Category: 2016 fall

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Video & Sound ⁄ Week 7 ⁄ iVision

Postmortem: on process, collaboration

The most difficult aspect of working creatively with others is the compromise. Every step of the way, there were things which I would have liked to have done slightly differently than how they ended up being done given the input of all participants. I believe it’s possible for everyone to get exactly what they want— that is, unanimous satisfaction with the final product— through some sort of streamlined communication process. I’m not yet exactly sure what this is, but I know it involves:

  • everyone knowing what they want.
  • everyone communicating what they want as soon as possible (i.e. before any other step in the process of creating something happens). Once everyone understands what everyone else wants, the most fitting idea will emerge.
  • planning the entire creation process before starting, in terms of who will do what, and considering that roles may have to change slightly, later on.
  • responding rationally rather than emotionally. Like in a debate, or a critique, it’s not personal. When person A tries to explain why they think person B’s idea or choice may not be the best way to achieve a certain aesthetic, narrative or other goal, person B needs to respond by considering the new idea rationally (why does person A think this idea will better suit the collective goal) rather than getting upset that the idea they’ve fallen in love with may not be the most effective one.
  • all participants having the energy, at every step of the way, to speak their mind. When everyone has agreed on a certain shot but then one participant uncovers a way to possibly improve the shot, that thought needs to be externalized as soon as possible, and then considered by everyone.
  • reaching out for help without hesitation

Working like this is utterly exhausting, and takes possibly a lifetime to perfect, but must be done if the best possible outcome is desired. I’m not unhappy with the final product but know that I could have improved my satisfaction with it by figuring out what I wanted out of this project more concretely, working with the others in planning out specific roles for the entire creation process beforehand, and reaching out for help.

Seeking help is my biggest shortcoming— I tend to have a completist attitude toward my involvement to all the moving parts of my work, leaving me feeling like I’ve lost control or like the work is less valuable to myself when I seek the often much needed aide from others in order to get the job done better/faster. I was too shy or perhaps egotistical to reach out for someone with a better speaking voice to do the narration, so I did it myself, and I think it’s subpar despite my best efforts. Slowly I’ve been realizing that my work’s value to others is actually what gauges its value to myself, and so it’s more important that I utilize the world around me to make sure my ideas are executed most effectively rather than caring so much about my personal keepsake of “what I did”.

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Art Strategies ⁄ Week 6 ⁄ Happenings, Performance

Survival Research Laboratories is a California-based performance art group established by Mark Pauline in 1979. Customized industrial machines made from a wide array of repurposed mechanical parts are remotely operated by humans to perform unique, and infamously loud, dangerous, and destructive shows in front of live audiences.

Mini-doc of a Tokyo performance:

A list and descriptions of their machines can be found here. Some appropriated mechanical devices used include a backhoe, tesla coil, jet engines, aircraft tires, car parts, and Master Mover tugs.

“What ever happens in the show, we’ll try to plan it out and stage it in a very carefully considered way but we intentionally pace the show very rapidly, and we intentionally layer very extreme elements — elements that most people would never be exposed to unless they had been in a war or something some time in their lives. And so the impressions that people are gonna get from that are very personal, in the same way that, if a thousand people saw an accident everybody would have their own personal version of it and those versions would not necessarily agree with each other.  ” (Pauline, src)

SRL’s performances highlight a seminal issue which has been increasingly prevalent in industrialized societies. Through using technology in unintended ways, the performances help liberate the human condition from the claustrophobic, bureaucratic, orderly nature of modern society as imposed by these very machines. Similar to noise music, the destructive nature of the shows express the visceral level of catharsis to this release of the tensions felt between man and machine.

In another way, SRL expresses an escapist form of institutional critique.

“I started SRL with dissatisfaction for the other options I was trained for. I didn’t wanna work at a job, nor did I want to become part of the gallery/museum world… really just sort of an act of desperation… I didn’t like the experience of working with people as much as I liked the experience of working with machines, so I decided to try the experiment to see if it was possible to replace humans in a theatrical context with machines.” (Pauline, src)

 

 

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Intro to Physical Computing ⁄ Week 4 ⁄ Lab

Servo

Variable resistor (FSR) triggering servo rotation using the code given in the lab.

A display pedestal, activated via push-button. Behold — coffee.

