24
Feb 10

Nature of Code – Midterm Proposal

I’m going to create a springy video mirror where the pixel data from the camera warps and deforms to the shape of a spring mesh. Ultimately I would like the deformations to be triggered by a user standing in front of the camera, so that the movement of the springs seems to emanate from the movement on the screen.

I have included some video of an unfinished version I started building in openFrameworks last year, as well as an (updated) initial sketch of a draggable spring mesh (adapted from the toxiclibs example).

04
Feb 10

Thesis: Mood Boards | References & Influences | Mock Ups

This presentation pulls together some sources of inspiration and initial sketches for my thesis project, Sky Lights. Points of reference include Anthony McCall’s work, DIY light sculpture, modular lighting systems, open source hardware projects, and crowdsourced artwork. I’ve also included a few initial sketches of light sources and a mock up of skyline views from DUMBO.

28
Jan 10

Thesis Proposal

Working Title: Sky Lights

Tribute in Light - WTC Memorial

Tribute in Light - WTC Memorial

What is it?

Sky Lights is intended to be a public art installation, an open source hardware project and an online community. The hardware component will entail the design of a powerful light source using inexpensive, easily obtainable materials. I will design and build several of these light sculptures myself. The design plans and building instructions will then be hosted online for others to download and use to construct their own light sources. This site will also serve as a repository for interested users to modify existing designs, or upload their own original designs.

In addition to functioning as a hub for the exchange of lighting designs and construction techniques, the site will also serve to coordinate the display of the completed pieces. This display will take place on the same nights that the annual September 11th memorial Tribute in Light is installed at the World Trade Center site. Participants would display their creations on the roofs of buildings along the Brooklyn and Queens waterfront, creating a network of individual lights as a counterpoint to the monolithic projections across the river.

My long-term goal for this project would be to make it an annual event to commemorate September 11th. If the project demonstrated potential in 2010, I would aim to increase participation for the tenth anniversary in 2011. An ideal, though perhaps wildly ambitious goal, is to have one light for each of the 2,605 victims.

More…

13
Oct 09

ISCO – Exploded Comic

long02 long01
The exploded comic assignment required us to create an object “that unfolds over time, plays with scale, viewpoint, framing/shot, characters, rhythm and mood.”

I approached this assignment with a specific narrative in mind. It is a story about my grandfather and his own father and grandfather, told to me by my father. My grandfather, Sam Grizzard, grew up on a farm in rural southeastern Virginia. When he was about ten years old, his father took ill and passed away. The family held a small memorial service at the house the next day. That evening, Sam and his grandfather, who was still alive and healthy, dug a grave in the family cemetery. It began to rain and the sun began to go down. My grandfather, who was just a child, held a lantern while his grandfather dug the grave, lowered the casket into the ground, and filled in the hole.

The piles of dirt,which increase, and then diminish in size, lit by hanging flashlights, represent the digging and subsequent filling of the hole. Although this was intended to represent a linear process, it seems the largest pile (in the middle) signified the “culmination” of the piece to some viewers. In future iterations I will perhaps try to make the linear progression of the narrative more evident by placing the largest pile of dirt on one end and the smallest on the opposite end.

There was also some question as to whether the piece could really be said to operate in a narrative mode. My initial feeling was that each of the piles captured a discrete moment in the digging and filling of the hole, and the circles of light functioned – like panels in a comic – to frame the discrete events of the narrative. In hindsight, I can see that the lights might evoke a notion of seriality that is not necessarily sequentially ordered or telic in design. Here again, I think that placing the piles of dirt in order from largest to smallest might help endow the piece with more of a narrative arc.

I had initially thought that some of these narrative details might be filled in through the addition of audio that included the sounds of digging and a thunderstorm. However, during the critique, a strong consensus emerged that the audio was too obvious, and made the piece feel hokey or contrived.

In any case, the changing quantities of dirt function on several levels. There is the literal, narrative signification of the dirt removed from, and then put back into, the ground. But they also operate as a metaphor for the oral tradition. As stories are passed along from one generation to the next, details are omitted, reasons become obscured. Sometimes we add our own interpretation or exaggerate dramatic elements of the story. Over time, the story may transform into an unrecognizable myth or tall tale, or be forgotten entirely. I am interested in how this process functions, particularly within families, and in the role it has traditionally played in the American South.

med02 med01 cu03 cu01 cu02

24
Jun 09

Site redesign comps

These are the initial comps for the redesign of this site. I may need to fine-tune some colors, but overall I’m pretty happy with the general direction. I used a 16-column layout, which seems well-suited to the content of the Project Detail page. It should adapt well to the blog layout as well, where I’ll probably have something like 10/6 or 12/4, with the larger column-grouping devoted to posts and widgets living in the narrow column on the right.

portfolio_land1

Work landing page

portfolio_detail1

Work detail page

about

About page

19
Jun 09

Portfolio Redesign Wireframes

I’m getting ready to start redesigning my web site, particularly with attention to the portfolio section.

These are the wireframes for the landing page and the detail page.

15
Jun 09

Color Relationships

PANTONE 386 C recreated in RGB color mode. I think it should be slightly greener:

pantone_386c

Albers-style juxtapositions of colored squares. In this first one I varied brightness in steps of 20:

albers_brightness01

Brightness varied in steps of 40:

albers_brightness02

Saturation varied in steps of 20:

albers_sat01

And, finally, saturation varied in steps of 40:

albers_sat02

And, finally, here is my color palette composition. I started with the background color and varied only brightnesss and saturation, while maintaining a consistent hue:

pallette01

09
Jun 09

Logo Design

This is what I came up with for a logo. It’s meant to be my initials. I started with ‘pg’ in the font BDDiscount (by my all-time favorite font foundry, Buro Destruct) and tweaked them a bit. This isn’t exactly what I was hoping to end up with, but I just don’t have the illustration skills yet to design my original idea (silhouette of a chimp holding a hammer and screwdriver). Anyway, not bad for a first attempt, I guess…

assign05_3

assign05_5

03
Jun 09

Revised business cards

These are my revised business cards. Replaced the diagonal stripes with an undulating dot pattern that conveys texture but is a more legible ground for the text. I’m pretty happy with these, need to get some printed up soon.

Direction 03 revised - Front

Direction 03 revised - Front

Direction 03 - Back

Direction 03 revised - Back

01
Jun 09

Business card design exercise.

Direction 01:

Direction 01 - front

Direction 01 - front

Direction 01a - Back

Direction 01a - Back

Direction 01b - Back

Direction 01b - Back

Direction 02:

Direction 02 - Front

Direction 02 - Front

Direction 02a - Back

Direction 02a - Back

Direction 02b - Back

Direction 02b - Back

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