Author: Carla Torrado Mouzo

finale.

project one:

https://editor.p5js.org/car1a/full/5PA-960CW

Though it took a lot of effort, I am not entirely happy with how the final project turned out. I set very high expectations for myself, which essentially set me up for failure. However, I do appreciate the lessons I’ve learnt from this and all the coding I have learnt. I think the aesthetic choices I did manage to make (the camera moving, the font, the scoreboard, the game over screen and the clouds) are all very cute and I am satisfied with them. Ideally, I would have added more of a narrative, but most importantly I would have made the gameplay more interesting and innovative. This gameplay has been done many times before and although I added new things I am not satisfied. I did my best and I am proud that I accomplished everything I did, especially considering how little experience I have with coding.

project two:

Overall, I’m satisfied with the work and effort I put into these projects even if they didn’t turn out exactly to my expectations. I have learnt a lot from my efforts and I’ll apply this to any future projects I have.

project development #3

project one:

I think I have reached a point where I can say the game is officially finished. I added the camera adjustments, where the blocks move downwards so the player can see ‘beyond’ the canvas, and made it so that the grass would disappear after a certain point to make it look like the ground was now out of view. I added a game over screen that I’m pretty happy with, and is reminiscent of my first game, which is a nice way to tie them together. However, I unfortunately ran out of time, and couldn’t put in as much detail as I wanted (I will go into more detail in my final evaluation post), but I knew going into this that it was a very ambitious idea. Below is the ‘camera’ moving and grass bits of code.

  score += 1
  if (placedBlocks.length > 10){
    placedBlocks.shift()
    for (i=0; i<placedBlocks.length;i++){
      placedBlocks[i].y+= block_height
    }
      currentBlock.y+= block_height
  }

function drawGrass() {
  fill(34, 139, 34); 
  rect(0, height - block_height, width, block_height);
  //makes grass disappear, camera floating above
  if (score > 10){
    fill(135, 206, 235);
    rect(0, height - block_height, width, block_height);
  }
}

project two:

My poster is also complete, and I am very happy with how it turned out. I added a lot of dimension to the tower and I think it looks a lot more ominous than it was before. I also added some clouds (also in Illustrator) that makes it seem much taller than it actually is. I then imported it to Photoshop and added the hand I drew, and then added my final adjustments, like the sun rays (that make it seem more heavenly, and are also reminiscent of many enlistment posters), the fonts and the old paper overlay to give it that rugged grainy look.

project development #2

project one:

Development has been going well, and I have been able to introduce some optional aspects that I was afraid wouldn’t be able to be included. I have fixed the overhang which was the most important addition to the code and added some clouds, grass and some colour to the tower etc. The colour on the towers is dark brown at the bottom and becomes lighter with each block, this is supposed to be reminiscent of my poster design. I’m happy with how it is coming along, but I still worry about my time constraints and I don’t think it will be completely satisfactory. I have to fix some bugs, like how the font that I chose does not show up every time. Next most importantly I have to make it so that the ‘camera’ goes up as the player proceeds so that the game can go on indefinitely. Currently, the max score reaches the top of the canvas and it then becomes unplayable. Below is some of the code from my clouds and the tower colour.

function drawClouds() {
const cloudCount = 3;
const cloudSpeed = 0.7;
const cloudSpacing = (width + 200) / cloudCount;
// cloud loop
for (let i = 0; i < cloudCount; i++) {
const cloudX = (frameCount * cloudSpeed + i * cloudSpacing) % (width + 200) - 200;
const cloudY = noise(i) * (height / 4) +20 ;
// draw cloud
fill(255);
noStroke();
ellipse(cloudX, cloudY, 100, 50);
ellipse(cloudX + 25, cloudY - 15, 70, 75);
ellipse(cloudX + 50, cloudY, 100, 50);
}
}

function drawBlocks() {
  const baseColor = color(139, 69, 19); // og dark brown 
  const colorStep = 10; // makes colours lighter
  
  fill(baseColor);
  rect(currentBlock.x, currentBlock.y, currentBlock.z, block_height);

  for (let i = 0; i < placedBlocks.length; i++) {
    const block = placedBlocks[i];
    const blockColor = baseColor.levels.map((value, index) => value + (i + 1) * colorStep);
    fill(blockColor);
    rect(block.x, block.y, block.z, block_height);
  }

project two:

