One of these “A’s” is chosen at random and the following note (say “B”) becomes the second note in the new work. Next an old work (#1 or #2) is chosen at random and searched for all strings of notes “A-B”, etc.

The result is a creative composition with a musical style that blends two existing styles.

Further Reading

Dubnov, S. (1999) “Stylistic Randomness: About Composing NTrope Suite". Organized Sound, Volume 48, Number 2, pages 87-92.

Hiller, L., and Issacson, L. (1959) Experimental Music (McGraw-Hill).

Shannon, C. (1949) The Mathematical Theory of Communication (University of Illinois Press).

Art Tech Statement

My piece, titled Bolted-Tensile Architecture, illustrates the architectural process of translating thoughts into a hexagonal model of an enclosure – transforming the model into a scaled plan and then into a working structure.

This particular structure employs the use of bolted stainless steel connections for the structural frame, and incorporates tensile elements to support the sleeping loft and to give the roof integrity. The tension of the different parts of the structure assists in giving the structure its strength.

The hexagonal form is the form closest to the circle which fills two dimensional space without overlap. Bees have known this for years. Enclosures are as old as man. Circular and oval structures of Paleolithic age (380,000 BP) constructed from posts of wood with connections made from twisted vines have been found on the French Coast . Tensile structures are used by birds, spiders and in the tents used by early man.

Further Reading

Villa, P. (1983) Terra Amata and the Middle Pleistocene Archaeological Record of Southern France (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press).

Stone Age Habitats, available at: www.abotech.com/Articles/Kowalski01.htm.

Paleolithic Era (Terra Amata), available at: http://radar.ngcsu.edu/~jtwynn/paleolithic.htm.

Art Tech Statement

Cable-Drawn Caricatures are drawings constrained to a single contour – like a doodle made without lifting the pen from the page. This constraint allows a cable to be drawn into a sculpture while at the same time fueling creativity much like a rhyme does in poetry.

First I draw a caricature by selection and exaggeration of facial features. Then I draw a single contour that follows the original cartoon with the fewest deviations and additions. This is a max-min (best-least) problem whose solution is the best path along the contours of the cartoon with the least ink added to connect separate contours. Last I bend a wire along the single contour to form a sculpture.

For some sculptures I use standard 14-gauge household wire that holds its shape when bent. For other sculptures I use electroluminescent wire that is sewn to a screen and powered by a 9V battery inverter.

Further Reading

Brennan, S. (1985) “Caricature Generator: The Dynamic Exaggeration of Faces by Computer”. Leonardo, Volume 18, Number 3, pages 170-178.

Bruce, V., and Young, A. (1998) In the Eye of the Beholder: The Science of Face Perception (Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press).

Burns, K. (2004) “Creature Double Feature: On Style and Subject in the Art of Caricature”. Proceedings of the American Association for Artificial Intelligence: Symposium on Style in Language, Art, Music and Design, available at: http://music.ucsd.edu/~sdubnov/style2004.htm.

Art Tech Statement

Cinematic Sketches are dynamic drawings that unfold in time. Typically an audience sees only an artist’s final artwork, which doesn’t say much about how it was created. A Cinematic Sketch shows the drawing (noun) as well as the drawing (verb) – to help an audience get inside an artist’s head.

The original drawing is made with a digitizing pen and tablet, while a computer program collects the coordinates (x, y) and time (t) at which pixels are rendered. These data are stored as contours (vectors) that can later be replayed by another computer program – like a motion picture of the artist’s sketchpad.

The lines of a Cinematic Sketch are temporal expressions, like musical melodies, except that lines do not fade like sounds. Viewers have fun when they succeed in predicting the lines. Viewers have more fun when they get surprised and can explain the surprise by reading between the lines.

Acknowledgement

Java program (TRACES) was written by Craig Bonaceto, under research on Mental Models supported by the Technology Program of The MITRE Corporation.

Further Reading

Burns, K. & Bonaceto, C. (in press) “TRACES: A Tool for Rendering and Analyzing Contour in Experimental Studies”.

Nicolaidas, K. (1941) The Natural Way to Draw: A Working Plan for Art Study (Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin).

Art Tech Statement

Crop Circles are geometric symbols formed in fields of wheat and rapeseed – and found primarily in the four counties of England known collectively as Wessex . The symbols often resemble those found in Megalithic art, such as the Newgrange spirals. They also appear in indigenous art of the Hopi ( America ), Aboriginals ( Australia ) and Dogon ( Africa ).