 

Tone

Following the tone lab I created a noise instrument using two 8 ohm speakers, four buttons hooked up to analog pins, one button hooked up to digital, and three potentiometers.

Controls from top to bottom: volume, four notes (A2, C2, E2, G2), a fifth note or variable frequency controlled by the potentiometer just below it, and finally a delay effect.

The code for this setup (pitches.h file on this page):

#include "pitches.h"

const int threshold = 10;
const int speakerPin = 8;
const int noteDuration = 20;
 
int notes[] = { NOTE_A2, NOTE_C2, NOTE_E2, NOTE_G2 };

void setup() {}
 
void loop() {
  for (int thisSensor = 0; thisSensor < 4; thisSensor++) {    

  int sensorReading = analogRead(thisSensor);
   
  if (sensorReading > threshold) {
        tone(speakerPin, notes[thisSensor], 20);
    }
  }

  int sensorReading2 = map(analogRead(4), 662, 1023, 50, 2000);
  if(sensorReading2 < 0){
    sensorReading2 = 0;
  }
  if(digitalRead(3) == HIGH){
    tone(speakerPin, sensorReading2, 20);
  }

  int sensorReading3 = map(analogRead(5), 662, 1023, 0, 100);
  if(sensorReading3 < 0){
    sensorReading3 = 0;
  }
  delay(sensorReading3);
}

 

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Art Strategies ⁄ Week 4 ⁄ Systems

Seth Price – How to Disappear in America

Original works by Fredric L Rice (originally published online; last updated January 2012), et al

LIST OF NOTABLE SYSTEMS/INFRASTRUCTURAL DESIGN “HACKS”

This instructional essay exposes some systems and designs which were originally meant to provide security and safety against people with malicious intent, but which also decrease safety and security of those trying to escape opposition with malicious intent.

But first: escape from whom?

“If you’re running from the IRS, know that your opposition has unlimited resources, and, depending on how much money you owe, a broad spectrum of motivation for finding you.”

“If you’re running from the criminal law, you should know that you will eventually get caught… it’s only a question of time before they find you.”

Destroying opposition’s automobile
“Add as much long-grain rice as possible [into radiator]… what you’re aiming for is a horribly clogged radiator and a badly damaged engine.”
– Finding a discreet leverage point in the automobile’s physical mechanism to destroy it quickly

Leaving enemy’s firearm in a postal box
“The fact that you are missing will mean that the firearm will not be returned to your abusive spouse or boy/girlfriend to be used against you. More: in many states the right to purchase another firearm will be either revoked or denied until the disposition of your whereabouts is ascertained. Dropping your opposition’s firearms into a postal box will effectively transfer ownership to the police and de-claw your opposition greatly.”
– Using the postal box and the protocols of a postal employee as a tactic to safely dispose of enemy’s weapon – system/infrastructural design hack

Not being traceable via credit cards
“destroy and discard all of your credit cards! The instant you use a credit card or an ATM bank card while on the run is the instant the authorities or private investigators know where you are… Gas debit cards… Telephone calling cards… any magnetic card with your name or the name of someone you know can and will be used to find your general area. If the FBI, DEA, BATF, CIA, or any number of other agencies involved in searching for you, they can pinpoint your location within minutes of you using a magnetic card.”
– Most are aware of this one. The interesting thing is the post-Snowden implications of what this tactic is missing — not only must one not use their cards, they must also not have a smartphone in their person, let alone the myriad of other electronic gadgets with tracking abilities one may possess (even unknowingly).

Using a toilet/the plumbing infrastructure to quickly dispose of certain belongings
“Purchase clothes you wouldn’t normally consider wearing… Cut your old clothes into pieces and flush them down the toilet — you won’t want your old clothes to be found.”

