Technical Statement

Steel Ice & Stone is the union of three media: Still image photographs, sound media and electronics. I created, collected and designed all aspects of this work. All three components contribute equally to the expression of the installation and the viewer's experience.

The viewer walks through the installation: a constellation of nine large—4 x 5-foot—photographs hanging from the ceiling of the exhibition space. Doing so, the viewer trips sensors set to play sound bytes from sound units embedded in each piece.

The work samples contain images of the artwork itself, the new sound unit's schematic, and my past work using this combination of media. The photographs are laser-exposed c-prints (not inkjets). The sound is the combination of machine sounds and bird calls from indigenous North American birds. The electronics is an embedded sound unit I am designing and building for this installation. It contains the sound chip, the sensor mechanism, and calibrating capacity for the sound volume (loudness) and sensor sensitivity.

All my work is in this media.

The effect? On me, was that feeling that I got when walking on lone, quiet streets in Cologne in early November. I'd be walking to my inn, a few steps from the red-nosed crowds at galleries, markets and carnival events, and felt a musing of freedom, different from anything I felt at home. A gentle anonymity, a pensive curiosity, the right combination of independence and belonging filled my reservoir of emotions; it’s a moment of introspection I move to share with others.

Work Statement

Steel Ice & Stone is a 9-photograph sound and image installation. The large—4 x 5 foot—images are of pieces of steel, ice and stone. The sound is the melding of machine sounds with birdcalls. The sensor electronics unite the interplay of the media by delivering the sound byte only when the viewer is there to experience it.

The combination of media conveys how I process the events of my life and times: the still image holds the moment captured in time, while the sound weaves through that moment in the present. This creates a layered experience conveying my thoughts and emotions balancing presence and time.

The expression of the piece is that loss, and the emotions it evokes, are both mutable and indelible, hence the still images and the morphing of the sound from the unforgiving sounds of machinery to the gentle warble of a birdsong.

The nuance of recollection is very powerful to me. Sensual recall of an event plays heavily in my work. 


Peripherally absorbing the work by sauntering through the suspended images is the breath of the installation. It’s a moment of connection and introspection I move to share with others.

New thoughts, new emotions--The Installation IV

As the days get shorter and colder, there's a gentle melancholy that floats under my hat, and it reminisces the feeling of Steel Ice and Stone. Oddly, I created it in summer.

Events, piling on one another, distract and steer me away, but only for a moment. Delving deeper and deeper into this piece demands introspection.

The nuance of recollection is very powerful to me. Memories gauge time for me, yes, as do the many lists I write--and keep--but the recall of a feeling rather than event plays very heavily in finishing this piece. Getting the sensations just right--formed by walking closely past an abstract image and hearing an abstract though vaguely familiar sound--noise--sound?--is the breath of the installation.

The effect? On me, was that feeling that I used to get walking on lone, quiet streets in Cologne in early November. I'd be walking to my inn, a few steps from the red-nosed crowds at galleries, markets and carnival events, and felt a musing of freedom, different from the freedom that I felt later on when I drove to the Midwest (more on that another time).

Right now, I don't have a semblance of that abandon, but it doesn't affect me other than reflecting on it. At this point in time, freedom represents just a little time to myself, looking back and recalling that nuance of the wet cold air, the musty smell on my humid clothing and the sun that seems to be barely rising and always setting.

The Sound II

Sound must come on the blog, ASAP.

A collection of edited bytes as a video is the only way I can think of posting it to the blog.

As for its meaning:
The sound means quite little if there is no one present to trigger the playback, and that is of enormous importance to me. I believe that the installation should remain silent if no viewers are present--why waste a message on plain air? Thinking more about this, it's the travel of the viewer through the installation that gives it life.

The images are quite beautiful and can stand by themselves, however, the passage of the viewer through the collection, which right now is envisioned as three "enclaves" of three images as seen above, sets off the sound. In composing the raw materials, I'm wondering if the sound composition should transform on the byte or if a signal from another source should start other sound playback. I want the viewer to sense the sound's transformation and not instead witness a chaos of noise because too much is going on.

The Installation III

A friend and colleague wrote after he saw the blog:

Does the piece change over time in regard to the materials? Does ice melt?

I was confused by the observation; they're photographs. What would sadly change is the piece's stability in the environment, but otherwise, no; quite the opposite. A central concept is that  the images are of hard, unyielding materials that eventually relent over the passing of time. The sound (not yet uploaded but coming soon) is soft, fluid, and moves with the viewer as she/he travels through the installation.

The pieces have not yet been situated, though I've begun to map it out with stick figures. A rough calculation is that the piece will occupy a space of 25x 50 feet--not a small space. 