Development has gone very smoothly on project two and I’m very happy with how it is turning out. I did some sketches in Photoshop and tried to do the finish lining, but I decided I didn’t like how messy it was turning out. In real enlistment posters the shapes are usually very smooth and distinct, so I decided to use Illustrator to create the tower out of shapes instead. It took some time and it was a bit fiddly but I finally managed to do it. Next I just need to add some depth and add it to the final poster and maybe add some post-effects.

notes from ramon amaro’s: machine learning, surveillance and the politics of visibility

tutorials and developments

In my tutorial with my lecturer we talked about the progress I have been making on my projects. More specifically, I wanted feedback on a few questions I had, and I now feel more cleared up about my work and what I’m doing. I know now that it is okay if I do not provide in-detail context to my audience about my game, because art is meant to be interpreted and we cannot expect to water down art for the sake of making it understandable. The same goes for references in film- some people will get it, some won’t. This does not make it any less worthy. I was also concerned about my second project, I thought it might be a little too vague or simple, but I was encouraged to stick with it and keep on intending it to be the ‘supplementary’ piece I was already planning on. I feel more confident about my ideas and development now, and will continue to work on my projects to get them as far as I can- which doesn’t necessarily mean as far as I’d like them.

the way humans and machines interact

There are many perspectives on human-machine interactions and there seems to be two major extremes to each side. One believes that interaction between machine and human is solely damaging and harms humanity rather than improving it. The idea being that machines are stealing privacy, taking up time, space, jobs etc and generally making the world an unsafe place especially in the hands of evil people. The other extreme believes that machines are entirely helpful to humans and that we are fully in control of our interactions with them and the space that they take up in society. Language is incredibly important in facilitating these interactions, without it we could not communicate with machines, instruction (code) is language, after all. In 100 years I imagine the lines between human and machine will become very blurred, perhaps life will become dystopian and people will become cyborgs that are half human half machine, or maybe machines will integrate fully into our society and there will be no real differences between the two.

project development #1

project one:

Development for project one has been difficult considering I do not have much experience coding. However, I made another small game for my other course and that experience has helped me in some aspects. I know enough of the basics to create a very simple game, but I’m not confident that I will be able to code this game into exactly what I want. I may have to settle for having a much simpler game than I wanted. At first I had considered having the game include words that maybe the player would have to match to better link it towards my ‘language’ topic, but I’m no longer sure this will be possible considering I am already struggling to code the most basic aspects. Currently, I have the moving blocks and they can be placed on top of each other. My next steps are to remove overhang from the edges and create a scoring system.

project two:

Development for project two has been much simpler. I used to do graphic design so I have much more experience in this field. I have made preliminary sketches as to what I want to do and a few basic outlines in Photoshop. Below are some images of these sketches. I decided that the enlistment poster idea was best as it felt the most creative and visually interesting. My first steps were looking at inspiration online, most of it being real enlistment posters from various countries and wars around the world. There were a lot of themes and similarities across them (fonts, bordering, colour palettes etc.) so I made sure to write these down in my sketches and try to include them in my outcome.

an interview with carla’s project

Carla: Hello Project! I understand you’re here to answer some questions?

Project: Yes, I’m happy to be here and to generally… exist, haha.

C: Ha… Ha. Indeed. First question; there are some concerns from the audience that you may be controversial? Perhaps too critical towards religious- particularly Christian audiences, what are your thoughts?

P: I would argue the exact opposite is true. I was not designed as a criticism against religion of any sort but rather a method to start an open conversation about how we communicate in all contexts including religious spaces. The Bible asks some interesting questions and I want people to feel comfortable asking them rather than feeling scared to potentially offend such a large institution. That is not to say there is not some cynicism there, of course, but there is value in criticism and investigation. If I get one person, religious or not, to question themselves and their beliefs even a little, then I would have been a success.

