Architec Tradure

Category: project

  • 08NovCore sample

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    Material: wax and plaster

    I took the perspective of a child trying to understand the meaning of the term Core Sample, an intuitive translation from the French analogy. Core sample then means ‘le corps sampl’, i.e. dismembered body.
    An immediate reference to the dismembered body is a serial killer, the one that would be prompt to body sampling. Starting with an obsession for the neck, to a more tool-istic approach to body members: arms, legs, feet. I made a rock that symbolizes le plan de travail.

    I chose to dismember a Barbie doll that I created out of wax. The Barbie being for a while a representation of the woman for a child. I chose the white wax, the wax being a way a woman suffers regularly by trying to reach an ideal. The white is the symbole of purity thus the contrast between the canvas fabric & the plaster sculpted with chisel, and the angelic face of the doll made of white wax.

    This sculpture is a tool-kit box for understanding serial killing for children. The tools are also made of wax and represent legs, arms, hands, feet. A tool is normally very hard, here it is very fragile as a mean to represent the complete chimre, i.e. pipe dream, the serial killer is immersed in.

    More pictures on Flickr

    I made this sculpture for the sculpture class taught by Helen Mirra at Harvard University, VES.

    In doll and sculpture

  • 02AugAuto-Vision

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    p

    A still picture made out of the Texture of Light system

    Today at Siggraph I presented my second research poster session on ‘The Texture of Light’ which is research on lighting principles and the exploration of life feed video metamorphosis in the public space using reflection of light on transparent materials.

    My poster

    I chatted with Kenneth Brecher, professor of Astronomy and Physics, Director, Science and Mathematics Education Center at Boston University.

    He is the author of Project Lite that is about light inquiry through experiments. We discussed longely my Texture of Light project and we shared some exciting experiment results.

    He mentioned the work of Karl Gerstner «Auto-Vision» who experimented with plexiglas sheets and images coming from TV.

    Between 1962 and 1963, Gerstner made his first attempts at optically distorting television images with lenses made of Plexiglas. In 1964, he exhibited his results for the first time in an installation that used 12 television sets, each one shown wearing a different pair of so-called «glasses». ( Exhibition: «Crazy Berlin» at Haus am Lützowplatz, Berlin) Also from 1964 comes the oldest existing version of «Auto-Vision» for a single television set. A new housing for the black-and-white TV set closes at the front, with a square television, and can accommodate six differently formed Plexiglas lenses, with everything meticulously packed in a crate for its transport. In this form, the perfection of design and presentation makes Gerstner’s «Auto-Vision» function as the prototype for a possible serial production. (…) «The name identifies the difference from television. The aim is not to broadcast programs, but to create programs directly. For this we use daily television programs that are abstracted through a ‹pair of spectacles,› and alienated to the point of being non-representational,» is Gerstner’s comment on the process(1) These Perspex ‹spectacles› have something in common with Op Art. They can be swapped around, and each pair creates a different effect.

    By Media Art Net

    (1) Cited in Johannes Gfeller, «Frühes Video in der Schweiz,» in Georges-Bloch Jahrbuch des Kunstgeschichtlichen Seminars der Universität Zürich, 1997, pp. 224f. Gfeller provides a comprehensively researched account of Gerstner’s TV works.

    In Tangible Vision


  • 02AugAuto-Vision

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    p

    A still picture made out of the Texture of Light system

    Today at Siggraph I presented my second research poster session on ‘The Texture of Light’ which is research on lighting principles and the exploration of life feed video metamorphosis in the public space using reflection of light on transparent materials.

    My poster

    I chatted with Kenneth Brecher, professor of Astronomy and Physics, Director, Science and Mathematics Education Center at Boston University.

    He is the author of Project Lite that is about light inquiry through experiments. We discussed longely my Texture of Light project and we shared some exciting experiment results.

    He mentioned the work of Karl Gerstner «Auto-Vision» who experimented with plexiglas sheets and images coming from TV.