However, generous space is needed also because of the sound elements. Because there is no spoken word and the sound is the weaving and layering of multi-directional sound bytes of varying length, the space the piece occupies becomes, as the above-mentioned colleague suggested, a choreographed element of the installation.

The Sound

The sound has been an uphill battle. Not conceptualizing it, but getting down to the technical processing of it. My do-it-yourself attitude needs some readjustment here; sound recording does require some time to master and the different tricks are learned on the fly. Some bytes I taped are just plain terrible and must be discarded.

But, on the aesthetic side of this component: The collection I've assembled are bird calls and machine noises. The bird calls I've collected mostly from birder cites but am looking for more. The idea for the birdcalls has been developing quite a long time when, that summer in Löwenich I heard two different bird calls. One from an amsel, the other from a dove, whose name escapes me now (but I'll get it).

Neither of the birds sounded like a machine of any kind, but, it led me to listen to bird songs, and in doing so, realized how many of them are pulses, bleats and taps resembling the machine sounds I'd taped over the years.

As time allows, I'll start processing the sound I in my library to better evaluate it.

Sound Unit

Thinking about using an I-Pod Shuffle as the sound unit, hooked up to a sensor, and and speaker. Sounds good, since it would be a clean presentation. However, how would the thing be recharged?

The Installation ll

Trying to show SIS has always been a challenge. The pieces are big and expensive; the work, as a whole, like SMV is hard to describe visually because it needs to be experienced. When it was conceptualized, it was a silent piece; they were going to he held by clams as they leaned forward; then, by brackets as they leaned back. With technical advances, the pieces now hand from the ceiling.

SIS is about breaking down my self-imposed isolation coming from the pain and loneliness I felt at the end of a long intimate relationship. Some who've seen it have suggested that it's about dying and regeneration.

Not really.

It's about closing down and opening up again. 

The Installation

While of late I've been concentrating on the electronics, I view tiny thumbnails of the images daily and the sound of the piece has never left my mind.

All three components--Images, Sound and Electronics--are equally important; all contribute to the expression of the installation and the viewer's experience. The installation can't exist without all three components; no one component can exist by itself.

While the images could create the environment by hanging alone, without the interactive element and the sound media, the large prints stretched on canvas could be room dividers. The sound, without the visuals and electronics are sound effects and birdcalls that would sit idly on a CD. The electronics--nothing more need be said.

This work has been so long in the making. However it was always in my heart and mind to complete because its timbre resonates in many chambers of my mind and soul. As time passes, to my surprise, I've become more lenient of events around me. Accepting of reality has never been a strong point, adapting to it--somewhat--has. Steel Ice & Stone is unfolding as a witness to my reaction to my surroundings, as if I had little to do with it.

My ideas for the piece have changed little over the years, even if those who have seen the piece evolve think it's in constant flux. As the electronics become resolved, I'm turning my attention to is the sound. As all the aspects approach completion, the culmination of the piece is imminent: the melding of the components together to create the final experience.

That is the the challenge, the one I so look forward to.

New Schematic

Assembling the code.

OK, so the unit has been figured out, somewhat. How to code it through a microcontroller?
Breaking down all the actions is somewhat easy, pretending your dealing with someone with an incredibly short attention span.

So, here goes, for Sensor A, the sensor that picks up a viewer and plays sound from the piece:

a) Viewer crosses Sensor A.
b) Sensor detects this and sends signal to the chip in the unit for sound playback
c) The sensor turns itself off for the duration of the playback on the chip.
d) When the chip has finished its playback, the sensor turns on again.

Easy enough, but, before this can happen, some other actions have to take place independently of what Sensor A is doing:

1. Before the viewer can cross Sensor A, it must be calibrated and smoothed: it must be set to pick up either:
     a) a break in the light caused by the shadow of the viewer
                  or
     b) movement within a specific range in front of it--for now, let's say 5 feet.

2. Before the sound can play, it must go through an amp which must be set to a specific loudness or volume, which is done at the time of calibration.

3. Before any of the above can happen, the unit must turn on an off according to a timer.

As a Final Project

It's great being a student, isn't it? 

Here's my final project, as written for my instructor:

Anita Giraldo

ENT1280

Description of Semester Project

Title: Sound unit for installation "Steel Ice & Stone"

Description: For my upcoming installation, I require a self-contained, free-standing sound unit that reacts to viewers in an exhibition space by 

1. playing a sound byte stored on a chip within it and

2. sending a signal to another sound unit in a remote location within the exhibition space for it to play the sound byte contained on the chip within it.

