Interactivos?09 = Rainbows : OPENING TONIGHT
The openning of the show is tonight! Its been crazy the last couple days! Could not post updates here. I'll do so asap. I have been taking photos.
Interactivos?09 = Rainbows Progress = April 24
Hi, we're mega busy, even almost no time for updates!
We are taking photos though so I'll post later on.
But here are a few photos from today. We have shape! Great shape! and the wood looks so nice, suddenly the crazy prototype actually looks really clean and minimal. Maybe we'll oil or gloss it up!
I build the sides for the box but had less than good luck with the water spraying... the drops become too big as the fall away from the nozzle. We have to try to find a better tip tomorrow. I'm also trying to line up the optics and see how everything can fit into the box.
Dan create the circuit today, he tackled the arduino for his first time and now he's soldering a really nice shield for it with the permanent circuit.ug... sorry, this update is kind of short and choppy... I'm tired and we're so busy! One important thing to say though is that Frank, as always is saving our asses about every 5 minutes. I'm baffled at how someone can know some many technologies.
Interactivos?09 = Rainbows Progress = April 22 - rading about angles
Making some tests today with the prism and light angling.
Interactivos?09 = Rainbows Progress = April 21
I am now reading about prisms and light.
The pump is now connected under the shelf, its hanging and turns really nicely and does not jerk the unit around. Users can turn the crank quite fast and inside things remain stable. With heavy things such as the battery in the bottom, we should ahve no stability problem even when the unit is on wheels. We'll have to make one side a door so that its easy to reach the bottle to remove it and fill it up.
Water pipe coming up through the shelf into the top rainbow environment.
The physical functions.
1st arduino games, making the relay work.
The pump is now connected under the shelf, its hanging and turns really nicely and does not jerk the unit around. Users can turn the crank quite fast and inside things remain stable. With heavy things such as the battery in the bottom, we should ahve no stability problem even when the unit is on wheels. We'll have to make one side a door so that its easy to reach the bottle to remove it and fill it up.
Water pipe coming up through the shelf into the top rainbow environment.
The physical functions.
1st arduino games, making the relay work.
Interactivos?09 = Rainbows Progress = April 20
Today, back in the studio, we first made presentations about each of the projects' progress.
I recevied some feedback from Stuart Nolan suggesting that we might consider giving something back to the users, maybe by placing a file back on their USB device after we erase their photo files, some kind of receipt or visualization for the images that have been disposed of. Or maybe a 'certificate of safe image disposal".
Regarding the audio, AGF created a few sound clips, some more electronic noises and some using words. The groups comments were to suggest that we keep away from recognizable words since they would be uni-lingual. But maybe it can be nice to use voice to create more abstract sounds that still reference an intimate conversation between the user and the unit.
I just had a nice conversation with Manuel a cultural journalist from the national TV. He said he liked the idea of having a place to dump photos, not only to feel like he was putting a quantity of photos away in a safe manner but also because it is an opportunity to release very meaningful images that he did not know how to release without some kind of ceremonial closure. He said maybe this rainbow machine could be the right way to finally let go of all his photos of his ex-girlfriend. I haven't thought about the memory value of the images for a long time. This was one of the beginning inspirations for the NJP (New Japanese Paparazzi) and also the Rainbows project but lately I have just been thinking about concerns for digital data piling up in some kind of threatening virtual garbage dump. I am so grateful to be reminded of this more poetic and emotional aspect of the project.
Today Daniel and I planned out the week and he started to clean the crank and mount in onto the frame. I went out for another intense supply finding session and came back with the GOLD!
I found this prism in the very back of some huge open air medical market that sells microscopes, lab glass and the kind of surgical tools that you could steal someone's kidney with. I somehow managed to explain myself and speak some decent spanish and everyone I spoke to was really helpful. It is really hard to photograph a prism! I was trying to get a nice image and the camera kept going out of focus!
got some locking wheels. We're mobile now!
Now the crank is clean, users will not get their hands greasy. Dan also mounted a handle onto the crank to make easier turning and cut the metal bars shorter so that we can bolt everything onto the unit.
Jimmy and Dan varnished the unit. We have to make sure everything is properly water proofed because we're using water and also because its extremely humid in Lima and all the wood could warp.
