Tues 10/2 + Thurs 10/4

Tuesday 10/2:

  • Class quiz
  • Research Post 2

Research Post 2: Data Art

The topic of this week’s research post is data visualization and is specifically concerned with the collection, aesthetics and communication of data. Select a work of data visualization and describe the source of the data being visualized. How did the artist got access to it? What tools did they use to visualize it? Consider what point of view the artists/designer is conveying in the piece. What issues or aspect of the situation they are representing is left out by the data or the visualization? What do they prioritize in their design. You might take a look at a project from one of the following artists: Racheal Binx, Nicholas Felton, Jerr Thorp, Josh Begley, Share Lab, Ekene Ijeoma, Sam Lavigne, Sarah Groff Palermo, Kate Sweetapple, Luke Dubois , Ben Fry, Natalie Mieback, Stephanie Posavec, Accuat Studio or look at blogs like Information is Beautiful.

  • Provide a link (if possible) to the work, and a full author and title reference.
  • Embed an image and a YouTube/Vimeo video of the project (if available).
  • When you make the post, post your blog post to the category, ResearchPost02.
  • Title your blog post: nickname-ResearchPosts02.

Thursday 10/3:

Due next Tuesday online:

  1. Review the brief for the Visualizing time project brief (linked below) Come up with 3 ideas for this project and posting them to the blog by next Tuesday (9th) (we do not have class this day and I will get back to you via the Slack). Each of your ideas should be developed as one or more hand drawn sketches with a brief description. Explain how it show the passage of time. How does it change for the passage of each second, minute, hour and day?
  2. Project 2: Visualizing Time Project Brief.

Due next class (Thursday 10/11)

  1. Technical Readings:
    1. Translations: Either read this excerpt from Processing: A Programming Handbook for Visual Designers and Artists by Casey Reas and Ben Fry or watch the transformations tutorials by Shiffman here: video 1, video 2, and video 3. Note that these videos are done in P5js so there are slight syntax differences with Processing. Unfortunately Processing does not have angleMode() so you will need to use radians in your sketches. You can do this with math or use the radians(); function to convert degrees to radians. Note that in Processing the syntax for the function push() is pushMatrix(); and pop() is popMatrix()
    2. Angles and Trig: Read section 13.7 and 13.8 on page 210 from Learning Processing, doing the exercise (to brush up on your trig, see this video).
  2. Code exercises due next class:
  • Rotation: Use rotate to change the orientation of a shape. Then use translate and rotate to rotate it around its center. Add in pushMatrix() and popMatrix() and add a second shape that is rotating around its center. Make each shape rotate at different speeds.
  • Recoding Schotter (transformations): 

a) Using a nested for loop, write a program that displays a grid of rect()’s on the screen. Recall that you will need a for loop for the x direction to vary the x location of the rectangles, and another for loop inside it to vary they y locations of the rectangles. See this video on nested loops if you need help, but remember you will not be drawing lines like Shiffman is, but displaying rectangles instead.
b) Once you have this, can you introduce translations, translate() and rotate() into the loop so that for each loop of the for loop, the rect is rotated more and more.
c) Now use some of the code from these steps, to recode Schotter. Schotter is a classic computational artwork created by Georg Nees in 1965. Recode this work in Processing, paying attention to the details of the translations. You will need to use for loops. Zip your result and share with me on the Slack.

  • Traditional Clock:

    Having reviewed technical readings (3, part 1) and also taking some time to revise the unit circle demo as well as this post on the time functions. Code a traditional clock with a rotating second, minute and hour hand. Download this code to start you off. Start by changing the code so that the hand moves to reflect seconds. Then add in a separate minute hand, and a separate hour hand. Sketch in your notebook and read the comments, they will help you! Optional extension: Look up how to add text to your sketch. Can you print the time somewhere on your clock face as well? Zip your result and share with me on the Slack.