Implementation: The unit requires three inputs, all sensors:

1. Two sense the presence of a viewer in close proximity

2. one senses a signal from another sound unit

The unit has three outputs:

1. Two outputs are speakers that play back the two sound bytes from chips on the units

2. One sends a signal to another sound unit in a remote location within the exhibition space.

In addition, the unit must:

1. turn on and off

2. have controls to modulate the sensitivity of the sensors

3. have controls to modulate the loudness of the output (amplifiers)

4. be battery operated

5. be fully modular.

An old schematic from an engineer in OH

I had gotten this schematic from a really nice guy in OH who has responded to an email. I was going to contract him to build the sound unit, but discovered the Arduino instead.

Here's what he had come up with:

What could the Arduino be used for?

Perhaps it could:
a) Be used as a timer: IT would run for so may seconds until it turned of for so many seconds and then re-turn itself on.....
b) It could delegate different signals to the outputs

c) Reply the argument in a series of if--then statements.

Playing games with Calibration sketch

Below is the code to an Arduino sketch, Calibration. I'd use this to calibrate the sensitivity of the input sensors and perhaps the output signal to another piece. My questions are in BLUE.


Calibration

Demonstrates one technique for calibrating sensor input.  The
sensor readings during the first five seconds of the sketch
execution define the minimum and maximum of expected values
attached to the sensor pin.

The sensor minimum and maximum initial values may seem backwards.
Initially, you set the minimum high and listen for anything 
lower, saving it as the new minimum. Likewise, you set the
maximum low and listen for anything higher as the new maximum.

The circuit:
* Analog sensor (potentiometer will do) attached to analog input 0
* LED attached from digital pin 9 to ground

created 29 Oct 2008
By David A Mellis
Modified 4 Sep 2010
By Tom Igoe

http://arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/Calibration

This example code is in the public domain.

*/


// These constants won't change:
const int sensorPin = A0;    // pin that the sensor is attached to
const int ledPin = 9;        // pin that the LED is attached to
                                     // THE LED WOULD IN TURN LEAD TO THE 
                                        PLAYBACK CHIP

// variables:
int sensorValue = 0;           // the sensor value
int sensorMin = 1023;        // minimum sensor value
                                              //  HOW IS THIS VALUE ARRIVED TO?
int sensorMax = 0;           // maximum sensor value
                                    



void setup() {
 // turn on LED to signal the start of the calibration period:
 pinMode(13, OUTPUT);
 digitalWrite(13, HIGH);


 // calibrate during the first five seconds 
 // DOES THIS MEAN THAT I ONLY HAVE 5 SECONDS TO CALIBRATE THIS? while (millis() < 5000) {
   sensorValue = analogRead(sensorPin);


   // record the maximum sensor value
   // HOW IS THIS DONE?   if (sensorValue > sensorMax) {
     sensorMax = sensorValue;
   }


   // record the minimum sensor value
   // HOW IS THIS DONE?   if (sensorValue < sensorMin) {
     sensorMin = sensorValue;
   }
 }


 // signal the end of the calibration period
 digitalWrite(13, LOW);
}


void loop() {
 // read the sensor:
 sensorValue = analogRead(sensorPin);


 // apply the calibration to the sensor reading
 sensorValue = map(sensorValue, sensorMin, sensorMax, 0, 255);


 // in case the sensor value is outside the range seen during calibration
 sensorValue = constrain(sensorValue, 0, 255);


 // fade the LED using the calibrated value:
 analogWrite(ledPin, sensorValue);
}

Programming

Other than the hardware and the outside pieces, the issue remains of how to program it.

From the Arduino app and under file, the Arduino could be programmed to be the timer, turn the unit on and off and calbrate the sensor. 

Switches

The ON/OFF switch could be a pressure(push button) or toggle switch. The button switch may be effective if tied to the sensor's sensitivity (see diagram below).

The straight push-button switch may not be good in case the viewers can manipulate the controls of the installation, turning it on and off (unless a timer is used).

However, a toggle switch, which can also be manipulated, breaks too easily.

Or, in the case of the all the switches, perhaps a code operated switch would be the way to go, or the suggested tool-operated switch that is manipulated by a screw-driver.

Switch Plate

Original switch plate schematic with digital sliders and indicators, shown. Rather clean design; wondering if it can still work.

Sensor Ideas

a) Does a sensor exist that detects viewers through the piece--which consists of a piece of linen with a photo laminated to it?
b) What kind of sensor picks up a transmitted signal from another sensor and how is this calibrated? Would sonar work in this case, leading to the question below:
c) What kind of a signal must the unit transmit? Is it audible?

SMV sensor with the plug.

Other Battery Questions

Are there different types of batteries other than the standard 9V?

http://www.batterydepot.com

has so many to look at, which one is the type that I'd need?

