REFLECTION Again, not much discussion in class this week (unless I was so engrossed in studio time that I didn't hear it, in which case, sorry!). Anyhow, I was trying to get started on compiling my LittleBits KORG MP3 video together during studio time and had to upgrade my Final Cut Pro X because I hadn't done that since I upgraded to El Capitan. So that took a while. Once it was up and running I got started on importing my videos and started putting them together. I didn't get to finish it in class as it would take probably about 3-4 hours to complete. But I can't wait to get the video out asap! For some discussion and thought: While I was making my video (or whenever I am in video/photo production), I have this thing where I don't like people watching me while my projects are in production. I don't know what it is but I just don't want people to see how I do it or see the unfinished product. I don't think it is because I don't want people to learn how to do what I do, I would gladly explain it and show the techniques on how to do it but I think I am very self-conscious about showing something that is still a work in progress and is unfinished. If it was meant to be incomplete and a long-term work in progress then that's fine, I guess. But if it has a deadline and I plan to publish the final product, I want people to have fresh eyes for the final product and not ruin it by being exposed to the work in progress. I guess it's like those behind-the-scenes videos. After you watch the actual movie, then watching the behind-the-scenes video would make sense and you would appreciate it more. But before that, I wouldn't release the behind-the-scenes video before or at the same time as the actual movie. Does that make sense? Do any of you have this feeling too? Do you think this is against the typical characteristics of a maker and against the Maker Manifesto? Or do you think this is just a personality thing and is unrelated to the open and sharing culture of the Maker movement?
READING SUMMARY No readings this week! Woo! END OF SEMESTER SUMMARY Well, since this is our last blog entry, I think this warrants a summary reflection of how I felt about this class throughout the entire semester. Before the semester started I had a lot of concepts about what this class was about. Actually I had a lot of concepts about what the term "Makers" and "Makerspaces" meant. I think it was just one of those many SI groups and school organizations that people kept promoting but it really wasn't anything I was interested in so I never really looked into it. I saw many event posts that said this like "Maker Movement", "Find out what a Maker is", "Be a Maker", etc, etc but because there wasn't an initial brief description that caught my eye, I was by default uninterested. When this class was announced, I glanced through the email and thought it sounded interesting but very electronics oriented. Additionally, due to my prejudice from previous exposure, I thought, why do we need a class to make stuff like this and how does it relate to HCI or make me a better UX Designer? I no longer feel a burning sense to find an answer to this question. I think whether the Maker Movement is related to HCI or not is no longer an important question to me. This is because I have been exposed to this new field and I find it so fascinating and have since grown a more conscious and explicit passion for it (I say "explicit" here because I've always had passion to make stuff, I just didn't know that it was a whole movement). Anyhow, taking this class has introduced to me many other areas in the maker movement. I have learned and picked up a few skills here and there that I would not have if I just continued on my own solitary maker way. I really appreciate that. On my own, I can learn whatever I want to learn but I would not have been pushed to learn something I thought I wasn't interested in. I learned more about fibers, Arduinos, C/C++ programming, Lilypads, paints, LittleBits KORG, 3D Printing, Baking, Fashion & Tech, Squishy Circuits, stencil cutters, board game design, and so much more. Sure, I did it for the points to get an A in this class but at the same time it was so much fun! Not just fun in 'playing' but fun in learning. It was fun to advance in the things I already knew how to do and it was fun learning things outside of my comfort zone, which I wouldn't have done without being awarded points. It just expands the horizon of all the things I can actually do and make on my own. This class has really opened up a whole new world that I actually have already been involved in but just didn't know it yet. So thank you, Professor Kristin. Thank you for showing me this new yet so very familiar world. Now, my last question is, where can I go from here? Can I make this my career? If yes, what can I do? Is everything non-profit like only organizing and volunteering at Maker Faires? I would like to know where I can find a future career in the Maker Movement. *** XTRA TO SHARE I didn't discover anything new this week so nothing to share. But feel free to comment below if you found something cool!
REFLECTION We didn't have too much discussion in class this past week but I really liked the Potato Piano Mayank put together. That was really cool. I wished the application had incorporated more keys into the piano though so that we could make music with more than 4 notes. But nevertheless, I think it is so amazing to experience how our body can conduct electricity and complete electronic circuits without us feeling anything flowing through (except when one gets electrocuted). Seemingly, nothing is happening, but in actuality, the current is flowing. I would have liked to have tried making something with the Lilipad and conductive thread but I really wanted to finish the movie review I had been putting off for such a long time. Perhaps I might pick that up in the last two classes we have but we shall see. I am planning on finishing the last movie review and one more project. Quite excited to do them but I'm a big procrastinator right now since it's the end of the semester. I'll have to find some motivation through Shia LaBeouf's "Just Do It" video.
