FINAL PROJECT Here is a link to our final project exhibit: FINAL EXHIBIT OF STUDENT PROJECTS Here are some pictures of my work: I had lots of fun in this class and its surely was very different from my previous courses (Since I come from a Computer Science background).

FINAL PROJECT PROPOSAL INTRODUCTION For my final project I was asked to extend the previous interface exercise to a final production. Based on this interface exercise, the in-class work, the critique with Therese and discussion, I have to propose a final production (a series of images, one large image, image and text etc...) to further explore the themes discussed. I have to use three works observed in Musée d'art contemporain (in any medium) that I feel will influence my final project. This will be part of my "research" component for this project. PROJECT DESCRIPTION 1. Imagine a human/computer interface of the future (five to ten years into the future at least). (a) What do we WANT from machines? Why do we build machines? (b) How can machines empower/disempowered us? How do we create utopias/dystopias? (c) A critical approach to the words POWER, ACCESS, CONTROL, MEMORY 2. Take a very abstract and conceptual approach to the word "interface". The interface can either be very specific (a toaster of the future) or very general (a scenario for how humans and computers can co-exist, in a more or less symbiotic relationships). 3. Illustrate this interface with sequential images, anywhere from two to ten. Use a mixture of drawing, painting, collage, and digital (if you want). 4. You can use either (a) narrative storytelling or (b) a juxtaposition of abstract images to create a MOOD or FEELING (think of the film 2001). 5. You can either create: (a) A linear narrative scenario or storyboard (like a comic book). (b) A sequence of images of a single object from different angles, at different times, or at different scales, with different amounts of detail. For example, you can use cinematographic techniques such as pan, zoom (think of the exercise you did with Therese on representing things at different scales). (c) An abstract sequence of images that tell a story by association (think of the jump cut of the shots of the sheep and the men coming out of the subway in Modern Times). PROJECT DETAIL I will try to represent using several sequential images on how computers are slowly taking over our lives. Goals and Objectives Representation 1) Use of materials taken from computer hardware in order to represent the computerized aspect of my interface. 2) Use of objects such as video cameras, microphones, speakers to represent how computers are slowly taking over reality by artificially representing our world with images and sound and manipulating the way we see and feel about the things that surround us. 3) 3D is a good way to show the evolution of digital graphics and audio. It is probably where the future human/computer interface is getting to. Goal 1) What do we WANT from machines? Why do we build machines? Answer: Machines are built to facilitate our daily work. They help us speed up the way we do things. They help us memorize by recording things and visualize them later on. 2) How can machines empower/disempowered us? How do we create utopias/dystopias? Answer: They are slowly taking over our lives by representing our reality virtually. They are making decision for us and also creating visual/auditory illusions that affect the way we believe and see things. Machines are using more and more energy while we are using less and less energy. As we go further into the future, we are slowly being eliminated by our own creations. 3) A critical approach to the words POWER, ACCESS, CONTROL, MEMORY Power: • Power to survive using machinery • Power to increase our knowledge • Power to protect us Access: • Access huge amount of data • Access several options (diversification) • Access tools for daily usage Control • Control our needs • Control our energy • Control our minds Memory • Help us remember things • Conserve our history • Develop our knowledge

Musée d'art contemporain While visiting the Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal (MAC) I was surprised on how some works look similar to one another and how others were so different. For example they was a work done by artist Sylvia Safdie called Earth Marks where she used natural materials to paint an image (linseed oil and soil on translucent polyester film). It was paintings shaped in the form of a human, it looked like someone was burnt and the trace of their corpse stayed printed on the ground. A very detailed work that really caught my eye was Michael Merill’s Studio Table 2 (done in 2003). The detail was remarkable. He represented a 3D room filled with different objects. The thing that was interesting about this work is that he drawn the whole thing in a transparent way so that we can see through each object and yet still manage to see it as a 3D image. The material used for this work make it very simple (graphite sur papier) but the details of the drawing itself makes it very complex. Another very different concept was the work of Christian Kiopini a piece where he represents an image by layering several levels of some sort of cardboard to make a 3D illusion. He also paints on top of it several different shapes. This work is very interesting since it represents a 3D view in 2 different ways. From up close, we see the 3D representation created by the layers of cardboard. From far, the shapes painted become 3D making this work a 2 type 3D illusion. The musee was split into 2 sections, one on the left and the other on the right. One side had paintings and sculptures from various artists while the other side seemed to me more digital media oriented. There was a dark room with 4 projectors in it. Each projector pointed to one of the 4 walls in the room. All 4 projectors were showing a Parking lot lamp (the same lamp since all lamps had the same lot number on them) shown from 4 different angles. It seemed like a live shots from some security cameras. By being in the room, we had a feeling of being in the parking lot since all the images projected were covering the full walls and the ambience of the room made it look very realistic (dark and silent). A section was dedicated to photographic images of different people (several pictures of the same person, each represented on a different wall). The people in these photos showed emotions based on who they were and how their lives evolved. As you looked at these pictures you would want to find out more about these people, thus an article written about them was attached beside these photos. Lastly, I went into a room where several different projectors were placed on the floor and attached to a disassembled web camera (the camera was taken out of its plastic cover so that we don’t know what it is). Each projector showed live images taken from the web camera. Some projectors were also attached to a motion sensor which played with the image depending on the actions made by the people around it. Very interesting concept I find. Based on this visit and the artistic work that I had the privilege to discover, I decided that my final project should represent a metaphoric observation of a futuristic human/computer interface. Just like Sylvia Safdie, I want to use different materials taken from computer parts to represent my interface. I’ll use the concept behind Alexandre Castonguay’s work to show how objects such as projectors, digital cameras, and other new gadgetry are taken part of the way we see things. I believe Alexandre Castonguay wants to show us how machines are influencing the way we see things and also the way we feel about things. I also want to use 3D perspective just like some of the artist I mentioned did.

