Final Project Proposal

For my final project, I want to explore the idea of reflection and what we usually don’t see when we visualize the world, particularly I want to look into the world of pixels. I am inspired by the work of Nam June Paik because he applies the concept of cybernetics and loops. In the TV Buddha installation I admire the cybernetic connection between the buddha in front of the tv and their reflection. My concept will be focused on the relation between the participant in front of the webcam and objects they hold will be represented in forms of pixels which can follow their movement and form uniquely. When we take photos or zoom in on images really close, we could actually see that images are made of pixels. Pixels can create one image but we cannot see them when we look at things. Just like how our bodies are made out of cells and tissues, we do not see them with the naked eye or even view the human body as “pixelated” individuals. What I want to depict in my final project is to let users see the pixel world and the reflection of things they hold. This idea of cybernetics can be used in both technical and personal level because it not only raise the question of things we see but also how we see things in our daily lives. I also want to investigate on the changes of how webcam can display on screen depending on light and motion.

In terms of the software aspect for my final project, I will use openframeworks and use the webcam function to display user’s reflection. I will also make pixels that follows and forms the objects the user if holding or even turn the whole user into pixel form. In one screen I would like to experiment with multiple types of reflection and degrees of pixelation. I want to let users experience seeing themselves more than just their facial appearance or what the world see them as. Another thing I want users to feel when they interact with this webcam is that they see the changes happening and the differences between multiple frames all happening at once.

My artwork and the environment will interact in a site-specific installation context through the relationship between screen and activity. Everyone will experience different response and see how their activities will change the display on screen. Multiple frames in one screen will create a more dynamic experience because the display of motion will change depending on the gestures and lighting of the subject. Different frames will respond differently to the motion but all display at the same time which makes this cybernetic art more interesting since many things are happening at once and not only is there a reflection, but the system will determine what to display based on the agent.

Work Cited

http://www.medienkunstnetz.de/works/tv-buddha/

http://www.paikstudios.com/

http://openframeworks.cc/documentation/graphics/ofPixels/

Cybernetic Artwork from 1960s: Edward Ihnatowicz - Sound Activated Mobile (SAM)

SAM or the Sound Activated Mobile is one of the first cybernetic artwork from the 1960s. It was the first moving sculpture which moved directly and recognizably in response to what was going on around it. This artwork is created by Edward Ihnatowicz and was exhibited at the “Cybernetic Serendipity” exhibition in London in 1968 at the Institute of Contemporary Art and later moved the exhibition to Canada and US.

SAM is constructed with aluminum castings and had flower-like fiberglass reflector with an array of four small microphones mounted in the front. There are miniature hydraulic pistons inside the vertebrae which can make SAM move in relation to each other and the whole column could twist and lean forward and backward. There is an electronic circuit used as signals for the four microphones to determine the direction which any sound in the environment was coming from and two electro-hydraulic servo-valves moved the column in the direction of the sound. When people walked around SAM, there is movement and it fascinate observers. The sculpture also was sensitive to quiet but sustained noise, rather than shrieks. People would stand in front of SAM and try to produce the right level of sound to attract its attention and movement.

This artwork is a classic example of cybernetics because it follows the second wave of cybernetics which contains reflexivity: the relationship between system and its environment. Its behavior of system changes the environment as well and there is a feedback loop that’s happening between the art piece and the human interactions.

Work Cited

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Ihnatowicz

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8b52qpyV__g

http://www.senster.com/ihnatowicz/SAM/sam.htm

Cybernetics

Cybernetics is the study of self-regulatory systems of any kind. Cybernetics is formally defined as the science of control and communication in animals, men and machines. It basically extracts whatever to its concerned with information processing and control. In the past, "cybernetics" was applied to self-regulatory systems and by Norbert Wiener's description, cybernetics in terms of both society and machines. He used society as a description of how each person is regulating which created order within society. One major characteristic of Cybernetics is its preoccupation with the construction of models and here it overlaps operational research. Cybernetic models are usually distinguished by being hierarchical, adaptive and making permanent use of feedback loops. One could say that cybernetics is like science of organization. For example the human brain can be compared to cybernetics. There are characteristics of storage, feedback, etc. In any structure there are some sort of organizations and the cybernetics in it will function differently. The ideology of that cybernetic systems are relevant and has fluidity which allows adaptation through changing times is the core of cybernetics.  

Cybernetics has changed since the 1960's because of technology improvements. There is a great improvement in artificial intelligence. The aim of this is to show how artificially manufactured systems can demonstrate intelligent behavior. Cybernetics can also be applied cross-field such as in education, engineering and others. Francis Heylighen describes cybernetics as a "first-order" which that the given can be freely manipulated and observed. The interaction between observer and system is the main focus and evolves the definition of cybernetics. With artificial intelligence, systems are both self-regulatory and interactive and can be regulating itself independently.

The four most important attributes of cybernetic system are self-regulation, feedback, user-observer interaction, and control. In which self-regulation is the core of all systems. According to Wiener the ability to receive information and react accordingly is one of the fundamentals of cybernetic systems. Feedbacks are also an important characteristic because without feedback, it will only be a one-way command that does not perform interaction. User-observer interaction is to analyze the system. Machine system cybernetics is making the interaction between human and machine more creative and break away from the boundaries.

Works Cited

Heylighen, Francis. "Cybernetics and Second Order Cybernetics." Encyclopedia of Physical Science & Technology. New York: Academic, 2001. N. pag. Print.

Wiener, Norbert. Cybernetics; Or, Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine. New York: M.I.T., 1961. Print.