Unit 2 Blogs – Karyn Easton

Nov 19

Epic Making Session

Yaacov Agam Inspired Work – Over many months now I have been wrestling with a myriad of ideas. In my Study Statement I was keen to develop a new form of hybrid human, digital and AI art. I also wanted to include an element of mystery and discovery whereby elements of the work were hidden. During my search for inspiration I came across two artists that particularly resonated with me, namely: Alexander Calder and Yaacov Agam. I particularly liked the idea of movement and mobile art seen in Calder’s work. Indeed I was so taken with his work that I went to visit the Tate Modern to see some of his pieces there. However, Yaacov Agam’s work really did inspire me. In his Artist’s statement he says: “My aim is to show the visible in a perpetual state of becoming”. I think this is a beautiful way in which he describes his work. However, I personally would liken it to, showing the visible in a perpetual state of change. Given the nature of the subject matter that I’m exploring, his work for me very much aligns with this notion of change as well as ‘becoming’. Below is a short […]

Love Letters From AI

Hidden Art – When I first began my MA, I wasn’t entirely sure what I wanted to do. Ultimately I knew it would be something to do with the hidden or the unseen. Initially I began looking at invisible phenomena such as sound waves and the passage of time. However, nothing captured my interest quite as much as augmented reality. It was this whole concept of a hidden unseen world (only accessible to those ‘in the know’), that intrigued me. While conducting research for my Research Paper I discovered that there is a distinct negative bias towards AI generated art. I looked at a number of strategies to help mitigate this bias. Finally, after a number of image polls, used to inform my project, I created a fictitious robot called Athena. Her name was inspired by the old Athena posters from the past. My research was suggesting that humanoid robots with a sad ‘backstory’ could help to reduce bias and win over an audience when presenting AI art. At this point I began to develop a narrative for my robot. During a visit to Barcelona, I was completely amazed by the sheer weight of graffiti adorning the city walls. I […]

Nov 02

by Karyn in 3d, Abstract Art, Augmented Reality, Experimentation, My Work, Risk Taking, Unit 2 Blogs, Videos 0 comments tags: 3d, Abstract Art, Augmented Reality, Experimentation, my work, Risk Taking, Unit 2 Blogs, Videos

Mental Derive Part #3

Made with a Mobile – As the deadline to Unit 2 rapidly approaches I’m aware that I really need to be pulling together all of my ideas. I have been trying to build a number of skills lately and it’s been quite a steep learning curve. I’ve explored augmented reality through my 21 day challenge. I’ve explored projection mapping, physical book printing and 3d paper sculpture via my Grotto Print. I’ve also explored drawing which appeared on my mobile 3d kinetic art piece. However, today I managed to return to my first love that is photography. This afternoon I decided to make two short films showing the beautiful motion created by my mobile. The background to this particular mobile piece can be found in ‘Mental Derive’ Part #1 and ‘Mental Derive’ Part #2. I deliberately shot both short videos using a very wide aperture as I wanted to add depth to my film. I wanted to see the patterns on the mobile slowly come in and out of focus as they gently glide backwards and forwards. I think that I managed to do this. Please see below for the two videos created today. Kinetic Art with a Mobile […]

Oct 27

MACBA Metamorphosis

Barcelona’s Hidden Artists – While visiting Barcelona, I became fascinated with the vast swathes of graffiti covered walls. It felt as if collectively everyone had given up on cleaning the walls. Indeed, it felt as if the walls themselves had become works of art. In stark contrast I also noted the pristine internal walls of the MACBA (One of Barcelona’s contemporary art museums). I was so ‘taken with’ the beautiful light inside of the MACBA that I decided to photograph it. I also photographed many graffiti laden walls across Barcelona. There really was a such a stark contrast between the pristine and the messy that I began to wonder what the MACBA would look like if it was plastered in graffiti? The internal walls of the MACBA were so beautifully clean that I felt an irresistible urge to ‘plaster’ them. The vibrant colours and designs found externally on the Streets of Barcelona seemed a logical choice. Unfortunately, my dream of taking spray paints to the MACBA walls was pretty much out of the question. However, I did have access to Photoshop, Ai and augmented reality. As a direct result of my thinking I managed to self publish 3 small art […]

Aug 03

by Karyn in 21 Day Challenge, Augmented Reality, Evaluations, My Learning, My Work, Problem Solving, Unit 2 Blogs 0 comments tags: 21 Day Challenge, Augmented Reality, Evaluations, My Learning, my work, Problem Solving, Unit 2 Blogs

21 Day Challenge – Outcomes

Wednesday 9th August – “Darkness falls Walking empty corridors Dusty roads Seeing things never shown You and I we know” – Soldier by Particle House The MACBA Metamorphosis book is available to buy and if anyone would like a copy then please see the barcode at the bottom of this post. However, so that no purchase is necessary, I am including images from the book along with their corresponding augmented reality experiences. This means anyone reading this blog can experiment for themselves and no-one is excluded. Background Information & A Few Pages from MACBA Metamorphosis The MACBA Metamorphosis book forms part two of a planned 3 part series that begins with the exploration of Graffiti in the heart of Barcelona. The project enlists the help of Ai to re-imagine this graffiti and digital tools are used to place it on the pristine walls of the MACBA museum. Book one in this series is called ‘Beautiful Light – MACBA – Barcelona’ and more details can be found about it here. This book has already been augmented using a simple iPhone App except with limited functionality. However the results can be seen in the video below. […]

Aug 02

by Karyn in 21 Day Challenge, Augmented Reality, My Learning, Problem Solving, Unit 2 Blogs 0 comments tags: 21 Day Challenge, Augmented Reality, My Learning, Problem Solving, Unit 2 Blogs