HOME WORK #7 use color to illustrate: (1) happy, (2) angry, (3) melancholy, (4) hungry. for each composition, choose exactly 3 colors and place them together to achieve the desired outcome. Please upload 2 other test that were less successful for each one to show process.

HOME WORK #6 Set your own parameters. Start with an idea, and then distill the idea into one word. Visually indicate the word without including the word itself. In one composition, consider surface and emphasis. I started with the idea of relaxation, imagery with ideal vacational locations. The word that I selected from my observations is "PEACE". I incorporated circular shapes to define completeness, which symbolises peace. Synonyms: 1) Calm 2) Quiet 3) Tranquility Definitions: 1) the state prevailing during the absence of war 2) harmonious relations; freedom from disputes; "the roommates lived in peace together" 3) the absence of mental stress or anxiety

Visual Punctuation (October 19th) In-class exercise: Drawing exercises in creating emphasis, selective focus, grouping, placement, contrast, isolation, rendering.

1) Representation of the word pause using tape and various papers: a) I tried to show pause using the meaning of decision making. When you have to make a decision which is composed of various choices you usually pause to think about it. So I made a line with black tape separating into various colored lines (each representing a different path bringing a pause for decision making) and then becoming once again a black line (decision taken, continue with the regular path). b) This is a more simplistic approach to the representation of the word pause. I took once again a black tape and created arrows pointing to a certain direction. The pause is shown using an arrow made from yellow tape and placed in the middle. 2) Representation of the word synchronization using thin blue paper and other papers: I tried to show this by synchronizing the way the blue paper and white paper worked together to represent a mirrored image.

HOME WORK #5 For home work I had to do the following: 1. Imagine a human/computer interface of the future (five to ten years into the future at least). Think of: (a) what do we WANT from machines? why do we build machines? (b) how can machines empower/disempower us? how do we create utopias/distopias? (c) a critical approach to the words POWER, CONTROL, MEMORY 2. Take a very abstract and conceptual approach to the word "interface". The interface can either be very specific (a toaster of the future) or very general (a scenario for how humans and computers can co-exist, in a more or less symbiotic relationships). 3. Illustrate this interface with 10 sequential images. Use drawing and collage. You can only use digital drawing tools if you have a VERY compelling reason (you hurt your fingers and cannot hold a pencil or really feel that you absolutely cannot communicate the concepts that you want to get across without using a computer. Please note that you will need to justify your reasons in class.) 4. You can use either (a) narrative storytelling or (b) a juxtaposition of abstract images to create a MOOD or FEELING (think of the film 2001). 5. You can either create: (a) a linear narrative scenario or storyboard (like a comic book) (b) a sequence of images of a single object from different angles, at different times, or at different scales, with different amounts of detail. For example, you can use cinematographic techniques such as pan, zoom (think of the exercise you did with Therese on representing things at different scales), tilt etc... (c) an abstract sequence of images that tell a story by association (think of the jump cut of the shots of the sheep and the men coming out of the subway in Modern Times). 6. Bring it to class next week to look at with Therese and upload for me to look at.

I tried to focus on how electronic devices have evolved and how fast these new creations were developed. Based on that, I came up with this portable computer/mp3/game/navigation system. It was stated in our homework’s specifications that we should design something that we believe might be available "10 years" from now, so I tried not to exaggerate it. I believe things 10 years from now will be much smaller, wireless and will combine most used portable devices into one. I decided to create a touch screen interface making it universal for any usage (the controls can change depending on what it is used for). The user will wear glasses where a screen and headphones will be incorporated (since it is closer to the eye it will have the dimensions of a Big Screen TV the size of 50” diagonal). This was based on two factors, first of this kind of technology is already being research and secondly based on the fact that we will all wear some kind of glasses in the future in order to protect us from high UV (ozone layer is getting thinner and thinner). There will not be any internal Hard Drive for security reasons and the user will have a bracelet that will put the device on standby when he is 1 meter away. An external Hard Drive as big as a 10 cents coin with 100GB of memory will be used (also based on currently research specifications). I believe that Hard Drives will act as credit cards in the future storing stuff such as our computer data, music, phone book, and even banking accounts. They will be small and very secure enabling us to have easy access to all our necessities with the highest security levels. We will not have wallets in our packets but some sort of a HD-pack where we will have our various Hard Drives. All the devices around us will have Hard Drive inputs (video recorders, cameras, phones, gaming devices, etc). No more DVDs or CD or any other kind of media that we use regularly today.