And, what is power needed for?
a) LED indicators: are they needed? In SMV the LED indicators which ate up a lot of battery life were used to calibrate the sensors. Perhaps the sensors could be calibrated without the use of an LED. Or, perhaps the LEDs could be turned off after the sensors have been calibrated.
b) Amplifiers and Speakers: I suspect the bulk of the power is going to be needed to bring the sound out of the units and make them loud enough to hear in the space. As was pointed out to me, without sufficient power, the amp might only be able to play the chip once.
c) The power to run the actual unit. I have no idea how much power this would need.

What about a timer?

A timer could be set to turn the unit on and off so no technicians would be needed to turn the installation on or off. or, would the power needed to run the timer cancel itself out?

Wireless IR Sensor?

Nyko Wireless Sensor Bar - IR sensor

$7 online

Back of the piece

Stretcher bars with unit and speakers affixed.

How to power the Unit?

With the sound unit on SMV, batteries were a constant worry. In Brooklyn, where the units only ran for six hours, two days a week, the batteries had to be changed twice during the installation's six week run.

Further, to power the speakers I'm thinking of for SIS, I am going to need a power source that will hold up. The idea of wires running down the piece are less a consideration than last time since the pieces are suspended and the possibility of viewers touching the pieces might result in a shock. Besides, they're unsightly.

The burning questions:
• Is there a battery that lasts longer and still fits in the required depth of 1.5 inches? How long does its power last?
• Is its power storage easily measurable and able to be indicated, so that batteries can be changed before they run out?

Formal Treatment of the Sound Unit for the Nine-Piece Installation, Steel Ice & Stone

For my upcoming installation, I plan to develop an embedded sound unit to play sound from each of the nine pieces.

Each sound unit must react to the presence of viewers in three ways:
• It must detect the presence of a viewer within three feet of its accompanying sensor and play sound from a chip/amplifier/speaker when the viewer crosses it.
• It must have the ability to transmit, to another piece in the exhibition space, a signal of the presence of a viewer so it can play back sound.
• it must play back sound from another chip in the unit when it receives a signal from another piece.

While the above characteristics are expected to go through many design phases and modifications, there are some firm requirements:
• It requires an On/Off switch or a timer to save battery pawer
• It requires a power source not dependent on an outlet or have other wires visible in the exhibition space: that is, it requires battery operation
• It requires modulators and corresponding indicators so that the sensitivity of the sensors and the loudness of the sound can be controlled from a panel easily accessible on the piece

Other requirements:
 • Modularity: The breadboard, sensors, speakers and switches being free-standing, easily-assembled (snap-on/snap-off) units allows interchangeability for ease in installation of the units and in the event of breakage.
• While the size of the unit could measure as large as 8 x 10 inches, the depth of the unit cannot exceed 1.5 inches.

Thin speakers

AliBaba, an international trader, shows speakers for $ 200-500 when buying 100 sets from a manufacturer in Korea.

IMPEX COREA
21 Century City# 1405, Daeyeon-Dong, Nam-Gu
Busan, South Korea  600-822
82-51-4610705 Tel.


Looking at the illustration, it seems to be what I'm looking for; It fits behind a picture (how does the sound get out?) The 100 units is unacceptable, however. 


This can wait until later.

Ideas on Interactivity

Keeping the sound clean and simple is one thing, but will it make sense or sound like noise?
Observations by colleagues have added a new dimension to the piece: considering a better speaker so the sound is better transmitted.
Since the sound is neither music nor spoken word, and I'm planning for it to be multi-directional, it was recommended to me to research and possibly use a thin honey-comb speaker inside the piece which gives superior sound but, I can imagine, is quite expensive.

Moving right along

The electronics are what's taking center stage right now. Working with an instructor at City Tech, I've started a map-out of the sound unit using the Arduino as the micro controller to run it all. Over the next few days, I'll be back-posting the developments of the class, in addition to URL's of supplier websites, the Arduino forum and more.
A schematic has been drawn, and will be posted soon.

Got the UNO

What's interesting about this part of the journey is that now the technology allows me to create truly directed sound throughout the environment. Sensors can pick up a viewer's presence in one area and trigger sound from another, achieving the goal of directional sound as the immersive component.

UNO will ship after all

The company supplying the units do not sell the Duemila.

Steel Ice and Stone

To expand the interactivity options of SIS, I'm sitting in an interactive physical computing class at City Tech, where I teach Media Technology. I've already ordered the incorrect Arduino kit and will dash to the NYU bookstore to get the proper one.
I'd gotten the reading materials a while back and am quite excited to finally get this show on the road.