timothy mohn
3.19 (updated 3.25)
final project
the unbearable likeness of me ...
3.8
final project abstract
I guess I should start by stating that I am currently looking in two different directions at the moment (hoping to have this sorted out by the end of the break):
First path: Continue work on the mirrored end table project I started for the midterm but never fully developed (isn't this always the case?). I would say this is my "fall back" option should I not be able to make significant progress in exploring the second path.
Second path (what I am really excited about): Networked art has mostly been defined as web pages that are "interactive" in one way or another. Usually they are an attempt to use the internet, and more specifically a web site, as a medium in its own right. I feel that this is a fairly dead end path for creativity as there are so many limitations to the internet as an expressive medium. Most efforts are focused on creating html websites, or using the internet as an interface for digital renderings of images. But many efforts are also software based (Java, Flash) that are then typically presented either online or simply on a computer screen.
Where has the object as commodity gone? Is it enough to sell a laser print of a digital work? What if we purely treated the network as what it really is: fancy and powerful plumbing?
I will be developing a collection of paintings that are arresting as both physical objects in thier own right, but are also linked together via a network to preserve thier relationship with each other regardless of location.
Right now the concept would technically include a Java server that coordinates the 3 node pieces. There will also possibly be a web component where minor adjustments could be made to the system and possibly a second expressive front would live there as well depending on the final implementation on the technology aspects of the paintings.
I am interesting in exploring the dichotomy of paintings as physical objects and paintings as computational objects. I have been working on sketches for a few weeks now and should have some of the more promising ones online this break. Other efforts have been focused on fleshing out the system flow and exactly how to make these paintings relate to each other in a simple, intersting and visually compelling way, utilizing the network. Maybe a tall order? Got to start somewhere although sometimes I wonder...
I hope this all makes sense. I am not 100% certain it makes sense at times, but it has been driving me forward for about 2 weeks now and I guess I should get it out of my system. More to come very very soon.
tjm - vancouver b.c.
2.28
chatting furniture project
endTable project is now online and ready to go ...
2.21
chatting furniture project
i keep hearing the question: 'why would we want furniture to chat?'. well i don't think there is any real logic to it personally. just a good exercise on how to tackle an interactive networked project from a more 'pure' design perspective.?.?
2.15
peerMIDI presentation
presented the first peerMIDI prototype today. seemed to go well. we are really interested in fleshing out the prototype fully this semester. we have a few issues to overcome, but i think we are going to start on getting them solved this week.
on another front, i'm considering taking the peerMIDI framework and applying it to an idea that i have been developing over the past year based around networked paintings that have an aesthetic relationship to each other at all times, regardless of physical placement, as long as they have a network connection... more on this soon.
and one last thing. i've started on the design phase of my PICprogrammer for OS X. right now i'm focusing on an IDE that takes PICBasic code and converts to HEX. the next phase would be to develop the hardware programmer and compiler. the latest thing i have uncovered is the idea of boot-loading the PIC code. not sure about that one though... and yes more on this soon as well. if you read this and would find this application usefull and interesting, please drop me an email at mohn [at] nyu [dot] edu.
2.14
readings:
URBAN TAPESTRIES:it's like a sub-internet based around mobile devices. that is my distilled version of the over bloated description. sometimes simplicity is better people. kinda feels like they are trying to create something that already exists... lets create a new internet just for cellphones and PDA's. unfortunately those devices will most likely change radically before they get things running beyond the "trial" - or what sounds like ALPHA stage
UCSD ActiveCampu:my BIG question here is since this sytems will be generating so much content authored by the students as well as the school, how much of the content will be relative? it is a situation kinda like the student listserv here at ITP -- there is some really good info posted onto it, but about 90% of it is shit like "Bala" rants or similiar useless drool.
sonic city: now this is what i call and interactive sculpture. this project is complex and simple at the exact same time. a brilliant use of space, technology and networks. but hey i guess technology and networks go together so.... to rephrase; a brilliant use of space and technology.
FLIRT:no comments really here. i found it really more focused on the idea of a cell network as communication device. most of the effort seemed focused on the cell phone interface - which by design is limited and poorly concieved. so nothing really exciting for me here... but that is just my personal two cents. blah blah.
2.14
1st project
well not success yet. we were able to get MIDI in and blink an LED, but are loosing the signal somehwere on the board before we even hit the Xport. we are even struggling all of a sudden with just getting the data straight through serial over the Xports and out! that is basic stuff. feels as if we are going backwards the past few days.
we're still really excited about the project if we can get things cranking with the PICS and the Xports together... only time will tell i guess.
2.11
1st project
david and i have been working away on the peerMIDI device. i had a slight set back and am currently putting together my second Xport. you don't want to konw what i did to the first. but i learned a hard lesson.
unfortunately i have been battling the flu heavily the past few days and have not been super helpful in the lab. but david has been keeping the ship straight.
we are currently putting together a small project page to document the whole thing properly. will post the URL when it is complete early next week.
2.4
readings:
BBCi showcase: well this was interesting but this whole SMS with online chat is a bit 2001 in my eyes. I found it rather unoriginal and a rehash of countless variations on the same idea of trying to integrate the virtual with the physical. just my $00.02.
BlinkenLights: now this was a bit more interesting application of the previous mentioned "virtual" meets "physical". i really liked the very basic premise and the scale as well.
alzado.net: now this is what i call and interactive sculpture. this project is complex and simple at the exact same time. a brilliant use of space, technology and networks. but hey i guess technology and networks go together so.... to rephrase; a brilliant use of space and technology.
1.31
ok so i have yet to solder that xport onto the chip etc etc etc. well i missed tom's demo and will most likely trudge out on my own tomorrow morning at the lab (fingers crossed!) i hope tom is around so that i can bother him for a few minutes. there are some mysterious capacitors in some photos that i have seen that are not referenced anywhere on his net objects site ....
readings are underway this evening. more soon ...
1.24
OSI/ISO network model || calm technology
OSI/ISO
well this was all fairly familiar to me. the different network layers etc. nothing much to comment on here other than i think that it was good to get a quick refresher on the subject.
calm technology
never even considered office windows as a technology. a good read. will it come in handy down the road? only time will tell. i don't think i'll be making a string-network-traffic device...