    Between 1962 and 1963, Gerstner made his first attempts at optically distorting television images with lenses made of Plexiglas. In 1964, he exhibited his results for the first time in an installation that used 12 television sets, each one shown wearing a different pair of so-called «glasses». ( Exhibition: «Crazy Berlin» at Haus am Lützowplatz, Berlin) Also from 1964 comes the oldest existing version of «Auto-Vision» for a single television set. A new housing for the black-and-white TV set closes at the front, with a square television, and can accommodate six differently formed Plexiglas lenses, with everything meticulously packed in a crate for its transport. In this form, the perfection of design and presentation makes Gerstner’s «Auto-Vision» function as the prototype for a possible serial production. (…) «The name identifies the difference from television. The aim is not to broadcast programs, but to create programs directly. For this we use daily television programs that are abstracted through a ‹pair of spectacles,› and alienated to the point of being non-representational,» is Gerstner’s comment on the process(1) These Perspex ‹spectacles› have something in common with Op Art. They can be swapped around, and each pair creates a different effect.

    By Media Art Net

    (1) Cited in Johannes Gfeller, «Frühes Video in der Schweiz,» in Georges-Bloch Jahrbuch des Kunstgeschichtlichen Seminars der Universität Zürich, 1997, pp. 224f. Gfeller provides a comprehensively researched account of Gerstner’s TV works.

    In Tangible Vision


  • 23JanThe Texture of Light

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    Description
    The Texture of Light is research on lighting principles and the exploration of life feed video metamorphosis in the public space using reflection of light on transparent materials. The Texture of Light is an attempt to fight the boredom of everyday life. By reconstructing reality, giving it a texture, an expressive form, this project deploys the simple use of chemistry, plexiglas, and plastic patterns. The transformation of life feed video comes from the physical plastic circles that act as different masks of reality. These masks can be moved around and swap by the public enabling collective expressions. This metamorphosis of the public space is presented in real time as a moving painting and is projected on city walls. The public can record video clips of their ‘moving painting’ and project them back on different city locations.

    Model

    The final model is composed of a set of lenses, an iSight video camera, a rotary knob and a computer. For the purpose of this project I have conceived and implemented a software piece that links the life feed video to a projection screen. This application is controlled by the rotary knob and by pressing more than two seconds the knob, the software records a video clip coming from the life feed video. By pressing on the knob, the software plays back the recorded clip and projects it onto the screen. By turning the knob, the software returns in life feed mode. The video clips are collected onto a server and can be accessed by other computers from different cities. This instantly creates a canvas of multiple transformed city video clips controlled and created by the dwellers in each city.

    Excerpts of life feed video metamorphosis Clic on the picture for a hi-res view

    Small-squares large lense


    Small-circles small lense


    Medium-hexagons large lense


    Large-stars small lense

    Future outlook for Texture of Light
    I envision this project on a larger scale such as building-size panels the public could mechanically control using remote devices. Each panels will be patterns and transparent material specific. For instance, two Plexiglas sheets could embed a water fall, or viscous transparent material the user could distribute along his/her selected point of views. The software will allow media distribution among cities so that the outcomes of the public performances could be exposed on the panels of other cities.

    This is my final project for the Smart Materials course taught by Michelle Addington. Some information about the research and tests involved in this project.

    More about the project
    . Paper about the project (12mb).
    . The Texture of Light on We Make Money Not art.
    . auto vision
    . Publication: The Texture of Light Vaucelle, C. In Art and Design Tools. Published in the Proceedings of SIGGRAPH’06, Boston, USA. Abstract from publisher: ACM Press.
    download pdf

  • 23JanThe Texture of Light

    If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed to receive the latest Architectradure’s articles in your reader or via email. Thanks for visiting!

