Anna Weisling

Null/Void is a boundary object designed to apply a metaphor for materiality onto a digital performance practice. The project imagines a world in which unlimited digital capabilities are, in fact, reliant upon finite resources which can be exhausted through use. The objective of Null/Void, then, is to represent, as materially as possible, these depleting resources during the course of a live laptop performance.

The interface is a metal enclosure containing audio analysis units (Raspberry Pi), user input controls, and voltmeter displays (Arduino). When performing, musical content is analyzed by the interface, and the “resource banks” are depleted accordingly over time (reflected through the voltmeters). When your resources run out, the performance is forced to end.

The n/v interface is capable of operating in two modes: “low-risk” and “high-risk.” In the low-risk state, the use of pitch and dynamic content (as well as the duration allotted to each performance) will “run out” predictably: time will run out linearly, and your pitch and amplitude materials will deplete according to the musical content produced. In the high-risk state, in addition to the depletion of resources based on your musical content you will also experience random, unpredictable additions and subtractions to each resource bank. In the high-risk state, resources act unpredictably--at times there may be purges or injections of resources, forcing creative problem-solving and resource management.

Carve uses motion capture data from three different styles of movement to erode away an imaginary landscape. 

Just as the natural elements of wind, rain, water, and earth change and shape the environment over time, the body wears away the layers of the ground, resulting in topography with unique characteristics ranging from cliffs and valleys to basins and rivers.

This work is intended to explore the relationship the human body has with time, space, and movement in a tangible way - please feel free to touch the exhibit.

Light Beer is the result of a semester-long collaboration with an expert crafter. Its objectives are threefold:

1. Produce an aestheticallly pleasing, functional household object;
2. Accurately reflect real-time levels of beer fermentation/carbonation;
3. Reflect the emotional components of the beer brewing process

Beer brewing is a highly technical process, however, there are often underlying elements of care-taking, emotional investment, and personal expression. There are obvious parallels to childbirth and rearing: the gestation of life (yeast and the fermentation process), constant checkups (is the beer healthy? Is it carbonating properly? Is it ready for consumption yet?), and even a naming process.

With such a high personal investment, it's no surprise that many brewers often check the progress of their beer obsessively, excited by each new bubble in the airlock. Unfortunately, opening and closing the fridge to do so produces fluctuations in temperature--not good for the beer. 

Light Beer is a digital intervention which takes readings of the pressure levels inside the bottles of carbonating batches and represents that state in a night-light of sorts. As the beer gets closer to its "due date" more bubbles are generated in the liquid inside the lamp, providing a reassuring connection to the beer without jeopardizing its health.

**This project involved observing and participating in a craft (brewing). Updates on the first ever Weislinbraü will be posted after conditioning.**

140 Steppes attempts to take a snapshot of someone’s day and convey the emotional and linguistic terrain of that moment in their life. A single tweet is changed into something abstracted from words, but which still conveys a sense of meaning, illustrating the emotional heights or depths of someone’s thoughts. What results is a topographical map which invites a viewer to imagine navigating an instant in a stranger’s life—entering their personal landscape which, though encapsulated by only 140 characters, could map a climb up Mount Everest, or a view over gently sloping hills. 

Technology Used:
Processing
Twitter API (twitter4j404)

PeasyCam Library (Jonathan Feinberg)
RiTa Sentiment Analysis Library (rednoise)
Sentiment Library(University of Chicago/Hu & Liu)

Data can be powerful, particularly when used to reframe or reconfigure a concept that is normally viewed on its own. It can lend power to something that is complacent, and can bring a stagnant topic back into discourse. At the heart of it all data are numbers, and numbers mean very little on their own. Often, though, they represent something bigger—an idea, balance, a state—something that resonates at a human level. It’s no wonder new music strives to harness that power in composition, to varying success.

This piece is driven by traffic, it is not about traffic. Using the constraints of time, space, and color, Doubtfulsounds considers the balance and flow of cars in the Midtown neighborhood and strives to sonify something simple into a minimalist composition which ebbs and flows as rush hour does. Glitch, distortion, and repetition are the driving factors, as opposed to the more traditional tonal development generally developed in pieces. 

Technology Used:
EarSketch (Python, JavaScript)
Google Maps
AppleScript
Terminal
Max/MSP/Jitter

the rest is construction combines relatively minimal and straightforward technologies with hand-crafted objects in order to produce an intimate, interactive experience and evoke the somatic and cognitive impact of anxiety. The viewer is encouraged to engage physically and emotionally with a world that lies on the other side of a white screen, one that only they can see, by looking through a specialized viewing device. What they take from the stillness, or the movement, or the scene unfolding in front of them is unknown to the rest of the world. 