I found these great hose connectors that branch from large to very small tubing. The man that sold them to me was the one that directed me to the dark place where I found the prism.
So I used the nice connectors to create an in-line electronic valve that will open and close the waterflow. It will be triggered through the Arduino to make the mini-rainfall. Frank said we'll have to be careful with this valve because it draws a lot of current and it will suck all the juice out of our battery.... does this mean very short rainbows?
About the battery... I hope that we can make the project entirely battery powered. In this instance, this means that someone(a gallery attendant) will have the charge the battery, maybe daily. I really want the unit to be stand alone, ie, no power cables coming from it. Someone this is more magical... but we will see... because if it has to be change electrically every night, then its a bit silly to have a battery. Eventually the project will be solar powered and show be a 100% closed system, regarding the power. I am also looking into dynamo power. Since users will turn the crank, we could include a dynamo and generate some power that way.
One other think regarding release is that using this manual pump, in which the pressure is held int he same bottle as the water (the only bottle) we cannot put the water back into the bottle. There is no intake opening. We will plant grass inside the unit, under the rain, but depending on how many people visit the project and make rainbows, we will maybe need a spout to release the water. Maybe it will just be a spout that pours out onto the ground or into a bucket... I'm not sure yet. And this also means that a gallery attendant will have to fill the bottle sometimes and maybe pump up the pressure on occasion as this is also dependent on the number of users and photos imputted.
I think we have nearly all the supplies now and we have a lot of aspects to deal with but we're advancing well. Steve Helsing is coming to Lima in a couple days to collaborate and Maxime Damecour is arriving on the 25th.
I recevied some feedback from Stuart Nolan suggesting that we might consider giving something back to the users, maybe by placing a file back on their USB device after we erase their photo files, some kind of receipt or visualization for the images that have been disposed of. Or maybe a 'certificate of safe image disposal".
Regarding the audio, AGF created a few sound clips, some more electronic noises and some using words. The groups comments were to suggest that we keep away from recognizable words since they would be uni-lingual. But maybe it can be nice to use voice to create more abstract sounds that still reference an intimate conversation between the user and the unit.
I just had a nice conversation with Manuel a cultural journalist from the national TV. He said he liked the idea of having a place to dump photos, not only to feel like he was putting a quantity of photos away in a safe manner but also because it is an opportunity to release very meaningful images that he did not know how to release without some kind of ceremonial closure. He said maybe this rainbow machine could be the right way to finally let go of all his photos of his ex-girlfriend. I haven't thought about the memory value of the images for a long time. This was one of the beginning inspirations for the NJP (New Japanese Paparazzi) and also the Rainbows project but lately I have just been thinking about concerns for digital data piling up in some kind of threatening virtual garbage dump. I am so grateful to be reminded of this more poetic and emotional aspect of the project.
Today Daniel and I planned out the week and he started to clean the crank and mount in onto the frame. I went out for another intense supply finding session and came back with the GOLD!
I found this prism in the very back of some huge open air medical market that sells microscopes, lab glass and the kind of surgical tools that you could steal someone's kidney with. I somehow managed to explain myself and speak some decent spanish and everyone I spoke to was really helpful. It is really hard to photograph a prism! I was trying to get a nice image and the camera kept going out of focus!
got some locking wheels. We're mobile now!
Now the crank is clean, users will not get their hands greasy. Dan also mounted a handle onto the crank to make easier turning and cut the metal bars shorter so that we can bolt everything onto the unit.
Jimmy and Dan varnished the unit. We have to make sure everything is properly water proofed because we're using water and also because its extremely humid in Lima and all the wood could warp.
I found these great hose connectors that branch from large to very small tubing. The man that sold them to me was the one that directed me to the dark place where I found the prism.
So I used the nice connectors to create an in-line electronic valve that will open and close the waterflow. It will be triggered through the Arduino to make the mini-rainfall. Frank said we'll have to be careful with this valve because it draws a lot of current and it will suck all the juice out of our battery.... does this mean very short rainbows?
About the battery... I hope that we can make the project entirely battery powered. In this instance, this means that someone(a gallery attendant) will have the charge the battery, maybe daily. I really want the unit to be stand alone, ie, no power cables coming from it. Someone this is more magical... but we will see... because if it has to be change electrically every night, then its a bit silly to have a battery. Eventually the project will be solar powered and show be a 100% closed system, regarding the power. I am also looking into dynamo power. Since users will turn the crank, we could include a dynamo and generate some power that way.