This painting superimposes several geometric symbols found in Crop Circles, including equilateral triangles and a checkerboard pattern that appears as if it is projected onto a spherical surface. Mathematical analyses have shown that Crop Circles often reflect fractal geometry, Golden Mean proportions and the numerical ratios of musical harmonies.

The origins of natural Crop Circles are currently unexplained, although popular theories range from electromagnetic fields to extraterrestrial visitors. Some Crop Circles are known to have been created by human beings. Regardless of their origin, the geometries of Crop Circles are central to art and science.

Further Reading

Haselhoff, E. (2001) The Deepening Complexity of Crop Circles: Scientific Research and Urban Legends (Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books).

Silva, F. (2002) Secrets in the Fields: The Science and Mysticism of Crop Circles (Charlottesville, VA: Hampton Roads Publishing).

The Crop Circular, available at: http://www.lovely.clara.net/homepg.html.

Art Tech Statement

Cyclopean Sculptures are 3-D structures that lead to illusions when seen with one eye, like a Cyclops or camera, or when seen from a distance where each eye has essentially the same view.

In this work, titled Probably a Pyramid, the concave (indented) edge of an asymmetric folded steel sheet appears to “pop out”. Remarkably it looks like the convex (protruding) edge of a symmetric pyramid. You then slowly move your head and the pyramid appears to rotate in space!

This illusion arises because the 2-D image on your retina is ambiguous. It could arise from an infinite number of objects, some with a concave edge that dents in and some with a convex edge that pops out. Symmetric pyramids are common objects seen mostly from the outside – where edges are convex. The mind resolves the ambiguity with this “probable” interpretation – even when it must also assume a rotation.

Further Reading

Burns, K. (2001) “Mental Models of Line Drawings”. Perception, Volume 30, pages 1249-1261.

Julesz, B. (1971) Foundations of Cyclopean Perception (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press).

Marr, D. (1982) Vision: A Computational Investigation into the Human Representation and Processing of Visual Information (New York, NY: Freeman).

Art Tech Statement

Digital Lumia are inspired by the color organ (Clavilux instrument) of Thomas Wilfred (1889-1968). Wilfred's pieces were performed in concerts and shown as sculptures throughout the United States and Europe . In all cases they were silent – visual music. Wilfred intended the participant's experience to be syneasthetic – so what the eye saw triggered the brain to create a complementary or contrasting sound, flavor, texture or feeling.

Wilfred's pieces could evoke fantastic landscapes, futuristic cities, elegant gardens or primal moments. My work brings Wilfred’s tradition into a contemporary cultural context – stimulating each participant to discover his or her own visions, stories and emotions.

Digital Lumia are created by computer algorithms that simulate opto-mechanical machines. The parameters of the machine are adjusted over time to compose a visual sequence of color, refraction, reflection and shadow – the sequence is sampled at key frames and rendered in digital media as still images and videos.

Further Reading

Moritz, W. (1997) “The Dream of Color Music and Machines that Made it Possible”. Animation World Magazine, Issue 2.1, available at: http://www.awn.com/mag/issue2.1/articles/moritz2.1.html.

Ramachandran, V., Hubbard, E. (2003) “Hearing Colors, Tasting Shapes”. Scientific American, May 2003, pages 53-59, available at: http://www.sciencecore.columbia.edu/demo/web/resources/readings/hearing.pdf .

Wilfred, T. (1947) “Light and the Artist”. The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, Volume V, Number 4, pages 247-255, available at: http://rhythmiclight.com/articles/LightAndTheArtist.pdf ; Also (1930) “Light Projection Display”. Application filed with U. S. Patent Office, August 30, 1924, Number 1,749,001, available at: http://www.lightshow.cc/explorer/Pioneers_/Wilfred_-_1931/wilfred_-_1931.html.

Art Tech Statement

the kaleidoscope
magical mysterious
in light reflections

This piece, titled Kaleidoscope, stems from mathematical explorations of space- filling structures. These structures include the regular (symmetric) and non-regular polyhedra, which are 3-D figures with four or more planar surfaces. In Kaleidoscope, blue neon tubes define the edges of an octahedron placed inside a two-way mirrored tetrahedron (four sides). The light of the neon illuminates the octahedron within the tetrahedron – reflecting – filling space.

The two-way mirrored form appears to be solid when the neon tubes are turned off. Illuminating the neon produces stronger light within the mirrored surfaces causing them to dissolve – becoming transparent like glass – revealing the form within.

