During this semester I have researched subjects such as: nature, machines, reaction, interpretation, relation and observation. These themes have led me to do experiments on them working on few different mediums including wood, printers, Processing (open source programming language), screen printing and experiments done out in environment mainly with wind using microphone, smoke pallets and barrier tape. I’ve been intrigued to visualise the interaction between human and machines, machines and nature, how these processes are and could work.

I have found the investigation of communication between the nature and machines really interesting. This might be because man’s urge to explain the nature trough out the history with religion and science. We have beliefs and theories. Nonetheless we still haven’t got answers to all of our questions and don’t completely understand how the world around us is working. Design can be used as a tool, not necessarily explain but as a way to join the conversation and comment. I have combined the reactions happening in the nature with experimental machines to re-interpetate or imitate them. I believe there is something unique and worth paying attention in the phenomenons constantly surrounding us.

Now coming to the end of the unit I’ve learnt that working with machines and nature can be time consuming. Just to understand the basics of the first can take days and especially the latter one (if not the first sometimes too) has a mind of it’s own. There hasn’t been a finished outcome from investigation I’ve done which led to suspicion at times, am I doing the right things. I didn’t feel I had an evidence of the time spent to justify my actions to myself. It has rather been an experimental journey filled with trying, failing, realisations and aroused questions that has left me feel a bit lost from time to time. However now looking forwards to my final major project I think this is a good place to be to start a new stage to work on the most interesting parts of my investigation.

Feed back given after presentations and small group tutorials through out Independent Practice: Articulation unit has indicated that the audience might have had difficulties to understand what I’ve been doing during this semester and how the interaction with Processing projects is meant to work. This video is a self explanatory piece documenting setting up and running one of my projects in real environment.

This Processing sketch uses a microphone on a computer to collect data and reacts visually in real time to what it is hearing. I recorded sound of wind with solid state recorder and played it trough speakers to computers microphone. The sketch is meant to visualise a non-visual natural force, how wind is blowing over open field and moving a cursor on the screen of the computer.

Artificial and real together. Hard to keep track, they’re all mixed up in the end.