One other think regarding release is that using this manual pump, in which the pressure is held int he same bottle as the water (the only bottle) we cannot put the water back into the bottle. There is no intake opening. We will plant grass inside the unit, under the rain, but depending on how many people visit the project and make rainbows, we will maybe need a spout to release the water. Maybe it will just be a spout that pours out onto the ground or into a bucket... I'm not sure yet. And this also means that a gallery attendant will have to fill the bottle sometimes and maybe pump up the pressure on occasion as this is also dependent on the number of users and photos imputted.
I think we have nearly all the supplies now and we have a lot of aspects to deal with but we're advancing well. Steve Helsing is coming to Lima in a couple days to collaborate and Maxime Damecour is arriving on the 25th.
Interactivos?09 = field trip! = April 19
We took a day off and went all together on a field trip to the Pachacamac ruins 40 minutes away from Lima and then we went to the beach!
along the route
Some political advertising along the route.
Perro Peruano! Ancient hairless dog at Pachacamac. This one is albino.
Offrenda at Pachacamac.
A guard alone on the hill at Pachacamac.
Monica is always running around super fast taking care of all of us. I am so glad that I am, for once, not the organizer!
Gaston and me at the beach after super tasty lunch.
Dead penguin on the beach.
Small girl at the beach.
An Inca calculator system. At Pachacamac.
Nice clean water! :P Playa de la Silencia.
We were all in a good mood at the beach after eating awesome seafood. Its nice to get away from the computers sometimes.
Some of the group cooling their feet after a football match. Latino americanos VS el resto del mundo!
An offrenda made by our friend to the Sun God at the Pachacamac temple. We visited these ruins together. Lots of bricks in the desert!
The road on the way from Lima to Pachacamac.
along the route
Some political advertising along the route.
Perro Peruano! Ancient hairless dog at Pachacamac. This one is albino.
Offrenda at Pachacamac.
A guard alone on the hill at Pachacamac.
Monica is always running around super fast taking care of all of us. I am so glad that I am, for once, not the organizer!
Gaston and me at the beach after super tasty lunch.
Dead penguin on the beach.
Small girl at the beach.
An Inca calculator system. At Pachacamac.
Nice clean water! :P Playa de la Silencia.
We were all in a good mood at the beach after eating awesome seafood. Its nice to get away from the computers sometimes.
Some of the group cooling their feet after a football match. Latino americanos VS el resto del mundo!
An offrenda made by our friend to the Sun God at the Pachacamac temple. We visited these ruins together. Lots of bricks in the desert!
The road on the way from Lima to Pachacamac.
Interactivos?09 = Rainbows - a job
gotta make a prism since we have not found one here yet...
Optical Water Prism - More DIY How To Projects
"Water prisms have long been known as an apparatus for refracting light waves propaged through such a prism. Water prisms themselves at least go back to the time of Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749-1832) who used water prisms to study the spectural effects on light passing through the refracting surfaces of the prism. It was early discovered that a water prism was less expensive to construct because it did not involve the forming of a primodic shape from a solid material having optical qualities but rather only required flat glass surfaces forming a triangularly shaped closed container which could be filled with a liquid medium such as water to provide the body of the prism. Typically in such water prisms, a means was provided for filling and emptying the prism." [from http://www.freepatentsonline.com/4953956.html]
morning thoughts : Lima apr19
I was talking to AGF this morning and she is working on some sounds today.
Today we are going to Pachacamac, the oldest city in Peru, its a day off so we're not going to be in the lab.
Here is the process sequence (as if now)...
P=python code,computer functions
SOUND=sound :)
SOUNDS 1 + 4 have defined length ( very short, 2-6 seconds)
SOUNDS 3 has defined length, same as rainbow ( 15-20 seconds)
SOUND 2 should be variable length, maybe more of a rythmmic or looping thing
M - indicator on beside USB slot
U - user plugs in usb
SOUND 1 ON - indicates start of process
M - indicator off beside USB slot
M - indicator on beside CRANK
P - USB mounted
P - amount of data read (CRITERIA 1)
P - time of necessary cranking decided (ie. 1 crank for 10kb)
SOUND 1 OFF - indicates start of process
SOUND 2 ON - plays during cranking process (maybe rhythmic?)