As one moves around the hanging Kaleidoscope one sees new views – the surface in front becomes transparent while the ones behind the neon form are opaque – reflecting endlessly in space – ever changing. It is an infinite form in a finite space.

Further Reading

Brisson, H. (1993) "Visualization in Art and Science". In Emmer, M. (Ed.) The Visual Mind: Art and Mathematics (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press).

Brisson, H. (1988) "Polyhedra and Close-Packing Structures as Art Forms". In Senechel, M. & Fleck, G. (Eds.) Shaping Space: A Polyhedral Approach (Boston, MA: Birkhauser).

Williams, R. (1972) Natural Structures: Toward a Form Language (Moorpark, CA: Eudaemon Press).

Art Tech Statement

Illusory Illustrations are op art in which viewers perceive motion and depth from shaded ovals. This art works because eyes and brains have physical limitations so minds must make assumptions.

One limitation is that vision is sharp only near the center of view, so eye movements (saccades) are needed to build a clear picture of a scene. Another limitation is that it takes time for sensors (neurons) to respond. With these limitations, the mind must make assumptions about the where and when of what it sees.

These assumptions can lead to a peripheral drift illusion where the ovals appear to flow (dark-to-light). When shaded top-to-bottom, as in Egg Drop, the ovals with light tops look like 3-D eggs and the ovals with dark tops look like holes. In Disc Go, which is the same image as Egg Drop but rotated 90 degrees, the distinction between eggs and holes disappears.

Further Reading

Faubert, J, and Hebert, A. (1999) “The Peripheral Drift Illusion: A Motion Illusion in the Visual Periphery”. Perception, Volume 28, pages 617-621, available at: http://vision.opto.umontreal.ca/pdf/1999/PeripheralDrift.pdf.

Kitaoka, A. (2003) “Phenomenal Characteristics of the Peripheral Drift Illusion”. Vision, Volume 15, Number 4, pages 261-262, available at: http://www.psy.ritsumei.ac.jp/~akitaoka/PDrift.pdf.

Seckel, A. (2004) Masters of Deception: Escher, Dali and the Artists of Optical Illusion (New York, NY: Sterling Publishers), accompanied by: http://neuro.caltech.edu/~seckel/.

Art Tech Statement

In the late 1930’s, I had a recurring nightmarish dream of getting progressively smaller as I traveled in a tunnel and disappeared. Fifty years later, while contemplating images between parallel mirrors, I realized that when standing between the mirrors my observed image got progressively smaller. Was this an unconscious manifestation of my dream?

My piece, titled Reflections in Dream Time, includes an installation employing two 8 by 6 foot mirrors and two 6 by 6 foot mirrors with etched images from the past, present and future. In passing through the installation, viewers becomes an integral part of the event, both in time and space – while a tele-connected math-art piece details the experience.

Mirrors have been in use since 440 B.C. – their use was at a peak during Etruscan times. Modern mirrors use the deposition of silver nitrate on glass, sensitized with tin chloride solution. Tele-connectors are recent technological innovations.

Further Reading

Freud, Sigmund (1952) On Dreams (New York: W. W. Norton).

Spivey, Nigel (1997) Etruscan Art (London: Thames and Hudson).

Melchior-Bonnet, Sabine (2002) The Mirror: a History. Translated by Katharine H. Jewett with a preface by Jean Delumeau (New York: Routledge). First published in 1994 by Éditions Imago in French.

Sage, J. D. (2002) MetaForms and MetaNudes etcetera (West Boylston, MA: Mercantile Press).

"Inside Out" - Two images have been juxtaposed to produce a simultaneous view of the interior and exterior of this dilapidated train station located in Barcelona, Spain. Mounted back-to-back on wooden slats, adjustments are easily made to display either the entire or parts of the interior and exterior of the train station. This is accomplished simply by turning the dowels extending through the upper part of the shadow box. In keeping with the 3-D aspect of the work, the dual image gives a more complete feeling of the architectural integrity of the building design.

Art Tech Statement

Interactive-Kinetic Photographs are designed to visually stimulate the viewers’ senses on their own terms. I begin with photographic images of architectural or industrial subjects, which are graphically lit, sculpturally formed, strikingly colorized or in a decadent state.

I then design shadow boxes and other frameworks with mechanisms that allow viewers to construct their own experiences interactively. The mechanisms for interaction include dowels, levers, cutouts and drawstrings. For example, the piece titled Inside Out uses two fragmented and juxtaposed images of a single subject, mounted on wooden slats and controlled by dowels – similar to a moving billboard.

