ART 3712 SCULPTURE: Machine Sculpture/New Media
Anthony Castronovo, Professor
The University of Florida
Fall Semester 2008

Meeting Times: T R 5-7 (11:45-2:45 PM)
Office: B-3 FAC
Telephone: 392-0201 ext.?
e-mail: castronovo@ufl.edu
Office Hours: T R 11-11:30 AM or by appointment

YOU MUST BRING LAPTOP COMPUTERS TO CLASS FOR THE DURATION OF THIS PROJECT AND THE REST OF THE SEMESTER. IF YOU DO NOT HAVE ONE YOU MUST FIND SOMEONE TO WORK WITH WHO DOES. I WILL BE DISTRIBUTING THE ARDUINO KITS, PLEASE HAVE ALL OTHER TOOLs WITH YOU. MULTIMETER< SOLDERING IRON< SOLDER<wire strippers......

SOUND: listen, the audio project

SOUND AS A MEDIUM
PHYSICAL MANIFESTATIONS OF SOUND
SOUND AS TEXTURE
SOUND AS DEFINING PERCEPTION/REALITY

SOUND WAVES AND.....



Sound has been used artistically for millennia, initially in the days of early homo sapiens these sounds were made vocally as primitive communication, signals, and warnings. Throughout the ages humans have refined and re-defined our relationship to sound through various media, but perhaps most commonly through music. If we think back to the first symphonies, what a rich experience it must have been to take in a live orchestral performance. The classic composers Beethoven, Bach, Mozart... were masters of this medium and were cutting edge artists crafting sound to envelop the audience, to transcend physical space and guide the audience on a mental journey.Today artists continue to explore sound in many different ways.

How is sound made? Sound waves are physical manifestations of a pressure differential that moves through space and is received or interpreted by the animal ear. Sound waves are not electromagnetic like radio waves or waves in the visible spectrum. In the human ear sound is transferred/communicated to the brain first to the ear drum, and then into the inner ear. The inner ear is a fluid filled chamber with thousands of tiny hairs that act like switches moving at various frequencies depending on the frequency of the sound wave. These hairs vibrate back and forth and create an electrochemical signal that is interpreted by our brains and creates a sound in our mind. Check out these links and learn more about our perception of sound:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ear
http://www.glenbrook.k12.il.us/GBSSCI/PHYS/Class/sound/u11l2d.html

Modern technology has much in common with the sensory systems that have evolved naturally in the human body. As the ear illustrates, sound is a physical input that is interpreted and encoded into electrochemical signals which are interpreted by the brain. The human body is like a very complex network of organic computers. These systems define our perception and interpretation of the world around us. The present day is a very exciting time and we are witnessing the development and evolution of man and machine, sometimes called convergence.
Researchers have successfully tapped into the human nerve system and can both read and write information to/from the brain. For example, we now have a tiny, embeddable, mechanical
ear that has a series of sharp electrodes that can be inserted into the auditory nerve. This mechanism can replace the function of a human ear, and can give sound to someone who has never been able to hear. Similarly, researchers have been able to use electrodes in an interface with the brain, allowing thoughts to manifest in other ways, as in the case of a quadriplegic being able to drive an electric wheelchair by thinking.

In this project you must accomplish several tasks:

• Investigate the properties of sound through an experimental process.

• On the basis of your experiments, design a sound based art work

• Address aesthetics. Open circuitry is the norm, how is your work unique?

• Explain your use of sound in the project.





SOME ARTISTS TO LOOK AT
Janet Cardiff, Laurie Anderson, John Cage, Robert Morris, Tim Hawkinson, Yoko Ono, Bruce Nauman, Mark Hansen and Ben Rubin, Joseph Beuys, Nam Jun Paik, Pamela Z, Benoît Maubrey,
Daniel Joliffe, and others!!!


Go to www.ubu.com by Tuesday October 7. Find one artist from the sound area
and listen to the available tracks. Research the context of the work, where it was
performed, when, meaning? Write a half page response (typed, single spaced).
Half page response due October 7. Consider the ways sound is used in the work.
How it is unique? Is it a performance? Is it experiential or narrative?


Read the assigned readings as required by due dates. Write responses as due.

Explore the Arduino platform, working through all the tutorials and researching any relevant topic related to the technology as it comes up. There is a wealth of info online about Arduino and the various electrical components. Anything that is unclear, Google It!





READINGS:


Krauss, Rosalind. Passages in Modern Sculpture: Mechanical Ballets.


SCHEDULE:

Sound Project


Oct. 2 Finish Critique. Go over sound project. Get started with Arduino. Solder Protoshield for Tuesday(tutorial).

Oct. 7 Half page responses due. Arduino(tutorial).

Oct. 9 Discuss Krauss, More Arduino!!!!

Oct. 14 Proposals due, these are to be typed and drawings included, scan them and print, i want one packet turned in to me. More Artists and Arduino!!!!

Oct. 16 Studio day

Oct. 21 Studio day

Oct. 23 Mid project review at beginning of class. Studio day.

Oct. 28 Studio day

Oct. 30 Skype Chat With Ola Stahl and Carl Lindh- www.ccred.info and www.olastahl.com Specifically: http://www.altspace.info/malmoe.html see video links under The "... presents…" Series (I) : Franklin's VDC Copy Centre towards the bottom of the page.

Nov. 4  Critique.