| CSE 325 | Computers and
Sculpture |
| Spring 2008 Class hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 2:20-3:40, room Computer Science 2129. |
|
| Prof. George Hart | Office: 1421 Computer Science email: george@cs.sunysb.edu Phone: (631) 632-8959 Office hours: tuesday and thursday 1:00-2:15, and by appt. |
| Web Page: |
http://www.cs.sunysb.edu/~cse325/ |
| Announcements: |
I will be in my
office monday May 19, 11:00-12:00 if you want to pick up your rapid
prototyping object. Please fill out this online survey Some class photos |
| Readings: |
1. Keizo Ushio’s
Sculptures, Split Tori and Möbius Bands, by Nat Friedman and Carlo
Sequin 2. On a Family of Symmetric, Connected and High Genus Sculptures, by Ergun Ackelman et al. 3. The .stl format and a discussion of solid object file formats 4. Orderly Tangles Revisited 5. Read some interesting Hyperseeing articles; many are about sculpture. |
| Assignments: |
1. Complete the Platonic Solids. 2. Work with Great Stella 3. Bring in a physical paper (or cardboard) model of an original sculpture created using Great Stella, with nets printed to paper, cut out, folded, and taped (or glued) into shape. 4. Maya and Jamnitzer 5. Maya and organic geometric forms (due the tuesday after spring break) 6. STL Icosahedron 7. Read paper #4 above. Make the six square tangle. For extra credit, make the six pentagon one. Templates and some instructions are here. 8. We will try a variation of this Wormball exercise, to make a cube starting with a square (442) pattern instead of a triangular octahedral pattern. (Due Apr 17) 9. Due Apr 24: (A) Make an .stl file of a sculpture to fabricate, starting with a surface generated in SeifertPlot (See Notes #9) exported as an .obj file, then imported into Maya, extruded to contain volume, and modified in your own interesting manner. (B) Choose a sculptor who you will report on in class, who uses computer technology in design or fabrication. 10. Due May 1: (A) An stl file of a human or animal form that can be fabricated by rapid prototyping. (B) Final STL files for building on the Selective Laser Sintering Machine. Use VisCam to check the file for backwards faces, unmatched edges, hidden voids, and other problems. Put the good files in your U: drive. Email me the name of your directory and the name of the files. (Do not email me any actual files.) 11. Due May 8: (last day of class) Five-minute oral presentation on your sculptor. Prepare a web page or PowerPoint presentation with visuals. 12. Due on thursday May 15, 2:00 (day of scheduled final exam) in class: A physical sculpture you have constructed based on some ideas learned in this class, using the computer in some aspect of the design or fabrication. Present it to the class explaining your process, etc. Hand in a one-page description of what you did, plus a page with a printed photo. |
| Class Notes: (PowerPoint format) |
1. Introduction 2. Polyhedra - Historical 3. Polyhedra - Modern 4. Maya - Geometric Forms 5. Maya - Organic Geometric Forms 6. Triangulated Surfaces and STL Format 7. Orderly Tangles 8. Symmetry 9. Knots and Surfaces 10. Maya - Human forms |
| TA: |
Alex Kunin,
email: akunin@ic.sunysb.edu Office hours: Wednesdays 2:30-3:30 or by appointment, room CS 2110. |
| Content: | This multidisciplinary class
surveys how computer science and computer technology are used in
sculpture. The Mathematica programming language will be taught and used
for some programming assignments, but the amount of programming is low
enough that any previous programming course is sufficient prerequisite.
Case studies with slides, videos, and software demonstrations
illustrate a
range of approaches of sculptors incorporating computers in their
creative process.
Various state-of-the art automated fabrication technologies are
studied. Mathematical foundations are emphasized so
students
can recognize them when analyzing sculpture and choose the right tool
when
designing. These ideas are reinforced with
constructions. We will use the rapid prototyping facilities on campus
to produce plastic models of some student project designs. Also, we may construct one large group sculpture to place on campus if I can arrange all the details. |
| Constructions: |
This is a class for people who like to make cool physical things. Each week there will be a 3D construction activity and a discussion of the computational ideas underlying it. In the initial weeks this will be a construction I have designed and planned for you. Later, you will be learning about design tools and using them to design your own works on a computer. You will print out templates on to paper and be working with scissors, sticks, straws, tape, string, etc. to build it. The results will be 3D designs that one could not make without a computer. |
| Prerequisites: | This is an interdisciplinary course designed for students in all majors. For the programming part, students should have some programming experience with loops, conditionals, variables, and arrays, such as CSE110, or permission of the instructor. No previous art course is required. The class will benefit by the interaction of a mix of students with different backgrounds, technical and non-technical. To be comfortable with some of the geometric ideas, Level 3 on Math Placement test or MAP 103 is adequate. |
| Requirements: |
Attendance, class constructions,
several projects, oral/web report, final project with written report. |
| Examples: |
For examples of various sculptors we will look at, who use computers in the design and/or fabrication of their work, see these web pages: Brent Collins, Stewart Dickson, Helaman Ferguson, Bathsheba Grossman, George W. Hart, Akio Hizume, Robert J. Lang, Christian Lavigne, Tom Longtin, Mario Marin, Michael Rees, Rinus Roelofs, Torolf Sauermann, Carlo Sequin. |