P - colour data collected for each image (100 points) (CRITERIA 2)
P - colours 'collected' in 7 rainbow colour 'bins' (with safety algorithm)
U - user turns CRANK (must turn at least the minimum times defined by the (CRITERIA 1) data
SOUND 2 OFF - finishes when the user has turned the decided minimum times
U - if (CRITERIA 1) cranking minimum is met then a visualization of (CRITERIA 2) is shown
M - 7 tubes with water buildup depending on the colour (to be defined)
P - if the colours collected for (CRITERIA 2) come into range of each other (CRITERIA 3), then a rainbow is triggered
SOUND 3 ON - indicates end of process and start of RAINBOW (only if all the criteria is met)
P - if (CRITERIA 3) is not met, (CRITERIA 2) is stored, waiting for another user
SOUND 4 ON - indicates end of process (plays at end of process if there will be no rainbow and after the rainbow happens)
U - user removes in usb and can leave
Today we are going to Pachacamac, the oldest city in Peru, its a day off so we're not going to be in the lab.
Here is the process sequence (as if now)...
P=python code,computer functions
SOUND=sound :)
SOUNDS 1 + 4 have defined length ( very short, 2-6 seconds)
SOUNDS 3 has defined length, same as rainbow ( 15-20 seconds)
SOUND 2 should be variable length, maybe more of a rythmmic or looping thing
M - indicator on beside USB slot
U - user plugs in usb
SOUND 1 ON - indicates start of process
M - indicator off beside USB slot
M - indicator on beside CRANK
P - USB mounted
P - amount of data read (CRITERIA 1)
P - time of necessary cranking decided (ie. 1 crank for 10kb)
SOUND 1 OFF - indicates start of process
SOUND 2 ON - plays during cranking process (maybe rhythmic?)
P - colour data collected for each image (100 points) (CRITERIA 2)
P - colours 'collected' in 7 rainbow colour 'bins' (with safety algorithm)
U - user turns CRANK (must turn at least the minimum times defined by the (CRITERIA 1) data
SOUND 2 OFF - finishes when the user has turned the decided minimum times
U - if (CRITERIA 1) cranking minimum is met then a visualization of (CRITERIA 2) is shown
M - 7 tubes with water buildup depending on the colour (to be defined)
P - if the colours collected for (CRITERIA 2) come into range of each other (CRITERIA 3), then a rainbow is triggered
SOUND 3 ON - indicates end of process and start of RAINBOW (only if all the criteria is met)
P - if (CRITERIA 3) is not met, (CRITERIA 2) is stored, waiting for another user
SOUND 4 ON - indicates end of process (plays at end of process if there will be no rainbow and after the rainbow happens)
U - user removes in usb and can leave
morning thoughts : Lima apr18
Yesterday I cooked the first meal in the new kitchen on the roof at Escuelab. Rice with a sauce of tomato, onion, garlic and a bit of tuna. mmmm... :) I am trying to find someone to talk me to a reggaeton club, most people won't go in that part of the city tho. The people in the lab here are so awesome and the people from Media Lab Prado are also really great. I feel as if there are kind of 2 kinds of people here. Those who look more 'european' and those who look more like the old culture here, most look like the older. It seems if you look european, maybe you can get a much better job or be a model but in the street you're a bit like a gringo and cannot really navigate the city freely or comfortably. It seems like everything is really coded, although people are generally nice, you can't step out of your predefined role or really become integrated in a community or part of the city where you are not originally from, no cultural flexibility. Its sooooo dusty. It never rains and if you look at the city from above, it just looks like a dirt shelf, nice post-apocalyptic images. In some ways I like citites like this. I feel more secure when i can see natural processes around me, whether they be development or decay. It makes me believe that what I see is more real.