    Description
    The Texture of Light is research on lighting principles and the exploration of life feed video metamorphosis in the public space using reflection of light on transparent materials. The Texture of Light is an attempt to fight the boredom of everyday life. By reconstructing reality, giving it a texture, an expressive form, this project deploys the simple use of chemistry, plexiglas, and plastic patterns. The transformation of life feed video comes from the physical plastic circles that act as different masks of reality. These masks can be moved around and swap by the public enabling collective expressions. This metamorphosis of the public space is presented in real time as a moving painting and is projected on city walls. The public can record video clips of their ‘moving painting’ and project them back on different city locations.

    Model

    The final model is composed of a set of lenses, an iSight video camera, a rotary knob and a computer. For the purpose of this project I have conceived and implemented a software piece that links the life feed video to a projection screen. This application is controlled by the rotary knob and by pressing more than two seconds the knob, the software records a video clip coming from the life feed video. By pressing on the knob, the software plays back the recorded clip and projects it onto the screen. By turning the knob, the software returns in life feed mode. The video clips are collected onto a server and can be accessed by other computers from different cities. This instantly creates a canvas of multiple transformed city video clips controlled and created by the dwellers in each city.

    Excerpts of life feed video metamorphosis Clic on the picture for a hi-res view

    Small-squares large lense


    Small-circles small lense


    Medium-hexagons large lense


    Large-stars small lense

    Future outlook for Texture of Light
    I envision this project on a larger scale such as building-size panels the public could mechanically control using remote devices. Each panels will be patterns and transparent material specific. For instance, two Plexiglas sheets could embed a water fall, or viscous transparent material the user could distribute along his/her selected point of views. The software will allow media distribution among cities so that the outcomes of the public performances could be exposed on the panels of other cities.

    This is my final project for the Smart Materials course taught by Michelle Addington. Some information about the research and tests involved in this project.

    More about the project
    . Paper about the project (12mb).
    . The Texture of Light on We Make Money Not art.
    . auto vision
    . Publication: The Texture of Light Vaucelle, C. In Art and Design Tools. Published in the Proceedings of SIGGRAPH’06, Boston, USA. Abstract from publisher: ACM Press.
    download pdf

  • 25JanResearch on Light as a Material

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    The Texture of Light is research on the lighting principles for life feed video metamorphosis in public space using the reflection of light on transparent materials.

    Material Background

    Research on light properties on transparent materials.
    The first property of light we consider is reflection from a surface, such as that of a mirror. When light is reflected off any surface, the angle of incidence is always equal to the angle of reflection. The angles are always measured with respect to the normal to the surface. This can give us a modification in the geometry of a represented image if the normal is twisted.

    I also researched on color transformation and color density of an image through transparent materials. Refraction is the bending of light as it passes between materials of different optical density. The formula of the index of Refraction of a material is the ratio of the speed of light in vacuum to the speed of light in that material: n = c/v where v is the speed of light in the material.
    The more dense the material, the slower the speed of light in that material. In Texture of Light a extra piece of transparent material on top of the Plexiglas lense makes the speed of light in that material slower, then less bright. That explains the opacity of the final colors. Also the change in speed and wavelength at the boundary between two materials causes light to change direction.I have looked at the diffraction phenomena to transform light passing through transparent materials. Diffraction is the apparent “bending” of light waves around obstacles in its path.

    Diffraction of waves through a slit.

    This bending is due to Huygen’s principle, which states that all points along a wave front act as if they were point sources. Thus, when a wave comes against a barrier with a small opening, all but one of the effective point sources are blocked, and the light coming through the opening behaves as a single point source, so that the light emerges in all directions, instead of just passing straight through the slit.

    Concept
    My original idea was to transform a picture by applying different transparent sheets between the captured image and the projected final image.


    Inspiring research

    Dr Saul Griffith who graduated from the MIT Media Lab has reconstructed magnifying lenses using liquid plastic.

    Movie presenting his implementation

    This work is used by the Low Cost Eyeglasses enterprise whose goal is to design eyeglass systems that make eyeglasses inexpensive and easy to purchase.
    Movie maker Patrick Bokanowski seems to have used water, oil, glass material on his movies experiments as seen in Au Bord du Lac (1993). I believe that cinema offers an interpretation, a point of view of reality. What if this point of view was due to light transformation? Bokanowski experimental cinema work has inspired me to analyze this type of imagery that presents a distortion of light and offers a possible reinterpretation of its meaning.


