Sensing the Landscape @sensingthelandscape - Tumblr Blog

an etch-a-sketch for a bird

Click here to view xyz-sketch.

With this project, I am observing surveillance, domestication, and freedom. When my friend told me she wanted to be able to let her pet parakeet fly freely-- that it is sad for birds to stay in cages all the time-- I started thinking of solutions for a bird tracker. The challenge in letting a bird fly freely is that it is very difficult to retrieve them afterwards because humans don’t have as much accessibility to vertical direction. Another aspect to realize is that humans have a digital accessibility to look down from a bird’s eye view onto maps to give us clearer pictures. I am exploring the push-pull relationships and allowances that occur between human and non-human (digital and organic) entities while I create an etch-a-sketch that will allow an entity with xyz accessibilities to create their own drawings. I was inspired by the design of Palmisano Park in Bridgeport, Chicago -- a park purposefully designed to give you inaccessible viewing of the entire park from one vantage point, until you get to the top of the central hill.

In this project, I was interested in creating a space where it gave away a hint of danger and disconnection but still craving company. The red light is used to emphasise this.

#farnaz #final #neon #light

reading response - The Trouble with Wilderness

The author explains the wilderness of a relatively traditional concept in his essay. And he presents a new perspective. He criticizes the standard that strictly divides the wilderness and human life. Through the historical context in which the wilderness has been recognized by humans, religious records and interpretations, he supports his claim.

I think his argument is very insightful and interesting. But I personally think that the interpretation of the wilderness in the traditional way can still be meaningful. I would especially like to talk about the position of human intervention in environmental issues.

He says that mankind loses legitimacy to intervene in nature conservation when nature and human civilization are divided. This is because human beings themselves can be harmful to nature. Since modern industrialization, mankind now has a highly civilized society. This is relatively recent. As the author said, the development of this advanced civilization has altered the meaning of the wilderness.

I do not think that the development of technology was destined. Technology has been developed purely based on needs and for human convenience. The development of technology can not be simply justified throughout the ecosystem because It causes various costs and side effects. Fortunately, using the benefits of civilization, humankind understands the side effects at the same time. Therefore, I think this will to separate and preserve nature from high civilization is a kind of expression of self - reflection on the development of human - centered civilization and technology. This is because humans can not commit suicide or destroy civilization on their own. If this distinction becomes ambiguous and justified, the remaining wilderness ends up becoming a target of development and exploitation.

Cybernetic venus flytrap

Cybernetic venus flytrap project

by having a characteristic of a particular animal, anglerfish, flytrap can be more active and spontaneous predator.

Each module that is mimicking anglerfish’s luring mechanism makes insects attracted to be around the plant, and it ends up increasing possibility that they could be eaten by the plant.

September 23rd 2016 - ?

Using materials from the site or mimicked materials, this platform translates vibrations from a construction site. Brick crumble is sewn inside a vinyl package. The sound that emits is taken from recordings of the site and manipulated into vibration. The platform is supported by bricks. Viewers are asked to take off their shoes and step on. With this piece I am looking at translation of feeling, preservation and decay.

#ash #finalproject

Oiseaux dans Montrose

by Olivier Messiaen

Landscapes evoke feelings, memories and emotions, and Art and Music often seek to reproduce these experiences to their audience. 20th century composer Olivier Messiaen transcribed bird songs for instruments and created soundscapes that combined these bird calls into a unique aural experience. Looking at Montrose Bird Point Sanctuary as my site, I began to explore the idea of recreating the experience at Montrose beach, as well as alluding to it’s purpose as a bird habitat. Thus, using pieces of Olivier Messiaen’s musical transcriptions of birds that can be found in Montrose, I created a system the produces live music compositions. A computer terminal placed in any location runs a Processing script that detects the mic input and uploads the data onto a web server. The arduino, in the gallery space uses a GSM connection to download the data and play the correlating Messiaen piece on the speaker, creating a musical soundscape of Montrose Beach.

#junyutan #sound #arduino

By way of walking along the shore of Montrose Beach, and tracing the lines of the sand with glowing gloves, light paintings were created through both performative interpretation and long exposure photography. The images created display data visualization, from graphs regarding water quality to topographical imagery.

#finalproject #angela