[ITP: Thesis II] Alumni Feedback

Alumni Feedback

Here are the scribbly notes I took during my crazy alumni feedback sessions. I met with some really talented artists and got some great pointers. Specifically, Darcy Neal, Ari Melenciano, ❤️ Khushbu Kshirsagar ❤️, and Hayeon Hwang… and I roped in my new teacher Alan Winslow to give me some feedback as well!

Here is the relevant feedback:

Create a “take-away” paper —> maybe a body passport, checkin? ask questions
- Could ask the viewer to describe me or what they learned about me, what they learned about themselves?
Installation is touching in with the senses
- Grounding, polyvagal theory, fight/flight/freeze
Potentially add soft material?
You don’t need to make your art make sense to other people
What are you looking for by getting more connected with body?
Project is relatable, vulnerable
- Reflect yourself and the viewer to themselves
Create thoughtful/intentional exhibition
Alumni like the sketches and illustrations…
Make the viewer go deeper
Thesis is not the end, it can be the middle
- It is okay to compromise on the scale
Since pieces are so different, uniformity in showing the pieces could be good —> pedestals, table, whatever
Could collect body samples using a contact mic

Womb

So, I’m bringing back the washing machine!! I originally made this curiosity portal for Sharon’s STEM Accessibility class. I was able to get it like 90% done last year but the motor couldn’t reliably turn the drum and I feel like I got too edgy with the concept and I abandoned it totally.

To get it up and running, the first step was getting the motor system going. Based on some advice from Phil, I got a new big, bad motor and his favorite driver, the TMC2209. I got some help from other stepper experts Jeff Feddersen and resident Gracy to get the motor and driver up and running! Here are some updates I needed to make to my circuit:

I needed to chop off the two pins that were in-line with the ENABLE pin —> out-of-the-box configuration is not meant for bread board
GND the ENABLE pin
Through some testing, I decided to implement microstepping of 8 microsteps to get the speed that felt right

It is really amazing that you can move a stepper motor just by blinking a pin! So I didn’t use any motor libraries in my final code. I also whipped up a lil sequence for the washing machine to follow, with some typical washing machine randomness. I also put in some neopixel action to get some portal lighting. As always, you can find my code and other files at my Github repo.

Stomach

I also worked really really hard on finishing up my journey-to-my-stomach pop up book. Another body part down: stomach✅. You can find all my documentation on the paper process at this blog post.

Face

The last body part I’m working on is the inter-FACE. This is the least baked body part. Inter-FACE will be the interface to this synth on the left. I’ve got quite a bit of work still to do. You can find some of my progress at these blog posts.

Thesis Show @ NYC Resistor

On top of developing my thesis itself, I’m curating and producing a group thesis show at one of my favorite NY spaces, NYC Resistor. With the help of my buddy César, we put out an open call to be a part of the show, went through submissions, organized the artists into production teams, and did all the coordinating with the venue to make the show a reality. Below is the beautiful show poster designed by Angie Kim and some stickers I made to give away!