Go to the following link and "new link" , read about Ernst Haeckel here and listen to the programs: Drawing from LIFE and Future Tense on NPR, using windows media or Realplayer.

Look and read more about Alexis Rockman here:
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/museo/rockman/
http://www.artseensoho.com/Art/GORNEY/rockman97/rockman1.html

Review this video againKQED nanotechnology.

After this do 3 high quality pencil drawings in your sketch book thinking about how you can use 3d tools to to create and model one machinic diatom.

Critial questions as you imagine your design: What is the scale of the object? Is it a nanometer? Is it a micrometer? How does the scale impact your design?

Think outside of the box and imagine the next art/science application for your Machinic Diatom. What does it do. How might it enter the environment of the body or some other natural system?

Make sure that each of the 3 drawings are derived from 3 different 3D perspectives, similiar to the way the view windows work in your 3D application. Example: (one front view, one right side view, one perspective view)

Think of Assignment 1 as the first part of Assignment 2: Machinic Diatom. These will serve as your plans/sketches for your 3D models that you make in project 2.

Grades for this project will be assigned when students turn in good scans at min 100 DPI of each of the three drawings.

Assignment 1: for students who are in class second time around:

Look and read about: Carsten Höller who disturbs his viewers' assumptions with interactive sculptures that deliberately and playfully induce doubts and confusion. As a former scientist in evolutionary ecology and olfactory communication Höller uses the audience as subjects of perceptual and psychological experimentation.

His work sets out to study a particular concept. In the past, Höller has made series devoted to the ideas of security, children, love, hallucinations, happiness, animals, games, doubt/certainty, and a group of sculpture/vehicles that looked at different modes of travel.

http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/exhibitions/carstenholler/

James Turrell uses large scale installation and light or lack of light to change our perceptual systems.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Turrell

His work encloses the viewer to control and manipulate the way we recieve light.

Mona Hatoum's work uses sculptural form and shadow to create evocative and visceral worlds focused on drawing the viewer into emotive and intellectual worlds.http://www.whitecube.com/artists/hatoum/graterdivide/

Olafur Eliasson uses light and glass to create transformative perceptual and conceptual works: http://www.olafureliasson.net/images.html

Andrew Slominski: Has been working with the ideas of "trapping" for many years and in this process creates an amazing array of objects ranging from snares to humourous decoys. All these works look to the animals to be trapped for logic about what the desires and point of views of these creatures will be.

Extended Perceptual self: Do 3 high quality pencil drawings in your sketch book of an installation that will allow your viewer to experience space or the body in another way. Consider first and foremost your audiance. What do you want them to experience. What do you want them to see.

Assignment 2: Machinic Diatom

Review drawings of Ernest Haeckel and prepare 1 3D model with color and lighting, using parametric primitives to create one machinic diatom. Check out these other links here Photo researchers of the very small and here for a visual feast of microscopy Life in the Microscopic World.

For fun Google the word machinic and the work diatom and you will find many exciting links. By Machinic, I am refering to an object of a mechanical nature. A machine version of a Diatom. Think about your own mechanical version of something that resembles or somehow relates to the properties and charactersitics of a Diatom. Turning something that is normally thought of as a logical organic structure, into a Machinic counterpart.

You can use PRIMATIVE objects to model everything you make for this assignment or you can use polygon objects If you feel confident enough to move beyond just primatives.Turn in at least three rendered stills of different camera views at a minimum size of 800x600 @ 300 dpi with the c4D file, either burned to CD or uploaded to the class server. Email the professor a one half page description of your concept on this project.

Grades for this project will be assigned when students upload the drawings to the professors folder on his desktop of the system in the lab and send their one half page description of their concept.

Assignment 2: Extended Perceptual self: for students who are in class second time around:

Research model and present 3 rendered stills of the installation you have chosen to model.

Assignment 3: The Connected Object

Objective:

Create a conceptually connected object.

Find two things both of which you will model and create a connection between them. A Hybrid object of two elements that create a connection between them or as one new element. Think about unlikely and preposterous connections like a spoon and a lawnmower or chimeric creatures.

The objects can be created from real, everyday objects, or can be completely conceptual or abstract in nature, but try to add as much detail as possible to make the model seem realistic or alive.

Think about creating a model that feels as if it can move or one that has a feeling of gravity. Something that relates to the physics structure and motion.

