Overview

My project is done and we did a quick demo during the thesis opening. Preforming with the wearable was a humbling experience. Not only did I realize to have any impact my speaker needed to be much louder. I also proved that if i want to do any performance art in the future i need to prepare much more. I never had any interest for performance art but i now have a whole new respect for it, it's hard.

Performance aside, the class was a lot more rewarding than I had hoped for I now feel like I look at technology a new way and feel that it wouldn't just aid an artwork but could even be manipulated into that work. 

Buzzer with flex

Here is a video of the buzzer changing pitch with the flex sensor I was able to find the code and example online here are the links i used  http://fritzing.org/projects/piezo-flex-sensor-simple#c675

and  http://fritzing.org/media/fritzing-repo/projects/p/piezo-flex-sensor-simple/code/flexiePiezoPFollow.ino

I was able to change the pitch and will still work with it and see what else I can do.

Circuit 11

I did circuit 11 and got it working no problem using the example code, most of that i have no idea what it means. I was able to play around with how long certain notes would last and changed the tune a bit.

Nature and Techonolgy

    

      I feel many artists working with technology use nature in their works because the idea of a nature-based machine seems to be a very popular goal. What I mean by that is the idea of creating machines that can think for themselves has been an idea of artists for over 30 years, and I say 30 because that's when the movie Blade Runner came out and that's a perfect example of the idea.
       Artists today are finding ways to leave the controls of machines in the hands of other aspects of nature such as a fly. The machine cant think for itself but at the same time people aren't controlling it either.
      The relationship between nature and technology is based on the fact that they could be considered opposites, the ultimate man made (technology) and something man is still unable to create (Nature). Like in a color wheel opposites are considered complementary, by using the logic of color theory nature and technology being opposites means that they complement each other.
            Also there is a constant struggle between technology and nature as of now nature will eventually take over any technology with time. A simple example is a car sitting out for years and years, it rusts and begins to break down to what it was made from. Many artists are creating the opposite, by using technology to harness nature, even though it’s only temporary it could be a look into the future of technology.  

-Alex Schwalbe

Firewalker

       I like the simplicity of the idea and it still holds as a throwback type of work. At least to me it's throwback because it reminds me of the light up sneakers I used to wear when i was little.

http://learn.adafruit.com/firewalker-led-sneakers

-Alex Schwalbe

What I think

      
       To be honest so far I'm a little worried about this class. I can only find a few pieces so far that i feel are more then just crafts for kids.  Although some of the things i found are interesting and i feel there is a lot that can be done with a good understanding of how everything works.
      However despite some of the projects I'm finding online looking childish or more aimed at kids, I am excited to learn about this stuff. I want to learn as much as i can about the technical side of all this. I feel with the more understanding the sooner i may be able to apply this to different styles of artwork instead of the sculptors we've talked about already. I have always been a bit curios when it come to the inner workings of computers and things like that, I've just never really had a chance to work with them.
      Overall I'm excited to get working on some projects. yet I still am a bit skeptical about what kind of projects I'm going to be doing.

-Alex Schwalbe