C: Interesting. Is there any resentment towards your creator… me, for planning such an ambitious project that she surely would not be able to complete satisfactorily before her deadline?

P: Absolutely! Heh.

C: …

P: …Just kidding, absolutely not. Imagination and ambition are vital to creating any art and there’s no exception here. Sure, if I’m not perfect by the deadline (which I won’t be, by your standards) that will be disappointing, but more importantly there will be lessons learned. Pushing yourself is the only way to grow! And who’s to say the project will be over when the deadline is done? I may become a new passion for her!

C: Well said. Last question, I understand there is some concern about conveying your message to wider audiences. Could you elaborate on this?

P: There was definitely concern in the planning stages about creating a game with this sort of vague narrative based off of a relatively unknown parable, but the further I grew, the more we realised that is not an artist’s responsibility. Once art is released, it is not yours anymore. Whether people understand or not, it is out of my hands, I can only provide what I have. I am open and in fact excited to see if there are any other interpretations audiences have to offer!

C: Well great! Thank you Project, for answering my questions and stressing me out for so long.

[Applause].

reality vs virtuality

Notions of the virtual will change art and possibly life forever. It has already changed art and will continue to do so. Virtual spaces make it possible to create entire worlds inhabited and designed by and for art. Ideally, these virtual spaces will become accessible to most if not all people. Already, many people can access them, as generally all you need is an internet connection. Real data creates a basis for virtual life, without it there would be no foundation on how to handle virtual society, it would be abstract chaos. I generally do not avoid anthropomorphism, I think there’s value in finding humanity in the inanimate or the inhumane, it creates space for empathy. This is pretty evident in my work and in my own personal life, I make cute websites with text to greet visitors and little secrets and pictures hidden around as easter eggs and I add googly eyes to furniture and pretend they can feel. Though we cannot depend on anthropomorphism, only on each other and on actual people, I think there is value in introducing humanity to things other than human, the goal is not to create replicas of humanity but something closer to parody. Perhaps, something to provide humanity when we feel we are alone- a reminder that there are people there, inspiring everything.

my projects

My two final projects will be based off of the departure point ‘language’.

PROJECT IDEA ONE:

Personally, I was raised Catholic (though I’m not anymore) so the first thing that comes to my mind when thinking of language is the parable of the Tower of Babel. In summary, very early on in human existence, everyone could speak the same language and decided to all team up to create a tower that could reach heaven. God was not happy about this and decided to create different languages so that they could no longer communicate and build it together. 

“Come, let us go down and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.” 

I thought it would be fun to create a small simple game based on this parable. Essentially the player would be stacking different words to create a tower with the intention of reaching ‘heaven’ (the end). However, the game would get progressively more and more difficult, with words of other languages destabilizing the structure or other random challenges. If the player somehow reaches the end their tower will be destroyed anyway, and they will realize it is impossible to complete the game. The concept for my gameplay has been taken from similar stacking type games that are based solely on gameplay. Although it is technically a game, I want it to be more of an art piece, maybe more abstract and not necessarily very fun- in fact I want it to be frustrating. The intention is to convey a story and a message, not create a particularly fun game.   

The gameplay will be very similar to the app ‘Stack’ by KetchApp but obviously different and more difficult, and in 2D to make it simpler to code for myself. In terms of social impact this game obviously may be a little controversial. However, it is not my intention to be critical of the Bible or Christianity as a whole, but rather explore the implications of this specific parable. I think the contrast between technology and ancient parables could be pretty interesting to explore as well.  

PROJECT IDEA TWO:

The second idea will be a supplementary piece based closely off of my first project. It will have more of a creative focus in comparison to the first and is a relatively easier task to accomplish. I will create a poster of the Tower of Babel, I have not yet decided if I want the poster to be a tourist pamphlet, a newsletter-type or an enlistment poster, encouraging people to join the effort to building a tower to heaven.

I think this will help provide some much needed context for my first project since I don’t want to spoon feed my audience and I don’t think I’ll be able to provide an adequate narrative to my simple little game, so I think this piece will help nudge the audience in the right direction. I’ll likely make this in Adobe Photoshop/Illustrator in tandem with my first project.