Disposing of your car by leaving it in an area where thieves will be most likely to steal (and sell) it quickly
“Leave the pink slip of the car in the glove box to make it easier for thieves to chop and sell your abandoned car. Leave a door unlocked so they don’t have to break a window. You want the car to b taken in mass rather than picked apart on the street where a cop will spot it so it’s best that you leave the key in the ignition while you’re at it.” Before you walk away from your car, the engine running, in fact, so that a thief will feel more comfortable stealing it. You could make it look like you’re just running into a store to buy something quickly.”
– Taking advantage of a system based on socioeconomic constraints

Use statistical profiling to your advantage by blending in
“Cops work off profiles: They are trained to spot th unusual as well as how to spot individuals fitting a variety of profiles. Someone on the run fits several profiles. You want to “fall out of the net” and slip through the typical police profiles… A cup of coffee on the dashboard, Lean back in your seat, left arm on the window… try to act like you’re a mindless commuter getting from point A to point B… you’ll need to adopt a carefree attitude and outward composure.”
– Social or behavioral hack

The original author states on his website where the piece still resides:

“For over 16 years this book has been made available in various versions on The Skeptic Tank, and through those years a number of people have stolen this important work, altered and redacted it and sold it as their own. Here at this web site is the original work, complete and uncensored.

This work is copyrighted by Fredric L. Rice (that’s me, the owner of The Skeptic Tank web site) and this book represents a considerable effort on my part, first having lived on the fringes of society for many years before “going straight,” and secondly for having spent a great many hours perfecting and maintaining this book”

This text is only valid in an art context because of artist Seth Price’s “adaptation” of the writing into a book, along with other previously published (but mostly obscure) pieces regarding various aspects of the removal of oneself from modern society. Price did so without permission from the original author and did not credit him. Although Price states in an interview with Reena Spauldings gallery that this instructional writing was “posted anonymously on the Internet. And with the kind of urging for anybody to take it and, uh, circulate it.” Price responds further to his “re-packaging” of these works with the following: “one way to disappear in America that the book seems to talk about has to do with renouncing the world of work and gainful employment and contracts, including marriage, and documentation. That’s been associated with artists, too… But I was also thinking about this idea of private property in America. I mean, it’s a very American thing, this particular relationship. to property and to all land that’s privately owned, that’s why it’s even an issue. To go out and live in the woods, for instance.”” Here Price makes the connection of authorship as a form of ownership of property that defines what it means to be “connected” to and a part of American society. Without knowing the original creators, they have effectively disappeared.

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Intro to Physical Computing ⁄ week3 ⁄ Observation

Myrtle-Wyckoff Avs Station Main Turnstiles

The purpose of a NYC subway entry/exit mechanism is to enable the MTA to collect and control payment issued by customers for their service, and likely also for collecting rider statistics. This machine has two points of interaction: the card swipe, and the turnstile. The ideal usage consists of the user walking through the mechanism with little to no pause while carrying out this interaction:

  1. Swiping card through slot
  2. Reading visual response from LCD display (“go”, “swipe again”, “insufficient fare”) and/or audible cue
  3. Pushing through the turnstile

Before observing this in action, I had made assumptions about what I’d see. My assumptions were more or less correct because I have over seven years of daily interaction with this machine. Regardless, I had never taken the time to specifically observe their use. My main assumption was that the turnstiles are specifically designed to be used without pause to account for the fast-paced, crowded, and therefore high stress liminal environment for which it resides; most users will not stop while interacting with the machines.

What I observed was on average true, but there appeared to be many “edge cases”: entering users with their hands full of bags, suitcases, carts, etc requiring them to stop in front of or near the machines to pull out their metro card before swiping through. Some would have to bypass the machines altogether and instead enter through the emergency exit with the aid of a subway attendant or another user. When there are multiple users attempting to enter and exit through the turnstiles simultaneously, their tentative coordination and re-routing among the limited number of turnstiles causes congestion.

A minority of users would have difficulty getting the machine to read their metro card, stopping to swipe more than once before being granted entry. I noticed that there’s an audible “click” sound of the turnstile being unlocked for entry after a successful swipe which enabled most users to more quickly recognize if their swipe was successful. There also appeared to be multiple convenient spots where visual/light-symbol indicators should be along the front of the turnstile fixture, but were not functioning on this particular one. The machine responds to every swipe without any noticeable “thinking” time.

I observed that the turnstiles themselves were unquestionably intuitive/natural to all users, either because of their cylindrical shape and position eluding to a “push” interaction, or because turnstiles are simply ubiquitous (or both). The turnstiles caused no issues for anyone.

The turnstile fixtures appear to impose little to no emotional affect on its users, they are simplistic and discreet, enabling the important parts (the light symbols, the LCD display, the swipe slot and the turnstile) to be the central focal points. This design choice fits the context of the fast-paced liminal space which it inhabits.

