GMU:Speculative Atmospheres

Werk/Fachmodul
Lecturer: Christian Doeller
Credits: 6 ECTS, 4 SWS
Date: Tuesday, 9:30 until 12:45
Venue: Online, "Park an der Ilm" and Marienstraße 7b, Room 201
First meeting: April 13, 9.30

Video Link: https://vimeo.com/532615636
Password: speculativeAtmospheres

Description:

How can we sharpen our perception and look at the seemingly familiar from a new perspective?

In the module "Speculative Atmospheres" we will explore the ever-changing states of our environment. We will operate by means of our own senses as well as with the filters, magnifying glasses and distorting mirrors of technical systems.

We will experiment with Arduino, Processing and various sensors to convert environmental phenomena into electrical voltages and numerical values. Through visualizations, sounds or kinetic objects, we will generate new sensory experiences from the collected data.

Our class will partly take place in the "Park an der Ilm“ in Weimar. Here we will take walks, train our perception, test ideas and develop prototypes. The park as a hybrid ecosystem will be our experimental laboratory, our speculative atmosphere.

The module will be a mix of technical, "creative" and theoretical components. The aim is to not only work together on our technological capabilities, but also to critically look at the topics/positions/ideas we are dealing with.

Participants:

• Maximilian Glass
• Emil Torp
• Robin Wieber
• Junting Liu
• Fei Xie
• Anna Wißmüller
• Egor Gavrilov
• Friedrich Wilhelm Albrecht Pittelkow
• Marta Iranzo
• Ingrid Kussatz
• Christian Kummer
• Alina Draeger

Sensor Tutorials:

• Analog Temperature Sensor
• Analog Sound Sensor
• Water Sensor
• Soil Humidity Sensor
• Analog Gas Sensor
• Analog Piezoelectric Ceramic Vibration Sensor
• Thin-film Pressure Sensor
• DHT11 Temperature and Humidity Sensor
• Infrared Obstacle Avoidance Sensor
• Triaxial Acceleration Tilt Sensor / Gyroscope
• HC-SR04 Ultrasonic Sensor
• Photo Interrupter Module
• Knock Sensor Module
• Capacitive Touch Sensor
• Flame Sensor
• PIR Motion Sensor
• Digital Tilt Sensor
• Hall Magnetic Sensor (Magnet not included)
• Steam Sensor

Artists / Links:

• Olafur Eliasson: The Weather Project
• Kerstin Ergenzinger: The Cosmic and the Affective
• Ursula Damm: I am a Sensor
• Agnes Meyer Brandis: One Tree ID
• Céleste Boursier-Mougenot: From Here to Ear
• David Bowen: Telepresent Wind (...)
• Marco Barotti: Clams
• Rasa Smite & Raitis Smits: Pond Battery / Swamp Radio
• Niklas Roy: Umbrellaphone Workshop
• DIY#1, DIY#2, DIY#3
• Jennifer Gabrys

Schedule:

April 13 – Introduction

April 20 – Arduino (I)

- starter kit components

- breadboard connections

- analog / digital converter

- hello world! (blink LED & feedback in serial monitor)

- button input & button input with LED

- variables + if statements

April 27 – Arduino (II)

- analog input potentiometer

- analog input LDR + voltage divider

- analog input + LED PWM output

May 04 – Processing

- introduction

- basic drawing

- basic sound

- Arduino X Processing

May 11 – Park an der Ilm

May 18 – Sensors (I)

- sensor presentations (see list above)

- personal projects

May 25 – Sensors (II)

- sensor presentations (see list above)

- personal projects

June 1 – personal consultations

Topics:

Technology:

• Getting started with Arduino
• Connecting and reading different sensors
• Getting familiar with different output possibilities
• Basic visualizations with Processing
• Establishing a ping-pong connection between Arduino and Processing
• translating sensor data into movements, drawings, sounds…

Art & Thinking:

• Contemporary (media) art positions that relate to the subject matter
• Different ways to observe processes and dependencies in our surroundings
• Strategies in working with sensor technologies and input/output systems
• Feedback mechanisms, cybernetic circuits
• Relations between humans – technology – „nature“/environment
• Relations between the physical and the digital
• // DIY: make your own sensor
• // Anthroprocene - discourse

Literature:

• Make: Getting Started with Arduino, EAN 9781449363314
• Arduino Cookbook, O’REILLY, German/English, ISBN Print: 978-3-86899-353-0
• Das Sensor Buch, O’REILLY, ´German, ISBN 978-3-95561-902-2
• Make: Sensors, ISBN: 9781449368104
• Make: Getting Started with Processing, MIT Press, ISBN: 9781457187087
• Processing: A Programming Handbook for Visual Designers, ISBN: 9780262028288
• Arduino Tutorials 1: https://www.arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/HomePage
• Arduino Tutorials 2: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfYfK0tzHZTpNFrc_NDKfTA
• Processing Tutorials 1: https://processing.org/tutorials/
• Processing Tutorials 2: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvjgXvBlbQiydffZU7m1_aw

• Karen barad: Agential Realism / Agentieller Realismus, ISBN 9783518260456
• Hannes Bergthaller, Eva Horn: Anthropozän zur Einführung, ISBN 978-3-96060-311-5
• Klimakunstforschung, ISBN: 3883962996
• Christiane Heibach: Dem Spüren auf der Spur: Zur Wahrnehmung biologischer und technischer sensorischer Systeme, Link: https://www.medienobservationen.de/pdf/20200430Heibach1.pdf
• Verena Kuni: The Plants Are (Watching) Sensing, Link: https://www.medienobservationen.de/pdf/20200430Kuni6.pdf
• Field_Notes – From Landscape to Laboratory, https://s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/hybridmatters-production/media/Field_Notes-From_Landscape_To_Laboratory-2013.pdf
• Richard Brautigan/Adam Curtis: All Watched Over By Machines Of Loving Grace, https://allpoetry.com/All-Watched-Over-By-Machines-Of-Loving-Grace, https://thoughtmaybe.com/all-watched-over-by-machines-of-loving-grace/
• Emma Marris: The Nature You See in Documentaries is Beautiful and False, https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2021/04/problem-nature-documentaries/618553/

Material fee / personal equipment:

• there will be a material fee of max. 30€ for basic things like Arduinos, breadboards, wires, …
• Links to the equipment needed will be sent via e-mail.
• Our module will partly take place outside, bringing your own laptop is required.

Venue / Structure:

The module will initially be held online via video conference: https://meeting.uni-weimar.de/b/jor-irj-ap6-so8. However, there will be lots of practical exercises that explicitly involve "the outside world". In summer, it is planned to have sessions outside in the "Park an der Ilm" in Weimar, perhaps also in a kind of classroom situation in the DIY electronics studio in M7 201.

Language & skill level:

• The module will be held in English, unless all participants are speaking German.
• No prior knowledge of electronics/programming is required.

Criteria for passing:

• document exercises on the wiki, present them for the rest of the class
• experiment, attend the classes and develop your own prototype relating to the topic

Application:

• The application deadline will be on April 6, 2021
• Please send an e-Mail with the subject „Application Speculative Atmospheres“ to melanie.birnschein[AT]uni-weimar.de
• Your e-mail should contain the following info:

1. Full name and matriculation number
2. course of study, BA/MA
3. Your e-mail address
4. A small PDF containing previous works
5. Your motivation for joining the module