Samuel Walinsky

Presentation Link

Click Here!!

Project Reporting 3/11/22

Project Reporting 3/4/22

This week was massively productive, with major strides being made in terms of casting and moldmaking, and the virtual component has begun to come together. Collection of 360 photos was unable to be completed due to technical difficulties, so panoramic photos captured with my iphone have been substituted.

Project Reporting 2/25/22

This week was solidly more productive than its predecessor. I was able to receive some guidance from Professor Trace Reddell regarding the analog synthesizers that was immensely helpful in the production of sound for my project, so progress was made on that front.

Project Reporting 2/18/22

This week was full of setbacks and re-ideation with regards to how my project will be presented. After two long sessions in the sculpture studio, the mold of my arm had fallen apart on me twice due to alganate issues and I needed to acquire more materials before any progress could be made with regards to that component of my project.

For the audio component of my project I experimented with the MOOG Mother-32 analog synthesizer in parallel with the MOOG DFAM analog synthesizer to produce the sounds I intend to play during the opening display of my visual component in which the viewer is supposed to be fully immersed by the technology and disconnected from the “real world”. Starting up was incredibly difficult, and even with collaboration from a couple of my peers I was unable to record any sound originating from the synth. Other avenues were beginning to be considered.

When considering the visual technological aspect of the project, I was beginning to feel that an augmented reality Instagram filter utilizing 3D rendered objects overlaid onto my casted arm alongside produced audio was a solid starting point for my concept but not quite complex enough to be what I should present for the final presentation. A decision to utilize a large screen running a MAX MSP program to display a secondary documentation of the AR experience was made, and ideation for how that would be accomplished in an interesting way began.

Project Proposal

Samuel Walinsky

Capstone Proposal

Abstract

For my project I will be creating an audiovisual interactive experience that utilizes both physical and virtual three-dimensional objects as well as a user’s smartphone to create an experience that invokes a sense of connection to their fellow human or to the real world. A pedestal with a scannable object on it will open a display that, when interacted with, will add virtual elements such as rendered objects and sound to the space of the exhibit.

Project Description

The piece will be conceptually based upon creating a sense of connection to humanity or the outside world through an ironic lens, due to the cornerstone of the exhibit’s interaction and overall functionality being a use of technology: their smartphone. The smartphone connects humans to other humans and the outside world in today’s society like never before, with social media and digital monitoring of the real world being at its most advanced stage. At the same time, people’s engagement with each other in reality and with the world around them has never been more separate. The smartphone sits at the intersection of disconnection and connection with regards to humanity and reality, and it is with this ironic vessel of display I would like to create a piece that encourages a disconnection from technology and a reconnection to actual humans or the real world.

I am most heavily influenced by three main visual artists for different facets of the piece for both the visual representation as well as conceptual background. Artist Hsin-Chen Huang has explored themes of connection to familial heritage as well as connection to history through a technological lens through his pieces Bloodlines and Fragmented Words respectively.

My actual 3D objects will most heavily be influenced by Huang’s representations of the human body through technology with 2-part plastic resin casts of body parts being a large part of the piece’s composition. I will also draw inspiration from digital artist Android Jones most specifically his pieces Union and Electric Love

Both pieces illustrate a desire for human connection with a noticeable disconnect occurring between the characters. I believe it is the technological basis of both the art’s final form and visual elements themselves juxtaposed against this want for human connection in the conceptual material of the artwork that gives each piece such emotional provocation, and that is what I would like to recreate in the experience of this piece.

Michael Hansmeyer’s piece Digital Grotesque I is where I draw a lot of inspiration for the space in which the piece itself will take up most. The massive 3D printed exhibit isn’t something I can replicate, but its captivating nature is something I will hopefully be able to recreate.

 Tech Summary

I will be using a combination of software including MaxMSP, SparkAr, Blender and possibly Artivive to create the digital display and user interaction within the piece. The actual visual elements will be casted in 2-part plastic resin using algae-form to cast my body parts for the abstract elements as well as the pedestal that the scannable object will sit upon. I have experience in Max as well as in the casting process, so I foresee the biggest difficulties in the actualization of combining all of the digital software elements to work in tandem with each other.

Intended Outcomes and Audience

The piece will be composed of a pedestal, some three-dimensional objects that are cast in plastic resin, and a digitally rendered scene that is viewed through a smartphone. The objects are represented in the rendering below on the outside walls of the exhibit space, with the rendered objects being represented by the ring-shaped objects in the center. The animation motion is displayed with the objects abstractly represented, as their final form is uncertain at this time.

The exhibit itself will be displayed (hopefully) at the close of the Capstone program and does not really have a certain afterlife as a part of a larger series.

1/14/22 First Ideation Session Reflection

My first ideation session for my Capstone project truly set my mind racing as to what I would want to accomplish, and ultimately state, through this presentation of my body of works. There certainly exist a multitude of issues that require attention in this day and age, and I was eager to nail down what exactly I wanted to address through the presentation of my capstone. Through the participation in the breakout rooms of the zoom session, I found it helpful to bounce the nebulous concept of what I wanted to actually create physically off of my peers.

The first ideation breakout room I participated in was the “Interactivity” room. One of the main points of discussion was what conceptually defined interactivity with relation to each person’s project, with other topics such as how interactivity was accomplished and why it was powerful in terms of content expression. For my project specifically, the importance of QR code utilization was highlighted to encourage interaction from the audience with my work.

Coming away from the ideation sessions I was able to further my exploration as to what I would physically produce in my final iterations. I explored ideas surrounding a physical arm and syringe with a possible virtual material being mapped onto it afterwards to dissociate the physicality of the objects involved through sketches in my notebook.