Mechanical techniques give observers control over how they view the composite photograph, allowing them to assert a changing and individual perspective. As was once commented to me, "these art-tech photographs make you smile". The ability to engage with the photographs through interaction is the key to stimulating viewers’ senses on their own terms.

"Victoria Train Station" - This kinetic photograph of the Victoria Train Station, located in London, England creates a sense of action and movement. This is accomplished in the lower section of the photograph where trains are pictured. This section of the picture can be pulled slightly forward to simulate the movement of a train. It also adds depth to the picture. The dowels extending through the upper part of the frame reflect the lights hanging from the upper part of the metal-framed train station. Movement has been applied to the reflective light fixtures. They can be raised, lowered and stabilized at various heights.

Art Tech Statement

A Möbius⁽¹⁾ Band is a 2-D strip twisted 180 degrees with its ends attached. It has only one side because you can get from any point to another point without hitting an edge. A Klein⁽²⁾ Bottle is a 4-D surface made from two Möbius bands – it too has only one side.

Just as 3-D objects can be projected to 2-D drawings, a 4-D bottle can be projected to 3-D. The result is a vessel with a hole in its bottom and a top neck that curves down to penetrate the side and connect to the hole – outside-inside-outside…

Clay is the ideal medium for comprehending and constructing these forms through touching, turning and twisting. In the kiln the clay becomes hard and dense, impervious to water – as flashing flames lick the surface and create random patterns. The result is both conceptually and aesthetically beautiful – an integration of science and art.

⁽¹⁾ Ferdinand Möbius (1790-1868)
⁽²⁾ Felix Klein (1849-1925)

Further Reading

"What is a Klein Bottle?". Available from ACME Klein Bottle, http://www.kleinbottle.com/whats_a_klein_bottle.htm.

"Klein Bottle", available from Mathworld: http://mathworld.wolfram.com/KleinBottle.html.

"Klein Bottle", available from Wickipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klein_bottle, which provides the following anonymous limerick:

Art Tech Statement

My Probabilistic Poems are humorous haiku, each with 3 lines and 5+7+5=17 syllables. This piece, titled Haiku Hang-up, is an acrostic collection of twenty P.O.E.M.s on Perceptions, Occupations, Expressions and Meditations.

The haiku format is ideal for creating humor because “brevity is the soul of wit” (William Shakespeare) and “making the complicated simple… that’s creativity” (Charles Mingus). Three lines highlight the core structure of humor: (1) set up, (2) build up, (2) punch line.

The haiku format is also useful for analyzing humor. To do so I adopt a probabilistic principle developed by the Reverend Thomas Bayes (1702-1761) in his Essay Towards Solving a Problem in the Doctrine of Chance. Bayes’ Rule specifies how beliefs are revised as new data are obtained. Bayes’ approach allows mathematical modeling of how an audience forms prior expectations before a punch line and how an audience forms posterior explanations after a punch line.

Further Reading

The Economist (September 18, 2000), “In Praise of Bayes”, available at: http://www.economist.com/displayStory.cfm?Story_ID=382968&CFID=242650&CFTOKEN=90644500.

Paulos, J. (1980) Mathematics and Humor (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press).

Reichold, J. (2002) Writing and Enjoying Haiku: A Hands-on Guide (New York, NY: Kodansha International).

Art Tech Statement

Behind each slot of this Psychological Slot Machine, called Slot TRACS, is a deck of double-sided cards with black shapes on the backs and colored sets on the fronts. The odds are shown at the top of the slot machine and on the Red and Blue fronts of the cards – the Red:Blue odds for triangles are 3:1 – the Red:Blue odds for circles are even (2:2) – the Red:Blue odds for squares are 1:3.

To start just click the arm. To play you pick three cards. To win the three cards must turn out to be a flush (Red or Blue) and the payoff is proportional to 1/probability of the flush. So which cards do you pick?

You can change the game to 1-Up or 2-Up or 3-Up where one or more cards are spun face up. But it costs more to play these games – so which game do you play?

Acknowledgement

Java program (Slot TRACS) was written by Fritz Behr and Craig Bonaceto, under research on Mental Models supported by the Technology Program of The MITRE Corporation.

Further Reading

Burns, K. (2002) TRACS: A Tool for Research on Adaptive Cognitive Strategies, available at www.tracsgame.com.

Burns, K. (2005) Mental Models in Naturalistic Decision Making, available at: http://mentalmodels.mitre.org.