    Screenshot of Au Bord du Lac (1993) by Patrick Bokanowski.

    Experimentations with transparent materials
    To instantly transform light on life feed video into the public space, I had the choice of applying mathematical formulas onto the captured digital visuals or re-discovering the direct use of light. The tangible potential of direct use of light onto Plexiglas lenses and transparent materials offers two main options that are key in this project. One is the collaboration in the public space facilitated by tangible means. The other one is the improvisation and experimentation space offered by such tangible and mechanical system.I also had to decide if I wanted to work on still or moving visual captures. I have realized that transforming a still image is not as powerful as the moving image metamorphosis. One can easily recompose the still image by understanding its light distortions. However, by applying lighting principles on a moving image, the mental re-composition is difficult thus the re-interpretation of the unknown is very fascinating. The reality becomes a painting, a moving painting.
    A series of experiments with transparent materials allows me to analyze video metamorphosis. During these experiments, I have used water on clear plastic, shower gel, polyoptic 1410 clear plastic, crystal clear flex: clear flexible, material that melts on high temperature and dries quickly within average temperature.
    The following are screenshots of videos documenting a selection of material tests.

    A drop of water onto a clear rigid plastic sheet

    The video camera is still, the drop of water is moving

    Transparent shower gel onto a clear rigid plastic sheet

    The video camera is still, the rigid clear plastic sheet moves, the shower gel stays still

    Transparent shower gel onto a clear rigid plastic sheet

    The video camera moves with the rigid clear plastic sheet

    Polyoptic 1410 clear plastic onto a clear rigid plastic sheet

    The video camera moves with the rigid clear plastic sheet

    Results
    The shower gel has a life on its own: moves, changes texture & density over time. This particularity allows more irregularity in the transformed image thus the final transformed image resembles a painting. Also, the mapping between the original image and its final transformation is harder to perceive. This allows more attempts in interpreting the visuals.The material that melts on high temperature and dries under an average temperature can be sculpted easily and used as silicon. However as it dries, the density of the material is so high that it is difficult to see through.The clear plastic on the other hand is more difficult to sculpt and does not allow much improvisation after being fabricated. To allow more control over light transformation, I have decided to use clear plastic molds and Plexiglas lenses. I have used Crystal Clear & Clear Flex for the patterns and lenses. I used transparent Plexiglas for the structure of the lenses.

    Design of the lenses

    Laser cut Plexiglas lenses as clear plastic molds
    I have designed different lenses sizes, each with different pattern shapes and pattern sizes. In addition, I have used flat lenses on which I have created clear plastic patterns, e.g. drops of clear plastic, rows of lines.


    Regular patterns laser cut into transparent Plexiglas


    After many chemical attempts, final choice: Crystal Clear & Clear Flex


    Plexiglas lenses filled with Crystal Clear & Clear Flex mix (1A:2B)

    Lense with irregular patterns positioned at 2cm from the video camera
    This is the research conducted to create my final project: The Texture of Lightfor the Smart Materials course taught by Michelle Addington

    Paper about the project (12mb)

    More links

    Very interesting related research Gate Vision, found on we-make-money-not-art (blog that is part of the best european ones). The results of this project are kaleidoscopics and the mechanism is digital rather than mechanical.
    I particularly liked the circular metaphor of the visuals and reminded me of one of my favorite experimental movie Lapis by James Whitney (1966)an abstract art film composed of images produced by an analog computer.

  • 26AprCHI 2006 report

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    The spirit of CHI 2006, full of colors, nice people and nice food. This picture features Matt and I, and I must admit Leo has taken the best picture of all!