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Intro to Physical Computing ⁄ week3 ⁄ Lab

Digital Input and Output with an Arduino

Momentary switch going into digital input with pull-down resistor, and two digital outputs controlling LEDs. If button pressed, yellow LED turns on. If button released, red LED turns on.

    void setup() {
    	pinMode(2, INPUT);
    	pinMode(3, OUTPUT);
    	pinMode(4, OUTPUT);
    }

    void loop() {
    	if (digitalRead(2) == HIGH) {
    		digitalWrite(3, HIGH);
    		digitalWrite(4, LOW);
    	}
    	else {
    		digitalWrite(3, LOW);
    		digitalWrite(4, HIGH);
    	}
    }

Combination Lock

Push a set of three buttons in the right order to “unlock” — LED turns on when successful. The correct combo, as seen in code as well as the image above, is btn1, btn3, btn2. There’s also a reset button to erase current combo input and start over.

byte btn1 = 2;
byte btn2 = 3;
byte btn3 = 4;
byte resetBtn = 5;
byte led = 13;

bool doOnce = false;
int counter = 0;
int myPins[] = {2, 4, 8, 3, 6};
int combo[] = { 0, 0, 0};
int correctCombo[] = {2, 4, 3};

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(9600);
  pinMode(2, INPUT);
  pinMode(3, INPUT);
  pinMode(4, INPUT);
  pinMode(5, INPUT);
  pinMode(13, OUTPUT);

  digitalWrite(led, LOW);
  digitalWrite(resetBtn, LOW);
}

void loop() {
  
  if(digitalRead(resetBtn) == HIGH){
    reset();
  }

  if(counter < 3){
    
    digitalWrite(led, LOW);
    
    if(digitalRead(btn1) == HIGH && !doOnce){
  
      combo[counter] = 2;
      counter++;
      
      Serial.print("Btn1 pressed. ");
      doOnce = true;
    }
    if(digitalRead(btn2) == HIGH && !doOnce){
  
      combo[counter] = 3;
      counter++;
      
      Serial.print("Btn2 pressed. ");
      doOnce = true;
    }
    if(digitalRead(btn3) == HIGH && !doOnce){
  
      combo[counter] = 4;
      counter++;
      
      Serial.print("Btn3 pressed. ");
      doOnce = true;
    }
  } else {
    if(combo[0] == correctCombo[0] && combo[1] == correctCombo[1] && combo[2] == correctCombo[2]){
      digitalWrite(led, HIGH);
      Serial.print("Combination succeeded! ");
    } else {
      reset();
      Serial.print("Combination failed. ");
    }
  }
  
  if(digitalRead(btn1) == LOW && digitalRead(btn2) == LOW && digitalRead(btn3) == LOW){
    doOnce = false;
  }

  if(counter == 3){
    
  }
}

void reset(){
  counter = 0;
    combo[0] = 0;
    combo[1] = 0;
    combo[2] = 0;
    Serial.print("Reset. ");
}

Analog In

Using an FSR and an RGB LED, I made a simple weight scale, consisting of a pad (regular perforated cardboard with the sensor stuffed in) that visualizes the weight of objects placed on top of it with the color of the LED — green being lightest, red being heaviest.

const int redLED = 11;
const int greenLED = 10;
const int blueLED = 9;
int sensorValue = 0;

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(9600);
  pinMode(redLED, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(greenLED, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(blueLED, OUTPUT);
}

void loop() {
  
  sensorValue = analogRead(A0); // read the pot value
  int brightness = map(sensorValue, 0, 1024, 255, 0);
  int brightness_g = map(sensorValue, 0, 1024, 0, 255);
  int brightness_r = map(sensorValue, 0, 1024, 255, 0);

  analogWrite(redLED, brightness_r);
  
  if(brightness == 255){
    analogWrite(greenLED, 255);
  } else {
    analogWrite(greenLED, brightness_g);
  }
  
  analogWrite(blueLED, 255);
}

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Video & Sound ⁄ Week 2 ⁄ Bloodchild

Credit: Samantha Schulman & myself

You hear a rumor about an abandoned building deep into what used to be the heart of the city, but what is now long forgotten about. People have heard strange noises coming from inside, but most are too spooked to investigate further. There are warning signs of death and destruction plastered to the outside of the building. Whatever is inside, the rumor goes, you do not want to find out.

