ExercisesExercise 1: Gesticulate
Exercise 2: Organ
Final Project: Goldbergian
Exercise 1: Gesticulate (due 16 Apr)
Build a machine with a curious, engaging, fascinating, and/or expressive motion. Keep it mechanically simple to put energy into refining the motion and aesthetic quality of the machine.
Constraints:
At least one motor
Control the motor(s) with an Arduino board
Any materials, but keep it simple and familiar
No larger than a 12” cube
No sensors, just focus on motion
Exercise 2: Organ (due 23 Apr)
Build a sound-making machine influenced by Tim Hawkinson's Uberorgan.
Reference photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9600/1410573029/in/photostream/
Reference videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gE9XVyAln9s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdATJKP8OZ0
Constraints:
At least one photocell
At least one speaker
Any materials, but keep it simple and familiar
No larger than a 12" cube
Final Project: Goldbergian (due 4 Jun)
The cartoonist Rube Goldberg (1893 - 1970) is know for his drawings of absurd, complicated machines that perform simple tasks. His name has become synonymous with these artifacts. The Merriam-Webster dictionary states:
Main Entry: Rube Gold·berg
Variant(s): also Rube Gold·berg·i·an
Function: adjective
Etymology: Reuben (Rube) L. Goldberg died 1970 American cartoonist
: accomplishing by complex means what seemingly could be done simply <a kind of Rube Goldberg contraption...with five hundred moving parts -- L. T. Grant>; also : characterized by such complex means
The Wikipedia entry for "Rube Goldberg Machine" provides a good summary of how his ideas have influenced into popular culture. Type "rube goldberg" as a keyword at YouTube or Google Video to see some hobby projects.
While the mechanical complexity of Goldberg's machines has survived into the twenty-first century, the parody of his work has not. Goldberg's machines are viewed most interestingly as a metaphors for absurd mechanisms within society and inherent in technological progress. One of the first uses of the adjective "Rube Goldbergian" was within the Congressional Record. Lawmakers referred to the opposing parties projects such as the "New Deal" and the "Great Society" disparagingly as "Rube Goldbergian." (1) For example, a Rube Goldbergian scheme for reducing taxes. Clark Kinnarid, in his introduction to Rube Goldberg vs The Machine Age says that Goldberg regarded his "'inventions' as manifestations of a one-man insurrection against needlessly multifarious gadgetry of the machine age that enslaves man instead of freeing him from non-rewarding labor." (2)
The technologies that appear in Goldberg's work are from his era: automobiles, electric fans, gramophones, bicycle pumps, oil lamps, hand guns, radios. What are the "needless multifarious gadgetry" of the information age. What technologies would comprise the contemporary Goldbergian device? Possibly a mobile phone, keyboard, light sensor, laser printer, RFID card, video game, brand-name products, ASCII characters?
The Goldbergian context provides an excellent foundation for learning about the concepts of interactivity and the technologies required to make interactive works. During the next eight weeks, we will complete a contemporary Goldberg machine. Each member of the class will build one component of the device. Each section will receive a signal and transmit that signal to the next section. In addition to building the project, each member of the class will be a part of one documentation committee: video, photography, design, DVD, web, and writing.
In reference to the origins of the word and the recent voting machine debacles, our Goldbergian device will be a voting machine. What are the many problems with voting machines and the American political system? How can our Goldbergian device refer to this context?
Notes:
1. Rube Goldberg, Rube Goldberg vs The Machine Age (New York: Hasting House, 1968), p. viii
2. Ibid. p. vii
A - Sketches 1 (Due 28 Apr)
Using your favorite image-making technique (drawing, collage, photography, etc.), convey the ideas for your section of the machine to the class. Present at least five, refined ideas for your component. What materials will you use? What sensors and motors? Present each idea on one letter-sized sheet of paper. We'll work toward fitting them together into one large machine during class.
B - Sketches 2 (Due 30 Apr, 10 points)
Present the entire machine. Again, your favorite image-making technique. What will be the aesthetic for the final machine? Will it be "improvised", like the original Goldberg machines, or will it have a more polished appearance?
C - Prototype 1 (Due 7 May)
Construct a prototype of your component. Demonstrate it for the class.
D - Prototype 2 (Due 14 May, 20 points)
Refine the prototype of your component. Demonstrate it for the class.
E - Prototype 3 (Due 21 May)
Construct a prototype of the entire machine.
F - Prototype 4 (Due 28 May)
Refine the prototype of the entire machine.
G. - Event (Due 4 Jun, 30 points)
Run the machine and create raw materials (photos, video) for documentation.
H - Documentation (Due 9 Jun, 10 points)
Web video, photos, text archive of the machine.