    So I am in Montreal for the CHI’06 conference. I present with Leo two of our collaborative projects Playpals and Taptap.I attended the Real World Design Solutions session and was impressed by the

    Experience Report on The Design of a Tangible Interaction Device to Alleviate Anxiety and Pain in Paediatric Burns Patients talk presented by Sam Bucolo from Queensland University of Technology Australasian CRC for Interaction.

    News from the CRC on this project

    One of the author presented a case study on the design of a tangible media device to alleviate anxiety and pain in pediatric burns patients. He worked with a multidisciplinary interaction design team throughout the research. He presented his encouraging results of an initial study of the device within a clinical trial.

    The initial design sketches from the paper

    The main questions on that work for me is to know how the mechanism work, if it is ‘distraction’ that patients experienced or if this is another mechanism. What if the graphics displayed on the screen were not aesthetically pleasing, would this aspect change the results of the study? The novelty of the device, its amazing graphics and scenarios maybe have impacted the results. ALso maybe the kinesthetic experience can impact the patient in a different manner than just ‘distraction’ that can be done by interacting with any kind of device.

    This is to me an interesting step in building devices for hospitals in the form of a psychological support to strong pain killers medicaments.


  • 19MayTouchcasting

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    We will present Touchcasting at the Sartorial Flux exhibit in Chicago september 7 – october 21 curated by Valerie Lamontagne (the author of the fabulous Peau d’ne techno-clothing).

    In exciting news


  • 06JunThe Texture of Light at Siggraph 2006

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    My research poster The Texture of Light has been accepted at Siggraph 2006. The reviews are very encouraging and I have been recommended to suggest it to a Emergency Technology session . It will be part of the Art and Design tools category.

    Abstract : The Texture of Light is research on lighting principles and the exploration of life feed video metamorphosis in the public space using reflection of light on transparent materials. The Texture of Light is an attempt to fight the boredom of everyday life. This project employs the simple use of chemistry, Plexiglas, and plastic patterns to form a reconstruction of reality, giving it a texture and expressive form. The transformation of life feed video comes from physical, plastic circles that act as different masks of reality. These masks can be moved around and swapped by the public, enabling collective expression. This metamorphosis of the public space is presented in real time as a moving painting and is projected on city walls. The public can record video clips of their ‘moving painting’ and project them back on different city locations.

    I plan to develop it on a larger scale such as building-size panels the public could mechanically control using remote devices. Each panel will be pattern and transparent material specific. Two Plexiglas sheets could embed a water-fall, or viscous transparent material the user could distribute along his/her selected point of view. The software will allow media distribution among cities so that the outcomes of the public performances could be exposed on the panels of other cities …

    More about the project by Regine Debatty.

    In tangible video in the public space


  • 06JunThe Texture of Light at Siggraph 2006

    If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed to receive the latest Architectradure’s articles in your reader or via email. Thanks for visiting!

    My research poster The Texture of Light has been accepted at Siggraph 2006. The reviews are very encouraging and I have been recommended to suggest it to a Emergency Technology session . It will be part of the Art and Design tools category.

    Abstract : The Texture of Light is research on lighting principles and the exploration of life feed video metamorphosis in the public space using reflection of light on transparent materials. The Texture of Light is an attempt to fight the boredom of everyday life. This project employs the simple use of chemistry, Plexiglas, and plastic patterns to form a reconstruction of reality, giving it a texture and expressive form. The transformation of life feed video comes from physical, plastic circles that act as different masks of reality. These masks can be moved around and swapped by the public, enabling collective expression. This metamorphosis of the public space is presented in real time as a moving painting and is projected on city walls. The public can record video clips of their ‘moving painting’ and project them back on different city locations.

    I plan to develop it on a larger scale such as building-size panels the public could mechanically control using remote devices. Each panel will be pattern and transparent material specific. Two Plexiglas sheets could embed a water-fall, or viscous transparent material the user could distribute along his/her selected point of view. The software will allow media distribution among cities so that the outcomes of the public performances could be exposed on the panels of other cities …

    More about the project by Regine Debatty.

    In tangible video in the public space