Curiosity has gotten the best of you, and there is no choice but to see for yourself how far fetched the rumor has become. You get off the train into the cross section of abandoned streets and follow the gray and black scenery down the road. An explosion of color suddenly emerges out in front of you, as you have arrived at your destination. A low hum escapes out of one of the broken windows. Already some tension has left you, as the building is not the terrifying image that the rumors have projected, but rather almost playful and whimsical. The sign of death above the door does not turn you around, and as you pry it open, the hum from inside grows more apparent.

Inside it is dark, except for a dim flickering in the distance. You walk towards the only light and the hum begins to gain clarity – it is more than a hum – you think it is a song! Now you are following the light and the sound, a story from a foreign world it seems. A little further and you have reached a small beam of light, playing the low tune from a speaker below. Interesting, but not all that exciting. Not worth the hype.

You are about to turn around disappointed when you decide to first reach out your hand and break the constant stream of light. You jump backwards a foot in surprise – the entire building becomes illuminated in flashing color and has been completely immersed with the song – the sounds now booming in high octave from every direction! In a flicker of light you see a figure in the opposite corner – is someone else here with you!?! Curiosity outshines the terror and you run towards the human-like shape, music still blasting from the stereos. Your heart is pounding as you get closer and notice tentacles coming off of the figure. There is a monster inside, you are now sweating and your mind is racing with fear and confusion!!

And then you stop. You break into a relief of laughter. The monster is a hologram! Projected in front of you is the holographic image of an alien holding a small baby. The surrounding lights turn off and the alien begins to caress the baby. The song ends, there is a pause, and it starts over – you look closely and see that the alien appears to be singing the song to its baby – an electronic variation of love.

dk0lty

 

Debriefing

I wanted to record unique sounds that would elude an “alien” feel. I thought quirky electronics would do just that, and so I decided to head to an arcade. I ended up going to Dave & Buster’s to record. Something I didn’t anticipate was the amount of ambient noise in such an environment – all of my recordings ended up caked with a thick ambient layer of loud music, hums, dings, bleeps, yells and laughter of all sorts. A shotgun mic would have better suited recording in this type of environment.

This was my first experience working collaboratively on a sound piece. Our plan was for one of us to individually compose the piece, then send it along to the other for them to iterate on the entire composition, then repeat the process once more. We figured this would allow both of us to equally influence the final product in a cohesive way. We had miscalculated how long each iteration of this process would take, and ended up each only touching the piece once. I think this process works best when it’s repeated several times, which is what I’d plan to do next time.

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Intro to Physical Computing ⁄ week2 ⁄ Lab

Lab: Electronics

1

LED receiving 5v.

LED receiving 5v when button (momentary switch) pressed.

2 LEDs in series, each receiving about 2.5v when momentary switch pressed. They are just barely bright enough to see lit. With 3 LEDs, their voltage is too low (needs to be at least ~2v) to see.

3 LEDs in parallel. They each receive 5v of electricity.

Generating a variable voltage with a potentiometer.

Lab: Switches — FX Pedal

A switch made from an FX pedal and and sleeve to go around the user’s foot. When the user presses the pedal with their foot, the sleeve’s conductive surface completes the circuit inside the pedal, causing the BUTT light to illuminate. This is not necessarily an improvement to the original FX pedal button switch for the context that these pedals are usually used, but it at least illustrates possible interactions for other purposes in which a foot wearable could be useful.

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Art Strategies ⁄ week 2 ⁄ Procedural, Aleatory, & Instructional

This post discusses the procedural and aleatory (or stochastic) nature of the sound pieces which appear on pioneering post-WWII composer Iannis Xenakis’s “Electro-Acoustic Music” LP.

Something is procedural in that it’s based on a given instruction — it’s algorithmic, but not necessarily computer-produced. Visual artist Sol Lewitt popularized the procedural generation of art throughout the development of mid-twentieth century minimalism, while composer John Cage is best known for pioneering similar techniques in music composition — both artists involving the use of aleatoric properties, or “the incorporation of chance into the process of creation.” (src)

Xenakis utilized both aleatoric and procedural methods in the creation of compositions like Concret P–H (which was a site-specific composition for the presentation of Le Corbusier’s Pavilion), Bohor, Diamorphoses, and Orient-Occident (all of which were later released together by Nonesuch in 1970). These tracks were composed through cutting-edge (at the time) techniques from splicing tape loops to computational methods to create non-representational sounds, a process and set of characteristics known as musique concrète.