INTERFACES (October 12th) Well due to a chemical spill on highway 40 I was unable to attend what should have been a very interesting class (Click here to check what was said on the news). Since I live in west-island it was impossible for me to get to school at that specific day (delays of minimum 4 hours).

HOME WORK #4 For home work I had to read Human Computer Interaction in Science Fiction Movies by Michael Schmitz and discuss 5 different "interface metaphors" from the reading. 1)As with all other humans in the envisioned future of that movie a computer controls his consciousness by accessing his brain physically through the backside of his head. I believe this method of controling our minds could some day be realistic. The brain is very complex and will take a very long time to undercover the way it actually works. Controlling our minds will allow us to feed it with knowledge allot quicker, to censor dangerous thoughts, to diagnos medical issues allot more efficiently. 2)Automated palm-print identification systems are already commercially available from several companies, most often used for crime fighting too. This is already used as a security system in many places today (Microsoft even has one that can be used with any desktop pc). I believe it is a very good technic to secure things but in some way can cost a finger or a hand to someone (if the burglar really wants to access the site he might go to the exdent of choping the security person’s hand or finger in order to have access). 3)Another very popular biometric identification technology are the retinal and iris scan. Either the blood vessel patterns of the retina or the pattern of flecks on the iris can be used to uniquely identify individuals. Just like the palm-point indentification it is a very nice way to control access to a restricted site. It can also allow us to identify people in public areas. It might conflict with our privacy but it will allow our society to control its security at higher level. 4)We have seen an approach to display 3 dimensional images physically in Tim Schwartz’s talk on “Table Top Spatially Augmented Reality”, where physical structures are augmented by projections. This is my favorite futuristic approach, tele comunication. I really hope they do come up with something similar (if they haven’t yet). It will revolutionize everything from going to work (you will be able to do so from home), going to school (project yourself to a virtual room while being at home, and many other ways of using it. Maybe even having a projected Movie where the movies will souround you not only with its audio but with its video as well. 5)A typical VR setup with a head-mounted display and data gloves is used in one scene of "Johnny Mnemonic". The agent played by Keanu Reeves is using it to retrieve information from the internet while he browses through an abstract 3D world, manipulating various objects to access sites. This is used already on some gaming consols. This technology will allow people to not only see things but to actually feel them. It will also put us in the souroundings of what we are actually trying to discover rather then just having to look at a 2D image.

HOME WORK #3 For home work I had to create the following: use collage and line drawing together with ideas of scale, repetition, variety, and rhythm to illustrate: (1) happy, (2) angry, (3) melancholy, (4) hungry. Scan/photograph your assignement and upload to your Flickr/Blogger account as well as bring to class. Start thinking about symbols and iconogrpahy. How do we represent things such as complex emotions using iconography? In your blog, link or upload 4 examples of "icons" or "symbols". Print out your symbols/icons on a page (at least 10 repetitions of each) to share for next week. Bring both drawing and collage materials. Wow! thats allot of Home Work!!! :) Below are my collages.

Happy: used repetition, scale, curved lines Angry: triangle shapes (sharp edges), Red, Black, flame colors (used infrared effect pictures), string unstable lines Melancholy: grey colors, dead trees drwaings, neutral faced woman Hungry: Used dead people picture to represent a face with an open mouth, made food fall into the mouth (various scale) and lines to show the flow.

Iconography:

1) Happiness:

2) Laziness:

3) Anger:

4) Doubtful:

5) Confident:

DESTROY. PASTE. DECONSTRUCT(September 28th) We had a looooooooong lecture about the history of collage and the various artists that were involved in it. We then had to create our own collages in class. The teacher gave us a statement that we had to represent using collage. Here is what we had to represent: Self-Portrait (using your previous drawings in class): I decided to represent my initials (R-L) using only the drawings I had done in this course 34 is greater than 12: I used only pictures of watches. The top watch displayed 30 (cut off all the other numbers from the watch). The watch right after showed the number 4 (same way, I cut out the rest of the numbers). The middle watch shows the greater than sign with its arrows. The lower watch represents the number 12 (cut out the number 12 only). Monkey: This took me a while since I had to represent a monkey without using a monkey or anything that represents it. So I decided to cut out all the black haired women that I found in the magazines and use their hair to represent my monkey. I then cut out the biggest mouth I found and some eyes to make it look a little more like a monkey (well at least I tried). I used the green color around to show a jungle like entourage. I want to fly: For that I used blue colors that I cut in shapes of clouds. I found an alcoholic drink called SKYY so I used it as well.

Self-Portrait: 34 greater than 12: Monkey: I want to fly: