As much of this project has operated outside of previous technical and subject based experiences, it continues to be relatively slow moving as I gradually compile research and new skills in developing physical outcomes. As such, although This Belongs To is still very much ‘in progress’, I have made some important developments both in terms of technical aspects and the conceptual/background elements over the course of the residency. As mentioned in earlier posts, there are two distinct physical outcomes currently evolving that run alongside research into areas related to urban environments. These aim to investigate the impact of built environments upon individuals living in them and how these relationships may directly influence wider social issues. The physical outcomes include the generation of interactive environments in the form of installations using projected film and images and the main feature of this residency, This Belongs To, originally conceived as an object designed to allow users to explore issues relating to public ownership by interacting with their environment through direct projection of an identifying mark or name.

The design for the new This Belongs To object is still a little way off – since the beginning of the residency I have discovered that …

I attended a workshop at Mad Lab in Manchester yesterday run by Cybersonica and was able to amend the Processing code I have been using to facilitate the interactive images. I haven’t yet got the video/audio up and running but what I do now have is a slightly more efficient system whereby the code calibrates within the first five seconds of start up and adjusts itself accordingly to a set scale. Physically, all I have to do now when I set it up, instead of taking manual light readings using the serial monitor and adjusting the code accordingly, is cover the light sensor to allow it to receive the minimum light it will ever have in that setting and allow it to also receive the maximum. It is then able to self adjust and save me manually entering new thresholds in the code. At the moment the light sensor is still very sensitive and it is difficult to really have much control over the images which are displayed from a users point of view, however I quite like the impact these changing parameters have on the interaction;  it seems to encourage an element of play which is definitely something I …

This project is continuing to develop along two related strands – the development of an object designed to encourage interaction with the urban environment and the generation of environments which are themselves interactive in a continuation of the discussed issues relating to public ownership.

As the methods of making (electronics/programming languages)  all pretty much entirely unknown territory for me these developments are unfolding slowly. Thankfully as I am studying an MA in 3D Design at MMU I have access to a lot of expertise, workshops and support, however it’s taking some time to consolidate all these inputs from various places. I’ll summarise the latest news for each of these strands separately:

–This Belongs To (Object)

Since speaking with members of the engineering department at  MMU I have manged at least to work out an appropriate LED to run tests with. I made some initial tests with the existing Belongs To cards and a couple of different basic LED circuits after having found a really simple LED keyring/torch which led me to believe it would be super-simple to make. Unfortunately, what I didn’t take into account was the difference between emitting light, which in and of itself is …

I’ve been pretty tied up with assessment over the last couple of weeks so don’t have anything especially dramatic to report. The good news is Stage One of the MA is done, passed and I’m now starting on Stage Two which will focus pretty much exclusively on these developments. If you’re interested, a brief video of the summary display of work and the written document for assessment can be found here (the video includes an installation of the Arduino/light sensor set up but is not very clear due to light conditions).

In terms of concept, I’ve now finished reading Ground Control by Anna Minton which looks at political trends in urban planning and other legislation to discuss the impacts of our changing uses of public space. A lot of her case studies are based in or around Manchester so I’ve got a few more ideas of where I might expand on some primary source research – hard to know how deep to get into some of that though. I’ve picked up a copy of Real England by Paul Kingsnorth now – similar issues but approached from a more local perspective it seems.

The physical development seems to be slotting itself …

Here are some initial tests made during a Beginners Arduino Workshop run by Tinker London at Space Studios in Hackney. I’ve started off looking at various sensors and actuators using the Arduino and a programming language called Processing. The linked videos show experiments with few different possibilities but I culminated the session in a proof of concept for an interactive projection which uses the Processing language to change the image on the screen based on whether or not information from a light sensor suggests a shadow has fallen on to the projection.

Arduino Test Videos

I’m not entirely sure yet exactly what the next stages will be but I’m quite keen to get the projection set up in a more considered environment. This is a bit of a tangent from the initial proposal but I’m really just exploring possibilities at the moment…

Background

Working as Glittermouse, I have recently developed a series of installations using multimedia to explore issues relating to the urban environment, especially those of public ownership. This has included live installations at club nights, a large scale contribution to Alternative Party; Art and Technology Exhibition in Helsinki in October 2009 and most recently a fully spatial solo installation titled Marking the Territory at The Link Gallery in Manchester during April 2010. This used multiple digital and analogue projections in creating an environmental response to issues of ownership in urban spaces and used traditional drawing techniques to interact with these projections on the surfaces of laser-etched objects. Sound also played an important role and real world samples came together with circuit bent homemade instruments by Ne7 (Andrew Lemon; Lemon Multimedia – featured in May Future Music Magazine) in an audio collaboration which further discussed city spaces.

Frequently taking a live format, the moment of interaction is an important focus in this work and using a range of research strategies it has been identified that environmental interactivity is an important element that allows us to feel ‘at home’ in our cities. For this reason, I am now looking at ways to …