Aleatoricism appears in how Xenakis used computational methods to apply mathematical models to compose his music, particularly stochastic processes: “a random process evolving with time” (src), which is to say that “some element or variable is governed by chance” (src). Where a traditional composition would be completely deterministic, Xenakis’s works introduced a probabilistic element. These methods are also procedural: “[Xenakis] composes a general structure, with broadly defined formal shape, density, etc, and then uses statistics (usually with the aid of a computer) to generate the details (i.e. the specific pitches and rhythms) that will create that structure.”(src) What’s interesting about this is the question of whether stochastic methods could truly be considered aleatoric if the probabilistic element is itself set within a deterministic structure, insofar that it’s statistically predictable. In a discussion regarding the semantic differences, a Wikipedia editor points out that “Stochastic music does involve chance, but to a comparatively limited degree and on a very local level. It also results in more traditional, determinate scores, without room for performer choice… all stochastic music is aleatory to some degree, but not all aleatory music is stochastic.” (src)

Although Xenakis’s stochastic approach may indeed be aleatoric, it is interesting how the work’s procedural methods put its aleatoric nature to question — what is chance anyway? Randomness can only be observed when there isn’t enough statistical data to reveal the pattern. Randomness may be more easily observed in the physical world where there are innumerable variables at play. In Electro-Acoustic Music, Xenakis confronts this notion: “Splicing of innumerable little pieces of tape (the sound source is the discharge of smouldering charcoal) and mixing to obtain varying densities were the two main techniques employed in Concret P-H… Despite the fact that Xenakis uses many computational methods, both manual and mechanized, to construct his instrumental works, his electro-acoustic music is not the direct result of mathematical operations. The sounds that are used possess by their nature the qualities of which the mathematical formulae are abstracted reflections. Thus, instead of working “outside of time” to find general mathematical structures which then give rise to specific temporal events, Xenakis feels that there is a direct contact with materials that have statistical properties,” like the smoldering charcoal, “and he approaches the work in the manner of sculpture.” (James Mansback Brody via “Electro-Acoustic Music”, cover text; emphasis my own)

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Intro to Physical Computing ⁄ week1 ⁄ What makes good interaction?

Response to The Art of Interactive Design: A Euphonious and Illuminating Guide to Building Successful Software by Chris Crawford, and A Brief Rant on the Future of Interaction Design by Bret Victor.

What is physical interaction?

Interaction is essentially two-way communication. Chris Crawford likened human-computer interaction to a conversation, breaking down the communication cycle into discrete parts: listening, thinking, and responding (input, process, and output, respectively). “Physical interaction” specifically emphasizes the listening and responding aspects of the cycle, as the only way to listen and respond is through some form of physical contact.

What makes for good physical interaction?

An important point Crawford makes regarding his definition of interaction is that not all interactions are created equal — there are varying degrees for which things are able to receive, process, and respond to given information effectively; some things are considered to have high interactivity while others low. Our current landscape of interactive tech is dominated mostly by the visual and less so the audible information in the form of “two-and-one-half dimensional” (as Crawford accurately poised the common display as “a stack of partially overlapping planar images”) UIs. Touch has also been a vital aspect of such software interaction, but still with extremely low interactivity according o Crawford’s logic. This is exactly the point designer Bret Victor makes in his famous A Brief Rant on the Future of Interaction Design essay — touch interactivity is abysmally low, while the emphasis on vision as the main communication medium is unwarranted. Victor points out the reality of how our senses function together: “when working with your hands, touch does the driving, and vision helps out from the back seat.” Instead, our hands (and, by extension, the rest of our bodies) are not nearly being used to their full potential.

Good physical interaction would be that which utilizes the human sensorium to its full potential, incorporating it as effectively as possible into the listening and responding aspects of the interaction cycle.

Does digital technology have anything new or revolutionary to offer which isn’t interactive?

I agree with Crawford’s statement that interactivity is software’s competitive advantage against other mediums, but digital technology as a whole has absolutely improved on the non-interactive mediums that predate it, through its fundamentally algorithmic properties. Its influence can be seen across the board, from music to visual art. It has also enabled various mediums to interact with one another in ways that weren’t necessarily able to be realized before.