Week 4 Recitation Documentation

BUILDING DRAWING MACHINES

During this recitation we built drawing machines using a stepper motor. Unfortunately, our did not work in the end as for some reason the motor was not responding correctly to the code we created. Instead of moving as we programmed it to (as the potentiometer was controlled) It made odd motions.

The motor working without the potentiometer

 CODE

#include <Stepper.h>

const int stepsPerRevolution = 200; // change this to fit the number of steps per revolution
// for your motor

// initialize the stepper library on pins 8 through 11:
Stepper myStepper(stepsPerRevolution, 8, 9, 10, 11);

void setup() {
// set the speed at 60 rpm:
myStepper.setSpeed(60);
// initialize the serial port:
Serial.begin(9600);
}

void loop() {
// step one revolution in one direction:
Serial.println("clockwise");
myStepper.step(stepsPerRevolution);
delay(500);

// step one revolution in the other direction:
Serial.println("counterclockwise");
myStepper.step(-stepsPerRevolution);
delay(500);
}

Question 1: What kind of machines would you be interested in building? Add a reflection about the use of actuators, the digital manipulation of art, and the creative process to your blog post.

I would be interested in building machines that allows us to create art in new ways. This drawing machine is an example of that. I have always been interested in the different way art manifests itself (paintings, music, dance etc.) and I believe that with technology we have the ability to create new or different manifestations of art. Actuators make technology mobile in the 3D world. They make a digital creation come alive. Therefore, they can be a necessary part of making art out of technology. We watched several videos in class of different sculptures that mimic things in the real world and/or are observable, tangible art using motors. They showed me the potential that machines have to become fascinating instruments for art. In a way they can be inspiring and evocative. Similarly they can create inspiring and evocative things.

Question 2: Choose an art installation mentioned in the reading ART + Science NOW, Stephen Wilson (Kinetics chapter). Post your thoughts about it and make a comparison with the work you did during this recitation. How do you think that the artist selected those specific actuators for his project?

 I was particularly drawn to Matt Heckert’s Centripetal Sound Machines (pg 116). This is the exact type of machines that I describe in my response to question 1. They create a noise that mimics the sound of being inside a machine. Similar to the drawing machine, it creates a form of art that us unique to the mechanism. Heckert used motors that lift parts of the mechanism up and down. This give it a very mechanical effect. It isn’t meant to move similar to humans. Because of this, the viewer has a machine like setting. With the drawing machine, the mechanism produces repetitive tasks creating a very mechanical drawing. I believe that this type of art has huge potential in our largely mechanized world.