STEAM Punks

Aishah Vakily - Annika Walsh - Chris Mika Aris - Isaiah Brine - Yansheng Hou

The STEAM Punks are comprised of a biotech engineer, a computer engineer, a painter/media artist, a general arts degree, and a sculpture/media artist. Our objective is to show the general public that engineers need artists and artists need engineers. The STEAM Punks work towards amplifying the need for more collaboration among people who bring different skillsets and outlooks to the table.

WORKS

Biotic Waste (2020)

The problem our team set out to create a solution for is the lack of emotional connection and awareness we have in relation to waste and pollution. We receive facts, figures, and warnings, but connecting these often intangible inputs to our more tangible and practical daily activities and habits can prove difficult. Creating an art installation that could connect with people’s imaginations and appeal to emotion - in a more visceral context - by way that facts and numbers might be unable to, was the goal of this project.

Statement:

The waste we produce is invading our natural spaces and we are allowing it to develop into something that has become a global problem that threatens the livelihoods of other beings, we interpreted this waste as a formidable creature that will inevitably seep and control our world. Our waste has become a force of nature, a beast outside of ourselves that we might not have intentionally created but we have pretended to control and developed a relationship with. Our piece is intended to draw people’s focus to this new beast that has blebbed off of humanity, and is now its own entity and force in our environment. We wanted people to encounter this entity outside of themselves and investigate, out of curiosity, this thing that is alive, moving, growing, and might even be investigating us as we are investigating it. The viewer should feel a sense of unease as they are in the presence of this thing that they are connected to, but that should never have come into existence.

DETAILS:

Coding Components:

This code was used in our Arduino Uno units to simulate the breathing, the first two statements initialize the pins used for connection, the srand(time(NULL)); command generates a pseudo-random seed number that is then used to determine the length of the interval for the relay to either open or close.

The Arduino controls a relay that when off inhibits the flow of electricity from the power supply to the fan, the relay is the component that interacts directly by interfering with the circuit that connects the fan to the main electricity source, by unlatching it effectively disconnects the rest of the circuit and the fan turns off, after an interval the Arduino passes electricity through the relay and it changes states, this state change engages the circuit again and a current passes through the circuit effectively turning on the fan again. This is better observed in the circuit diagram, the relay works by using electricity (the 5V signal from the Arduino) and the electromagnetic charge created closes the latch and completes the circuit between the power source (GND) and the fan.

Sound:

We equalized the low end frequencies and had a synth pad oscillate a low rumbling sub-bass, which was more intimidating. It created a potentially dangerous atmosphere and simulated the spinning fans in our piece. We added a high-pitched string to contrast the low sounds. It simulates a comforting sound that is innocent and calm. We took a page out of horror films; when they combine a harmless music box sound with a tense scene. The music that was played by the music box in these films is supposed to be comforting. However, it created an uncomfortable viewing experience if the sound was combined with a really tense scene. So we played the high and the low sounds together but left out any sort of middle-tones. This would emulate the creepy music-box soundtrack found in horror films. We wanted our audience to feel that there is a possible threat nearby by playing the low sound, but then confuse them by playing the higher, more comforting sound. By leaving the middle blank, the listeners’ minds would be focusing on filling in the gap between the high and low sounds while trying to identify and understand the possible threat and the presence of the innocuous high sounds. This would ultimately overwhelm the listener, and as a result their bodies will tense up in anticipation.

We added three layers of trash bag sound to be more specific to the garbage theme of the piece and a breathing sound effect to cohere with the breathing mechanism. It would reinforce the relationship between the visual and auditory aspects of the piece. We also added a reversed sound which was a sample for a beer can falling to the ground. The reverse sound was unnatural to hear, although people might recognize the pitch and tones. While the background track creates enough anticipation for tension, the reverse sound effect will be bursting out to fill the blank as a “jump-scare” much like in horror movies.