21 Day Challenge – Day #21

Wednesday 2nd August – Well this is it! The end of my challenge – although I suspect it’s really just the beginning of my venture into augmented reality. I got off to a slow start. For some reason I couldn’t quite think what I wanted to do this morning. However, I know I’ve still got quite a long way to go so I need to find some motivation from somewhere. As I suspected I didn’t finish everything that I wanted to do. My back got progressively worse and I had to ‘give in’ – I’m now writing retrospectively. My back continued to decline over the next two days to the point that I could not move from the floor! Friday 4th August was particularly severe. Having laid on the floor for around 2 hours I could not stand the pain any longer. I managed to speak to a GP who said I was suffering with a severe bout of sciatica. He prescribed me morphine! This did at least help me to get off the floor! For this reason I reluctantly decided to write off the final day of my challenge. My plan is to try to recover over the weekend […]

Aug 01

by Karyn in 21 Day Challenge, Augmented Reality, My Learning, Problem Solving, Unit 2 Blogs 0 comments tags: 21 Day Challenge, Augmented Reality, My Learning, Problem Solving, Unit 2 Blogs

21 Day Challenge – Day #20

Tuesday 1st August – Well I sat for hours at the computer today trying to augment the whole of my Barcelona Graffiti book. It was a long slow painful process. My lack of computer resources coupled with beta augmented reality software was not a great combination. For all my hours of work I seem to have so little to show for it, which is very disappointing. I’ve acquired a great deal of knowledge though. I’ve also got a few interesting ideas moving forwards. Above everything else though I now know how augmented reality software works. I can now hide a multitude of different realities, where only those in the know can find them. Hidden things have always intrigued me, and being able to hide something in plain absolutely fascinates me. I’ve also enjoyed working with ChatGPT to produce generative art based on re-imagined Barcelona Graffiti. What Did I Learn? Beta software doesn’t always work that well! If you think you did something wrong, it probably wasn’t even you, but actually a software bug. Wherever possible try not to use beta test software. What Did I Actually Achieve? I managed to produce a number of augmented reality videos using […]

Jul 31

by Karyn in 21 Day Challenge, Augmented Reality, My Learning, Problem Solving, Unit 2 Blogs 0 comments tags: 21 Day Challenge, Augmented Reality, My Learning, Problem Solving, Unit 2 Blogs

21 Day Challenge – Day #19

Monday 31st July – Today I decided to work digitally on more images for my 3rd Barcelona Graffiti book. I am confident now in how to use my augmented reality app. I’m also confident that because my experiments worked I should be able to progress my concept. Tomorrow I plan to begin augmenting the remaining pages of my Barcelona Graffiti book. I can’t believe that there are now only 2 days left of the challenge. I would very much like to produce something that showcases what I have learned, so the next two days will focus on that. What Did I Learn? Sticking at something for 21 days solid can yield results, it’s possible to refine skills and learn a lot during this time. What Did I Actually Achieve? I generated a number of AI variations for my third and final Barcelona Graffiti book. I feel as if everything is slowly beginning to come together and I hope to bring more of my knowledge together tomorrow. I strongly suspect that I will run out of time to achieve everything I want to achieve but I will try my best to draw the challenge to a reasonable conclusion.

Jul 30

by Karyn in 21 Day Challenge, Augmented Reality, My Learning, Problem Solving, Unit 2 Blogs 0 comments tags: 21 Day Challenge, Augmented Reality, My Learning, Problem Solving, Unit 2 Blogs

21 Day Challenge – Day #18

Sunday 30th July – Today was a productive day, I experimented with a new augmented reality technique that I want to perfect. It’s taking a while and both my sore back and computer resources are becoming problematic again. However, I managed to film 2 experimental videos. This time the viewer could visually understand what it was I was trying to achieve. I also managed to work some magic with ChatGPT and ed created some beautiful Processing programs together. I acted as the visionary so to speak and ‘Chat’ sorted the technicals side of the programming. I feel it’s start of a beautiful relationship. Well maybe? Or maybe not, because the amount of code and patience needed just to create one viable program is actually astounding! I have managed to find a workable solution to this now, and the results are actually quite beautiful. I am putting in all of this work now as the digital output from these programs will be used to finish augmenting my Barcelona Graffiti book. What Did I Learn? I learned an interesting technique that helps me better describe to ChatGPT what I want from a Processing program. I discovered a much less computer resource intensive […]

Jul 29

by Karyn in 21 Day Challenge, Augmented Reality, My Learning, Problem Solving, Unit 2 Blogs 0 comments tags: 21 Day Challenge, Augmented Reality, My Learning, Problem Solving, Unit 2 Blogs

21 Day Challenge – Day #17

Saturday 29th July – I worked solidly today trying to create a different kind of augmented reality experience. I thought of a really novel application for the augmented reality. I tested the principle and it actually works. I’ve now got to refine my idea. The Barcelona Graffiti book took a ‘back seat today’ as I grappled with my new augmented reality concept. I’m not yet quite ready to disclose my idea as it needs a lot of ‘fine tuning’. However, if my back is willing, I’ll work on this again tomorrow. What Did I Learn? I had a novel idea and it works! What Did I Actually Achieve? I made two experimental videos using augmented reality. I’ve not added them here as they weren’t great, but they did demonstrate a proof of my concept. I really excited to continue with this line of enquiry tomorrow.

Epic Making Session

Love Letters From AI

Mental Derive Part #3

MACBA Metamorphosis

21 Day Challenge – Outcomes

21 Day Challenge – Day #21

21 Day Challenge – Day #20

21 Day Challenge – Day #19

21 Day Challenge – Day #18

21 Day Challenge – Day #17

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