Hello World,
Catherine Here. ꙳⸌☻ັ⸍꙳
Compiled, organized, and sorted out thoroughly, this website acts as a portfolio of Catherine’s works for Computation in Design Semester 2. Through the set of images, videos, as well as texts, Catherine’s progress throughout the semester is evident and is clearly portrayed. This semester, in particular, had covered four main workshops: Coding, Making, Projection Mapping, and Play. Being exposed and challenged to these various approaches of design that include computation has given the students an opportunity to further push our creative boundaries with different mediums, either physically or digitally.
Have a fun journey scrolling down •ᴗ• !
・゜workshops 1–4
The 4 different workshops are in a form of group work for Coding, Projection Mapping, as well as Play, and were done individually for Making. Catherine had the pleasure to collaborate with two of her classmates, Rakshitha and Jocelyn—exchanging minds and ideas, working together to create art.
❁ Coding ⸻
The Circle(s)
of Life
As a group, Catherine and Rakshitha tried to come up with a concept that is simple visually, yet holds a story behind it. Funny story, we were just talking about having lotus in our hotpot, until an idea popped up into our minds, creating lotus-like visuals. We then gave a story to it, titled “The Circle(s) of Life”, where life grows from.
The scattered circle inside the two big circles indicate the different stages, phases, or sectors in life, whereas the lines represent the unfortunate events that intervene this “life circle”. However, sometimes those drawbacks created a better balance, allowing us to grow better.
❁ Screens ⸻
Projection Mapping
Through this workshop, the students have learned how to project light not just on a flat surface, but on various complicated shapes with more than one surfaces. Joanne gave the class an in-depth tutorial on how to calibrate the codes to follow along the outlines of each surface. Catherine, Rakshitha, and Jocelyn came up with an idea to visualize a song, Forever - Labrinth.
Making use of the light from the projector, Catherine, Rakshitha, and Jocelyn projected visuals on different geometric shapes, the background, and the foreground.
❁ Making ⸻
Bungkus Nasi Padang
As one of Indonesia's most well-known cuisine, Nasi Padang is also famous for its unique 'dabao' or takeaway packaging. The dish is wrapped with a banana leaf and covered with an extra layer of paper, shaping into the iconic geometric-like structure.
Through this project, I was able to take a part of my culture into 'making' by generating the 'Bungkus Nasi Padang' form with codes and constructing it into a 3D model.
❁ Play ⸻
Physical Computing
The “Play” workshop is surely different from the others, it felt like doing a high school’s physics experiment all over again. The class were introduced to the use of basic electricity with just making use of copper tape, mini led lights, and paper to make the circuit.
It did look quite intimidating to do at first, but once you’ve got a hang of it, the process became easier and surprisingly enjoyable. Catherine and Raksitha came up with the idea to recreate the mini version of The Sydney Opera House, while also experimenting with the lights and see how they can add a twist to the papercraft.
・゜process
I personally have always preferred working on my own than in groups, especially when it comes to creating art like in these workshops, it was definitely tough sometimes because we all have different ideas and styles. And sometimes, it’s not always easy to come up with the final idea comprising all of these different ideas.
Despite the fact that I’ve never really liked doing group work, I’ve began to grow as an individual to be braver in communicating what I want, my ideas, my thoughts, to my group mates. Thankfully, I’ve also gotten the opportunity to work with the nicest, open-minded classmates throughout the semester, which makes the whole process easier.
“Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes.”
Oscar Wilde
・゜conclusion
What have I learned over the course of this semester?
This semester, as a newcomer to the computation world, I’ve been exposed to the most unexpected mediums—from having to do paper crafts, using projectors, to experimenting with light circuits.
The main outtake from the workshops I’ve participated in must be on how all this new knowledge have shifted my perspective on not just coding in particular, but in learning new things. I learned that in order to get started in learning a new skill, it is best to explore various mediums, try out different approaches, as a way to build up the fundamentals that are needed rather than jumping straight into the field itself.