NOTE: The objects will be created using parametric and polygon based modeling techniques. Think about creating environments for your objects and what is an appropriate place for them to exist.

Turn in at least three rendered stills at a minimum size of 800x600 @ 300 dpi with the c4D file, either burned to CD or uploaded to the class server.

Grades for this project will be assigned when students upload scans of the drawings and the 3 renderings to the professors folder on his desktop of the system in the lab and send their one half page description of their concept.

Review the following links for inspiration:

Carsten Hoeller: http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/exhibitions/carstenholler/photos.shtm

Kenneth Snelson:http://www.kennethsnelson.net/

Micheal reese: http://www.michaelrees.com/

Elona VanGent: http://elonavangent.com/

Wim Delvoye: http://www.cloaca.be/

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=wim%20delvoye&spell=1&sa=N&tab=wi

Ionat Zurr: http://images.google.com/images?svnum=10&hl=en&lr=&q=Ionat+Zurr&btnG=Search

http://www.symbiotica.uwa.edu.au/

Sabrina Raaf: http://www.raaf.org/Electronic_Works/Grower/Grower_frames.html

Others:

http://lwgallery.uwa.edu.au/program/2004/BioDifference

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chimera_%28animal%29

http://rhizome.org/object.rhiz?34432 http://rhizome.org/object.rhiz?29591

http://www.arch.kth.se/mediatedspaces/

http://www.dottedquad.org/

http://www.hyunjoo.dottedquad.org/synthecology.html

http://www.dottedquad.org/socialresidue.html

Assignment 4: Final Project is an Object from the future.

Objective: To create an object of the future that is either laser cut as a silhouettes or to produce a 3D printed object that is printed on our own ZCorp 510 or the rapid prototyping machines at Laser Reproductions.

This is your last hurrah. You are required to turn in a 200 word written proposal of what you would like to accomplish with your final piece and we will go over your proposals together to discuss artistic and technical merits. You should bring this on a thumb drive on the due date to load on the professors computer. Do not email me these.

This is your chance to explore ideas that you personally are interested in. Whether that involves expanding in new directions on one of your earlier projects, or preferably exploring new idea's or scientific principles, politically motiviated idea's, personal interests, comments/critiques on current or past art movements, etc. etc.

Research must be a part of this project. ie what artists have informed your approach, what movements etc. which artists have you researched and which have influenced you and why.

Sketches and a one page proposal are a required part of this project. Final models and printouts of the work are due Tuesday of the 10th week. Printouts are due Wed of the 10th week at noon for installation in the exhibition.

This project or another project curated by the professor, will be presented in the end of the quarter show. For your final presentation you will be required toprint of your 3D work on a 2D printer in our lab it must be printed professionally and framed professionally by you or a service. You will be graded on this aspect of the project. Additionally you will present your rapid prototyped project in the exhibition as well.

You can also use a rapid-prototyping service center, such as Laser Reproductions or print your 3D works out at the professional printing services which I reccommend, or you can use the HP Printer if it becomes available by this date.

You should plan on at least one 10 x 14 printout or preferably larger as scale is an important part of communicating your idea! Please discuss with the professor for larger printouts that can happen on in house printers.

While you will be turning in one to two printouts for display in the show and 1-2 rapid prototyped works you are also required to turn in 5 rendered stills at a minimum size of 800x600 @ 300 dpi, each with a different lighting scheme and camera angle, with the c4D file, this can be uploaded to the professors computer on the day of the critique, Tuesday of week 10.

Remember that if you are planning on presenting your work as a printed image to render your images at a larger resolution. 300 DPI is recommended.

Grades for this project will be assigned when students upload scans of their drawings and the 5 renderings to the professors folder on his desktop of the system in the lab along with their paper assigned above.

Review the following links for inspiration:

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=kara+walker&btnG=Search+Images&gbv=2&aq=f&oq=

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kara_Walker

http://www.nextnature.net/

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=next+nature&btnG=Search+Images&gbv=2&aq=f&oq=

http://www.wired.com/entertainment/hollywood/multimedia/2009/04/pl_screen?slide=1&slideView=3

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&um=1&sa=1&q=rapid+prototyped+object&btnG=Search+Images&aq=f&oq=

http://www.flickr.com/photos/saschapohflepp/page2/

http://artandtech.osu.edu/452/felice/links.htm