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:

Sensor Tutorials:

Artists / Links:

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:

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