It is an interactive installation which seeks to emulate the experience of living with anxiety to a viewer through haptic and visual interactions. The viewer is encouraged to look through a bespoke viewing device resembling a camera, and watch a series of tableaus displayed on a computer monitor. The monitor itself has been stripped of its polarizing filter, meaning that only by looking through the camera can any image be seen. As the participant holds the device, several scenes progress forward, unfolding a loose narrative, however, if the camera is not held steady the image will distort and step backwards. Thus, only by remaining still, relaxed, and calm can one view the piece from start to finish.

Technology Used:
LCD Display (polarizing screen lens)
Laser cut camera
Arduino Nano
ADXL337 (accelerometer)
LilyPad Vibe Board (vibration motor)
Max/MSP/Jitter

the rest is construction was featured at the art.CHI2016 gallery exhibition in San Jose, California. It was awarded an honorable mention.

All the more my thoughts multiply is a work for flute, electroacoustic sound, and interactive video that explores the psychology of a lone character from the Noh play “Aoinoue”, taken from the massive and influential 11th c. Japanese epic “Tale of Genji.” Possessiveness is a challenge to overcome. Spirits and Shamanic exorcism evoke opportunities to explore the elements of such possessions. In this mono-drama the gestural significance of both the spatialized sound and the movements of the flutist weave together textures of light and music through an ancient Japanese folk story.

Prompt: 6399 - Hacking and Tinkering

This project was in collaboration with Joshua A. Fisher and Sandjar Kozubaev (both of Georgia Tech). It was featured on Instructables.com, gathering over 4.5 thousand views.

The project uses the practices of hacking and citizen science to explore electromagnetic radiation emitted by everyday objects. The focus of this project is not the effects of EMF fields on the human body, but on ways by which we can detect and perceive such forces.

By hacking an old walkman (cassette player), we were able to detect and sonify the electromagnetic energy produced by various objects. Utilizing non-newtonian liquid and the principles of cymatics, we were able to transduce this normally silent and invisible energy into observable, tangible materials.

Technology Used:
Walkman
Speaker
Corn Starch, Water
Max/MSP, Final Cut Pro X, Audacity

Flatland is a piece designed within extreme limitations. The performers are challenged to give life to the work using elemental principles of shape, color, light, movement, timbre, and resonance while exploring the possibilities afforded by such finite resources.

Doom Fork: Eric Sheffield

Prompt: 6399 - Designing for Practice

This project seeks to illustrate a method of prototyping that not only addresses existing issues within experimental performance practices, but also opens a dialogue between communities regarding the role of visual content within new media work. Drawing upon reflective design practices in particular, it identifies, through its initial conceptualization and prototyping stages, the ways in which constructing a novel physical instrument can shape a piece, re-situate preconceptions, and foster new creative relationships between artists with an emphasis on individual and collaborative expression. 

Using speculative and critical approaches encouraged in reflective design methodologies, drome examines the existing relationships between two fields (computer music/laptop performance, and live visual performance) and identifies shared approaches to instrument/interface design. Through the examination of presupposed/preexisting dynamics between performers and technologically-enhanced instruments/interfaces, it facilitates the exploration of three areas of contention: issues of attention, mapping, and obfuscation. These matters have serious impacts on performance capabilities, particularly those of expression, collaboration, and synchrony/autonomy. With these conditions in mind, design guidelines were produced and drome was prototyped.

Technology Used:
Laser Cutter
Max/MSP/Jitter

Prompt: 6399 - Design Fiction as Method

babbler is a hypothetical product inspired by an article by Justin Davis and Ronald C. Arkin, Mobbing Behavior and Deceit and its role in Bio-inspired Autonomous Robotic Agents. This tech report analyzes the “bluffing” behavior of a particular bird, the Arabian Babbler, and seeks to utilize such concepts in Artificial Intelligence. The existing theories of anti-predator behavior generally involve what’s known as “handicap principle,” where an act with a high potential cost (such as death by predator, as in the bird’s case) must be honest in order for it to be effective. The Babbler, however, seems to act in a dishonest way, considering the potential reward (thwarting an attack by the enemy) outweighs the risk of being caught in the act of lying.

This project seeks to imagine a future in which current technologies (video analytic software in particular) have become consumer tools used to deceive those closest to us. babbler became a hybrid product: an add-on for video chat platforms which uses real-time emotional analysis and 3D wireframe modeling to manipulate the experience of the romantic partner. I created an interface, company website, and ad campaign, beginning with two related ads, one for a man and one for a woman. Stark, provocative, and minimalistic, each ad targets a specific person and situation: A woman annoyed by her boyfriend’s misinterpretation of her facial expression, and a man caught not listening to what his girlfriend is saying. In exploring possible non-romantic applications, I added a third situation that could apply to nearly anyone: a man participating in an online interview. 

The project presents a future in which we embrace a social dystopia--a total breakdown of interpersonal relationships wherein you are sending a manipulated affect based on incoming information, which might likely be undergoing the same manipulation. This cyclical feedback loop is particularly compelling, and inspires reflection on how technology connects us and comes between us.