Burns, K. (2005) On TRACS: Dealing with a Deck of Double-Sided Cards. Proceedings of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers: Symposium on Computational Intelligence in Games, available at: http://mentalmodels.mitre.org/Contents/Burns%20TRACS%20CIG05%20Revised.pdf.

Art Tech Statement

This furniture is Reconstructive in two respects. First, recycled materials are used to create new forms. Second, knockdown joinery allows the forms to be reconfigured to serve different functions, like disassembly for transportation or rearrangement for a specific room or use.

One piece, called Scott Wiseman’s Side Table, was built from an uncompleted Shaker-style side table frame found in a trash bin. The carved handle, made of sapelli wood, has a retractable back that fits into a dovetail groove – enabling it to be removed when the table is transported.

Another piece, called The Block, was made from a pulley block found on the streets of Cambridge . The block originally encased a pulley, which turned on a pin that penetrated the wooden shell (from top) allowing sailors to manage loads with less force. The block was fitted with drawers, using wood cut from the salvaged beam of a Worcester mill.

Art Tech Statement

These Soda-Fired Ceramics are inspired by antique tin wares. Built for practical utility, tin wares from the 18th and 19th centuries also have aesthetic beauty. They are art forms that stem from tech functions.

My work extends the forms and functions of tin wares to clay pots. The process begins with thin-walled cylinders, formed on the potter’s wheel and then altered and assembled. The pots are sprayed with a soda solution as they are fired in a gas kiln to create a durable finish colored by metal oxides – much like the oxide patinas that tin wares acquire in use.

One tin form I adapted is the Miner’s Lunch Box, which comprises a cup, plate and pail with a locking mechanism. A decorative version features paintings of canaries, which were used as toxic gas detectors in British coal pits since 1911 and were only recently (1986) replaced by electronic devices.

Further Reading

Cochrane, R. (2001) Salt-Glaze Ceramics (Ramsbury, UK: Crowood Press).

DeVoe, S. (1981) The Art of the Tinsmith: English and American (Exton, PA: Schiffer Publishing).

Olsen, F. (2001) The Kiln Book: Materials, Specifications and Construction (Iola, WI: Krause Publications).

Art Tech Statement

Time-Lapse Timepiece explores time as experienced and perceived by man. It poses the question, what is time?

My piece, titled Personal Time, includes three different panels to represent the past (memory), present (perception) and future (anticipation). A triangular piece of sandstone with a Venus image from the Paleolithic represents the past – a triangular mirror represents the personal present – a set of skulls hanging on strings of various colors represents a personal path to the future. A digital counter is included, which counts down the time in seconds, minutes, hours and days left in my life (estimated at 20 years).

The division of time into regular, predictable units is fundamental to the functioning of society. Paleolithic man (20,000 BP), using lunar and solar phases as a counter of time, scratched lines and gouged holes in sticks and bones to track time. Modern man uses mechanical, electrical and cesium atomic clocks.

Further Reading

Barbour, Julian (1999) The End of Time (New York: Oxford University Press).

Dohn-van Rossum, Gerhard (1996) History of the Hour (Chicago: University of Chicago Press).

Sage, J. D. (2002) MetaForms and MetaNudes etcetera (West Boylston, MA: Mercantile Press).

Art Tech Statement

Timist Rock Art compresses time into a single image. Multiple images are superimposed to represent a temporal progression. Similar compositions are found in prehistoric rock art, like the Kimberleys of Australia , where images have been superimposed over thousands of years.

My piece, titled Homage to Women, includes nine panels that together measure 12.5 feet by 7.75 feet. The panels depict a sequence spanning 20,000 years, with etched images based on studies of the Neolithic in Alta , Norway - and the Paleolithic based on studies by M. Gimbutas. In viewing this composition, each viewer creates her own progression as she gazes at a single panel and then shifts her gaze to other panels.

Homage to Women employs fragmentation to model the effects of natural weathering and restructuring that occur over time. The panels are made from poured gray gypsum material to resemble slate with red sandstone inclusions from the Triassic.

Further Reading

Gimbutas, M. (1991) The Civilization of the Goddess (New York, NY: Harper Collins).

Sage, J. D. (2002) MetaForms and MetaNudes etcetera (West Boylston, MA: Mercantile Press).

Walsh, G. (2000) Bradshaw Art of the Kimberleys (North Carlton, Australia: Takarakka Rock Art Publications). Also see: http://www.bradshawfoundation.com/.