Week 4 Readings

COMPLEX SYSTEMS-

I like how They used the economy as an example for nested complex systems.  Economy> Organizations> People> Cells.  It was a good example of complex systems inside of complex systems.

#2
Made of closely connected Parts;
I also got that complexity is a matter of opinion and differs points of view.  The cracked mud for example.  Far away it seems simple and not complex, but upon closer inspection, you see the cracks in the mud and the patterns and it gets more complex the closer you get.  Not just the patten but what it is made of.

Self-Organization:
"

1. Strong dynamical non-linearity, often though not necessarily involving positive and negative feedback
2. Balance of exploitation and exploration
3. Multiple interactions"

NEW ONTOLOGIES

"And a general point I want to make here is that we have been dazzled by Mondrian. Instead of seeing dualist detachment and domination as a move, a tactic, a ploy, a very specific way of living, in the flow of becoming, we tend to mistake it for the world itself."

 

Robot!!

So I want to build a Robot, a simple moving robot that is solar powered.  I've seen many videos and read a lot of directions for building one.  So I believe it is doable in the time frame.  I would however if possible like to add maybe blinking lights?  Or an led strip of sorts to the bottom so that the path is lit.

I want to combine 2 models I've seen to make it a solar powered bot instead of running it off of batteries.

2 - 1,5V motors
2 - SPDT switchs mechanically easy to trigger
2 - AA battery
1 - AA battery holder
1 - plastic or wooden pearl
1 - heat shrink that will fit over the motor shaft

1.5v solar panel, probably much bigger to be able to actually power the bot
Soldering Gun
Glue Gun
Wires for connecting.

Readings 2

INTERACTIVITY AND AGENCY IN REAL TIME SYSTEMS

·      Transitioning from Object oriented to a Systems oriented culture, meaning not focusing on the things, or objects, but how they are done.

·      “One of the artist’s responsibilities would be to magnify how “technology uses us.”” (Burnham 1969: 146)

·      Gell talks about “art becoming enfranchised as an art object”, therefore you can only talk about it in art context, nothing else.  It’s interesting that he didn’t want to label his examples as art in order for it not to be group or label as such because he wanted it to be discussed in other context.

·      I liked that Burnham and Gell both viewed art as more than an object, as processes and doings.    I also liked how they mention that art is limited in what it can be in the institutions because they like to label and put boundaries on what art is and can be.

·      “Doing” “Doing theories of art shift the focus from the aesthetics of art objects to the aesthetics of relationships, between people and their environments. “The organic connection between art and its environment is so meaningful and necessary that removing one from the other results in abortion.” (Kaprow 1961: 85)”

o   I like how they focus on “Doing” not as in the actual, but focusing on the relationship people and their environment.

·       “Systems can be static/dynamic Õ which can be linear/closed loop Õ which can be recirculating/selfregulating Õ which can be first-/second order Õ which can be self-adjusting/learning.”

DON’T GIVE UP!  MEDIA ART AS AN ENDLESS CONVERSATIONAL PROCESS

·      Media Art as having blurred and complex boundaries.  I like this particular statement, meaning that others realize the potential and almost limitless boundaries.  You cannot necessarily just stop and say that it is done, because it can always be improved upon and made better.

·      Simple ideas and plans are a good start, but even the most simple plan is complex with many components.

·      Always seek other people opinions and examples when working, it can lead to bigger, more broad ideas that you may not have realized at first.

Systems Diagrams

Adaptation:

            Trees

            Cardiovascular System

Feedback

            Cardio Vascular System

            Internet

            Trees

            Transportation

Interdependency

            Cardio

            Trees

            Internet

           

Self-Regulation and homeostasis

            Tree

            Cardiovascular

            Internet (to an extent)

            Transportation

How I do Art System 

Readings 1

*updated version*

-“What are Cybernetics and Systems Science?”, F. Heylighen, C. Joslyn & V. Turchin

·      Systems Theory focuses on the structure of a system, while cybernetics focuses on how the system functions.

-Cybernetics, Gordon Pask

·      Most of this article refers to Cybernetics as a series of learning.  Cybernetics is used as a way to understand the systems around us to help us learn to control and understand various factors and systems.  To make it easier for us to understand, such as the brain, plants, environment, etc.

-Systems Theories:

·      Cybernetics and Complex Systems are being used as synonyms.

·      Systems Theory “focuses on complexity and interdependence”, meaning there are a lot of parts and it depends (relies) on itself.

·      An Organization/ company is a form of system.  They rely on feedback and people in order to better themselves and their standing.

·      Systems Theory and Order, good example was the animals and then being effected by outside diseases that lead to animal decline, followed by regrowth of the population to food shortages and eventually decline in animals again as the cycle repeats itself in order to maintain balance.

·      Holistic, the wholeness, refers to observing the system as a whole and not separately on in parts, or taking it apart in order to study individual parts of the system.

·      Isomorphism, meaning equal shape.

-Systems Concepts:

·      I knew most of the concepts and terms in a general basis.  It was however interesting to think of them in a more broad way, instead of just simple literary use. 

·      Autopoiesis for example, means self- production.  When you think of self-production you think of things that create on their own, typically living forms such as plants, producing vegetation, or spreading and growing.

·      An example of this was given in class, the growing of metal in a alcohol solution with batteries. 

-Systems Art:

·      As Someone who has done a bit of Systematic Art and Painting (in the form of coding), it was interesting to see other ways how art can be incorporated and translated to a non-traditional form, such as Generative Systems.

·      In Generative Systems, the use of algorithms and computing codes and patterns for the machine or cyborg to paint was interesting.

-Systems Aesthetics:

·      Reading that Systems Art in Military wasn’t something I was familiar with, but as I read that portion, it made sense in that it takes programmers and people to develop these “systems” and “technologies” that make out lives not only easier, but can make them safer.

·      “Scientists and technicians are not converted into "artists," rather the artist becomes a symptom of the schism between art and technics.”  This quote in particular made me think of Socially Engaged Art.  As a way of using “Art” in all its forms and techniques as a way to inform people.  To show processes and issues  in the world and community and how to correct or be handle them.