Technology Used:
Skype, MaxMSP

Prompt: 8803 - Hybrid Puppet/Performance Object

light loop is a performance object which enables the user to create looping patterns of light through the rotation of a ceramic bowl. A conductive ball, when spun inside the object, will create connections along the circumference, lighting LEDs at whatever rate the performer chooses. This is a simple exercise in making a digital technique (looping) tangible, giving the performer an expressive haptic interface. 

Prompt: 8803 - Wearables

Hot lace is a project in collaboration with fashion designer Karen Glass (http://www.zerowastekarenglass.com), to incorporate technology into a proof-of-concept prototype and demonstrate how wearable technology can become creative media artifacts.

Technology Used:
Thermochromic Ink
Processing, Arduino

TuneTable is a responsive tabletop application with a tangible user interface. The intention is to teach basic computer programming concepts to middle school-aged and high school-aged students (9-16 years old) using physical blocks that work as snippets of code. TuneTable applies computational elements like: functions, parameters, and nested loops. Users compose short songs by building chains of blocks that represent code. Each block has a unique design on the bottom that, when placed on the acrylic surface of the table, is identified by the software using cameras mounted underneath the surface of the table. When the arrangement of blocks is recognized, the application outputs musical and visual feedback.

Prompt: 8803 - Wearable Technology

Guilty Pleasure is a wearable project that tackles the secret, sometimes shameful relationship we have with music. As social creatures, we use music to express our own personalities, form communities, and gauge our compatibility with those around us. Musical preferences can be so deeply held that an insult to our favorite band or song is taken as a direct reflection on who we are as people, a personal slight. But, as closely tied as we are to our preferences, the fact is that most of us hold two versions of our musical personas: a public, outward-facing version, and the secret, inner version—one which we don’t want the rest of the world to know about. Guilty Pleasure forces the wearer to own that secret part of his or her sonic palate, broadcasting the truth to the world in bright, scarlet letters. 

Prompt: 8803 - Film Prop

Drome draws inspiration from Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey. As a science fiction film, 2001 is considered a prolific example of both technological and aesthetic accomplishments, and features some of the most iconic scenes in cinematic history. Drome was constructed to both embody the notions of celestial space, as depicted in 2001, as well as reflect two specific cinematic elements of the movie itself: a scene in which the main character walks through an octagonal hallway, and the infamous “star gate” sequence. 

Arbor I-V was commissioned by saxophonist Nick Zoulek to be presented in multiple concerts of contemporary saxophone repertoire. The music for these multimedia pieces was derived solely from recordings of saxophone sounds played by Nick, many of which were improvised in the studio. The visual elements and overall aesthetic were inspired by a single day shooting video in the UW-Madison Arboretum. We strived to maintain the unexpected natural beauty of the source material throughout this work, both aural and visual, by allowing the original subjects to maintain their integrity even as they are manipulated and deconstructed.

Sax: Nick Zoulek
Composer: Eric Sheffield

Music by Andrew Harrison

“Marshall McLuhan said, “The content of any medium is another medium.” Ariel is an audio-visual piece, a piece in two mediums, about a third medium; the content of Ariel is the poetry of Sylvia Plath.”

The words of Sylvia Plath were firmly in our minds when constructing this piece, from the color palette and video content to the pacing and recitation of the sounds themselves. Harnessing the strikingly visual language of the poem itself, the piece attempts to convey the several layers of Plath’s work: a recounting of her daily horse-ride, yes, but also a metaphor for her life, the tedium of existence, and for her impending death. From the tenderness of her morning routine to the chaos of her descent into mental illness, Plath maintained extraordinary beauty in her work; we hope to exemplify some of the same.

Music by Eric Sheffield. Video by Anna Weisling

Spaces was inspired by two versions of space: physical distances almost inconceivably large and figurative distances between two disparate lives.

Echoes was inspired by the reluctant yet inescapable realization that you’ve been repeating yourself and are not particularly pleased with what you were saying in the first place.

All of the electronic sounds in these two short pieces are comprised of relatively simple manipulations of glockenspiel recordings.  Detections of pitch and amplitude function to drive oscillators that are continually drawn to the screen and shaped over time by the visual performer.  Using varying levels of feedback, amplitude modulation, and mathematical operations the performer is able to create a visual representation of the complexities inherent in even the simplest of sounds.

Fixed music by Eric Sheffield. Live audio and visuals by Anna Weisling

What does a country sound like?  If we could listen to the movement of its people, it’s traffic, what would we hear?

This piece is data-based. At the core it is really about letting data drive a performance and allowing visuals to dictate audio. I am simply an interpreter of that system of information.

The maps used show airplane traffic over course of 24 hours, centered over the US and the UK.  Each country, when played, produces a unique sound.