Creative + Technologist

I’m experimenting with different ways of curating/sharing interesting things that I see and thoughts that I have about tech art.

Try out some thoughts sent directly to your inbox? I write pretty entertaining e-mails (I like to think...) 

http://tinyletter.com/onattyso

I was planning a write-up about how I haven't seen anything interesting on the internet for a long time (which is something someone else had brought up to me independently, and thought I should address), but thankfully I saw MassiveMusic's mmorph. Interacting with music isn't new -- in fact, it's one of the most common things coders gravitate towards. But I'm a sucker for brands that are self-aware and embark on creative projects that reflect their personality. MassiveMusic composes/produces music. So fancy graphics aren't necessary -- what we should focus on in the experience is the music. Introduce us to synths. Show me you know what you're talking about. Bring me into your world.Establish dat sweet, sweet credibility.You don't need to do anything in 3D, WebGL, VR etc. to create something interesting enough to draw people in. Actually, it would probably benefit you more to stay simple, yet engaging enough for people to stay 'til the end. Which is what I did with mmorph. One bummer: Initially, it asks you whether you want to use your mouse or mobile...and when I visited the mobile site, it wasn't working. Sadface. Anyways, enjoy.

WELL HERE'S YOUR CHANCE. Actually that chance is over now. BUT THIS COULD HAVE BEEN YOUR CHANCE! For the drink brand Midori, Ogilvy made a speakeasy popup bar. If you walked by, a phone would ring, and if you say "Moshi Moshi Midori", a hidden door would appear. "HOLY SHIT." I KNOW. AND I DON'T EVEN DRINK.

It doesn't end there. There are three rooms. A gameshow host decked out in a glitch-tastic suit would make you compete against other guests to play games. You could also enter a green room to be part of their ads (i see what you did there...), followed by a MELON ROOM. A ROOM OF MELONS THAT ARE WORTH $200. EACH. EAAAACH! Smell dat monay. All topped off with a mixologist to give you drinks...and a cocktail made by AN IRON CHEF. It doesn't get more Japanese than this. Has your mind been blown 8 times? Mine has. This is ridiculous. And I love it. 150 showed up total, which isn't a lot...but the things I would do to be that japanese game show host....#careergoals

^ Future me.

Ok. Admittedly this isn't 'digital. I'm trying to branch out, okay? HYBRID TALENTS, as we call ourselves? I'm fully capable of sharing things that AREN'T DIGITAL. LEAVE ME ALONE. .... Tom Galle is a net artist who used to work at Party in New York. He paired up with @art404 to make....an installation, I guess? where you can literally Netflix and Chill. The right way. Champagne, projector, a view of NYC....yes -- now even "Netflix and Chill" has standards now. And naturally, you get to watch Her. Pretty hilarious way of banking on an internet meme. Reminds me a bit of the Seinfeld Apartment installation Hulu put on Melrose just a few weeks ago. But for $400 a night, I'll just Rent a Gent instead.   (JUST KIDDING. Two weeks before Valentines day, this makes me sound super lonely. I'M FINE GUYS I'M FINE.)

"Oh honey, I love you so much I named a star after you!" "Oh, really? You did, did you? Is it Groombridge? Or is it Capella? Because according to the ONLINE REGISTRY, THERE'S NO STAR CALLED NATALIE SUN" "YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO LOOK AT YOUR PHONE WE TALKED ABOUT THIS" ...I have a lot of conversations in my head. One Million Stars. Not 100,000 stars, the Chrome Experiment that came out last year. ONE. MEELLION. 

The Online Star Register created an interactive database to let you not only search for the names of stars, but explore them through the galaxy. And this experience is so interactive, you can almost feel the stars! (Just kidding. That's just your computer overheating.) Enjoy a little walk through the galaxy! ...Oh, and there is a star named after me. It's called THE SUN.

"Hey girl. I made you a song." "Omg did you really?! What's it about? What are the lyrics?" "...well, actually, it's kind of whatever Sampulator lets me say.....it's mostly a bunch of 'Aweyeah's and 'Yeauh's.......but like...the feelings totally there, you know? And there's even guitar!" "Oh wow, guitar is my FAVORITE! What chords do you use? Can I play it?" "....well...I actually don't know any chords....it uses Guitar 1 and Guitar 2. Are those chords?"".........." "THERE'S A COWBELL!" "....are you calling me a cow?" Use your keyboard to make music. I like the simplicity of this one -- the design is really straight forward, and it's really minimal.

The Land of the Magic Flute is a 'motion graphic novel'. I always figured that a motion graphic novel would just be an animation, but this proved me wrong. Love the way this reads and lets you flip through the experience on your own, giving you the time to really take in all the details of the animations. And only one programmer? Holy moly. You go, Marc Storch. Only thing? I accidentally exited the experience because I clicked "share" too early. Not sure why it does that, but just a heads up if you want to finish it.

"#BecauseRecollection, a music interactive experience through 10 years of music". 

Because Music is an indie record company celebrating 10 years. Hold the space bar to change artists. Each artist has a different interaction you do to start the music. #NerdTalk: The animations working in tandem with the sound-- everything's super smooth. Major props to the team who made it (84.Paris, for the producers who are curious.) It's been a good 15 experiences and I'm still not done...and somehow I'm still glued to the site. 