I have 1gb of ram in the EEE, I could add more ram...I'll check. but to change the kernel... do I need to replace the OS? Now is not the time to do that... Edson is doing everything in Python and its coming along well. I am confident that the project is gonna be good, its going great, people are super supportive and smart, we're doing good things with it. Also the Media Lab Prado will arrange to ship the whole contained unit back to Europe for me, so I can take the time now to build something really working and won't have to re-source all the parts again. In this process of building it really fast I feel very much inspired by Andre's Goncalves' work since we're just using the materials that we find around here and are immediately at hand, such as the crank from the building's old elevator or the top of a paint can. Of course we're also taking in to consideration all the parts to make sure they make conceptual sense to the project, but a lot of serendipity is happening, the right materials are just falling into out hands so mostly we're just freely building. We'll make the frame of the structure today so we can get everything happening upright. and this morning I have an Arduino workshop. One of the workshop leaders, Frank is helping me alot. He builds tech art projects for a living and he knows freekin everything, from water systems to crazy electronics components. He's funny too, I think he could just tell me all the tech answers right away, but he tries to let me figure out things for myself. We'll do tinynoise on the 23rd including Katya and Jaime, Pierre, Rolando, Omar and some other artists from here.
This is the dome inside the hotel Bolivar, the birthpace of the Pisco Sour!
Interactivos?09 = Rainbows Progress = April 17
Today was really productive, for greasy, and magical reasons.
We found some parts from the old elevator of the Escuelab building. Its 2 wheels, offset and moving at different speeds and it is placed perfectly so that the user can crank the outer wheel quickly and the inner wheel will raise and lower the piston of the water pump in a controlled way. This is an amazing, solid and instant (well except for having to clean off the grease) solution to our problem of creating a lot of water pressure. Now we will be able to move along with the optics.
Dan cutting out the wheels.
The rest of the old elevator curcuit.
The salvaged wheels.
The new configuration: crank wheel = piston power.
a diagram to determine the size of the unit. We will get some materials and build the frame tomorrow.
Next step.. light refraction.. if anyone knows where to get a triangular prism like this in Montreal, please speak up ASAP, because Maxime Damencourt is coming here soon and he could bring it. We're having trouble finding a prism here.
Interactivos?09 = Rainbows Progress = April 16
I spent a lot of time today running around to get supplies. I was kind of tiring, but as soon as I returned with them, we were immediately able to make major progress.
The most important thing has been the manual pump water pulverisor... Its the best way so far to create a lot of pressure and now we're looking for the way to get this pressure by making the user pump it. We will abandon the electric pumps, they just don't give enough pressure. And we like the idea of having the users manually take part in the process, this way they feel the actual process, it's made directly physical, not just visualised in a removed way and also they will have something to keep them busy while the computer is processing.
Plus it,s just plain funny to do such a physical action in order to crank/squeeze your data out of your usb memory.
Dan made some tests with RGB light gels(transparencies), mirrors and various lights and actually made some little rainbows.
saviour!
This little grass sprinkler saves the day with this tiny red tip. The jet of water sprays straight onto the red surface and then the little 1mm shelf above it directs the water downwards and out tot he sides... creating a great little wall of water.
We will continue with this design principle to make a curtain of water, miniature rain.
This steam train mechanism has provided some ideas for the pumping mechanics. We need to convert from crank to piston movement.
Collaborators Daniel Foster-Smith and Frank the genius from Lima outside on the terrace of Escuelab. Currently the water lab.
Edson's notes about the algorithm for calculating the colour data from each image.
The most important thing has been the manual pump water pulverisor... Its the best way so far to create a lot of pressure and now we're looking for the way to get this pressure by making the user pump it. We will abandon the electric pumps, they just don't give enough pressure. And we like the idea of having the users manually take part in the process, this way they feel the actual process, it's made directly physical, not just visualised in a removed way and also they will have something to keep them busy while the computer is processing.
Plus it,s just plain funny to do such a physical action in order to crank/squeeze your data out of your usb memory.
Dan made some tests with RGB light gels(transparencies), mirrors and various lights and actually made some little rainbows.
saviour!
This little grass sprinkler saves the day with this tiny red tip. The jet of water sprays straight onto the red surface and then the little 1mm shelf above it directs the water downwards and out tot he sides... creating a great little wall of water.
We will continue with this design principle to make a curtain of water, miniature rain.
Collaborators Daniel Foster-Smith and Frank the genius from Lima outside on the terrace of Escuelab. Currently the water lab.
Edson's notes about the algorithm for calculating the colour data from each image.
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