I especially love how each interaction is so simple, but leans into each of the artist’s unique album art to highlight their individual identities.

There's an interactive art school in Paris called Gobelins that churns out some of the best digital motion graphics artists. 

They did a 4 day workshop with sound and uploaded their crazy music experiences. They're students so some still seem like they're works-in-progress, but still really great. Nocturn is really beautiful. Adrien's is pretty cool. Kevin's is definitely one of the weirder ones I've seen...

Click on each of the notes to check out some of the experiments. May give you seizures. :| 

This City is a live audio-visual performance piece by Mark Wheeler (@markeats). The overhead view of a crowded nighttime highway is controlled by the soundtrack, and vice-versa. 

“I’m interested in what happens when working on visuals and music in parallel, adding features to the visuals software when the music demands it and writing the music as a soundtrack to moments that emerge from the code. The imagery is not an add-on, it’s part of the composition process.”

The visuals change with the soundtrack -- speed, lights and even gravity can be shifted, but my favorite touch of detail is that each car can have a different driving personality, mimicking that of a real freeway.

Never seeing nighttime driving the same again. 

https://vimeo.com/140019134 Tech Specs: openFrameworks Mark Eats Sequencer Ableton Live Midi Controller Delay Box OP-1 Sequencer by Teenage Engineering

A flipping robot

learned how to flip pancakes.

Not only does he know how, he learned how to do it from Wikihow.

Oh my lord the end is nigh.

Robohow is a 4-year project by German researchers at Willow Garage. Their aim was to build a robot that can learn how to cook on it’s own by drawing from resources online and understanding them like any other human.

The purpose of this is to allow people to interact with it like any other human, as well. 

“Robohow, pancakes for breakfast please.”

image from The Creators Project

“The Tetris Printer Algorithm exploits the mechanics of Tetris to generate arbitrary bitmap images.”

Basically, this algorithm constructs 8-bit images through the building of Tetris blocks.

...

because why not.

“codedoodl.es is a new platform for showcasing small creative coding experiments built with web technologies.”

- Neil Carpenter on Medium

Don’t you love the Christmas Experiments? Don’t you wish they weren’t just during Christmas? 

Code Doodles is a curated set of interactive pieces made completely out of code that randomly circulate on an open Chrome Tab. You can explore the various pieces contributed by different web artists to get an idea of what the web is capable of.

Your first thought might be “Codepen.io? Chrome Experiments?”. Kind of, but codedoodl.es focuses more on the purposeful curation of the particular pieces that are showcased.

Some of the doodles might look familiar to you. Current contributions include beautiful pieces by Neil Carpenter, Justin Windle, Silvio Paganini, etc. 

If you want to contribute, check out the GitHub repo. If you just want to explore, check out the site and download the Chrome Extension. 

Explore web art!

http://codedoodl.es/

"SELFIE TIMEEEE! Hashtag Best friends FOREVER!!!!!" "But Bethany, Instagram isn't forever. :(" "It's okay -- You know what's forever? FOREVER 21." The F21 Thread Screen is every teen's dream -- a massive machine that can dynamically builds physical images tagged with #f21threadscreen. Each spool is controlled by a motor, changing this 80 x 80 "physical pixel grid" (is the simplest way to describe it, I guess) to the appropriate colors. You want your selfie to be dynamic? No worries. It does basic animations, too. It's a pretty ridiculous feat of engineering. Hats off to Breakfast, who always do ridiculously amazing physical installations. Watch it live here

Self-plug!

I’m hosting a demo night for tech art in Playa Vista, CA. So, for all of you in SoCal, you’re more than welcome to join us.

Speakers:

Rachel Binx (Meshu, GifPop, NASA JPL) SubPac (audio-reactive vest) kyttenjanae  Kyle Phillips ( haptic-data ) Andrew Benson (pixlpa, Wolf and Unicorn)

Curated and hosted by yours truly. I’m stoked. It should be a fun night. 

RSVP here: http://nerdyat72.com

Why Time Flies is an scrollable experience that teaches you about the relativity of time in a lifespan through minimal motion graphics.

The animation is done really beautifully, and I love the small details (if you stay stagnant for a little bit, a tiny animation encourages you to keep scrolling)

Pretty simple, but I like the message behind it.

So remember that thing you were saying you’d do one day?

You’ll never be younger than you are right now.

Do it now.

http://www.maximiliankiener.com/digitalprojects/time/

Seen on ivanspiration The { } And is an interactive documentary about the way you experience love and relationships. Wait, let's re-read that. The { } And is an interactive documentary about the way YOU experience love and relationships. Before you experience the film, you're prompted with a few questions about what's important to you in life and love. Within seconds, the site will curate a 98 - 103 second film using footage of other couples confronting each other with similar questions. The premise is particularly interesting to me and is one of the rare cases (in my opinion) that "interactive" is used well -- it's not just "click here and something animates!", but the actual storyline is effected by you, for you. Everyone is different and has experienced different things, and the film is tailored to effect and appeal to you emotionally. So, when you think of digital or interactive, think about the way you're leveraging the medium to make something more personal, unique and emotive.    #marshallmcluhan

Don't worry, though -- you can go through the gallery and watch all of the questions/interviews in the end. http://www.theand.us/