A more intense version:
READING SUMMARY No readings this week! Woo! *** XTRA TO SHARE Has anyone watched The Martian yet? If you haven't you should watch it before reading on but I'll try not to spoil it for you. If you have, highlight the paragraph below to read my thoughts about it. I just watched it this past week! It was awesome! Don't you just think "Maker" when you watched how Matt Damon created his own little green house and grew his own potatoes on Mars? So resourceful! First he needed food, so he counted how much he had. It was not enough so he needed to grow food and he found food that he could grow. Then he needed a place to grow it so he built his own greenhouse out of the station he had and used extremely natural fertilizer. Then he needed water, so he made water! Simply amazing! I don't know if this would ever fly on Mars today but it sure is a very interesting and plausible experiment I think NASA should try (if they haven't already. Lol.)
The Next Black (2014) by AEG is a documentary film about the people behind the scenes not merely in the fashion industry but even in the making of future clothing. Split into six progressing chapters depicting the innovative direction of clothing, this 45-minute film tells the story of interweaving garments and technology for fashion and for sports, increasing sustainability by growing materials and by changing buying habits, and reducing waste and pollution through less harmful means of dyeing and through repair, reuse, and recycle. Each chapter is excellently opened with the elegant use of asian-styled calligraphy paintings. Accompanied by the expressive narration, these beautiful visuals engage the viewers' imagination in the absence of appropriate real-life imagery. Through the sleek cinematography permeated with aesthetic close-up shots of fabric texture, sewing tools, thread spools, the spread of dye in water, sewing machines in action and the likes, The Next Black inspires us with interviews from Nancy Lilbury of Studio XO, Matt Hymers of Adidas, Suzanne Lee of Biocouture, Rick Ridgeway of Patagonia, Sophie Mather of YEH Group, and Kyle Wiens and Brittany McCrigler of iFixit. Each of these hidden icons are passionate and determined to propel and advance the fashion industry with technology, sustainability, and through means of repair. The first pair, Nancy Lilbury (Studio XO) and Matt Hymers (Adidas), address the idea of "wearable tech" by merging fashion and tech as well as the idea of smart clothes. They show us how much actual design engineering and 3D printing technology can be and is being applied into contemporary fashion for beauty and awe while heart rate sensors and accelerometers are integrated into sports gear to improve performance in the sports entertainment industry. Though Lady Gaga in a bubble dress is definitely a sight to behold, there is the question as to how durable and reasonable it is for regular citizens to be wearing hard and tough 3D printed fashion items as a norm. Similarly, although super tight sports jerseys with integrated heart sensors are a step forward in the sports world, the unbearable sense of tightness and constraint for the sportsmen also incur undesirable consequences such as cutting off the sleeves of a £500 handmade shirt. We can also see the same uncomfortableness with the recent change in American football attire which has tighten up significantly to expose many of the sportsmen's bounding bellies. However, there is an interesting segway into the next subject when Adidas also shows the use of bacteria on gill- or scale-like patterns in the shirts to increase breathability and perspiration during exercise of sports. Something that is very useful in the near future. Suzanne Lee (Biocouture) and Rick Ridgeway (Patagonia), speak on the topics of sustainability through brewing sustainable fabrics and preventing material waste in fast fashion. Lee is fervently interested in using bacteria to grow material to be used to make clothes. The basic recipe includes green tea, sugar, acetic acid, and a starter culture (yeast and bacteria). A very interesting concept indeed but to be honest, such methods and its products are slightly alarming as it reminds of kombucha, a fermented (not to mention pungent) tea drink commonly used as functional beverages for unsubstantiated health benefits. My skepticism is somewhat proven by the way the fabric is smelled and its corresponding comment "there's no smell really once its been dyed". Well, that's what they all say. But regardless of my personal opinions on the matter, this is definitely an untrodden path that Suzanne is very admirably venturing into. It would be very interesting to see what comes out of it in the next few years and whether it is a material that is not only more sustainable but also durable. Ridgeway on the other hand strives to create awareness on the fact that it's not just the company's responsibility to prevent material waste, it is also the consumer's responsibility. Through a Black Friday ad, Patagonia encourages customers with the thought "don't buy it if you don't need it" and pushes towards an attitude to buy high quality items that will last longer and when it is damaged, repair it and reuse it. Definitely an attractive and wise attitude to adopt but whether this Black Friday ad carries hidden intentions disguised as a genuine care for the earth, we will never know but can only ponder. It is a little ironic how in these two chapters, we are trying to make sustainable material out of bacteria to reduce waste but at the same time, Patagonia talks about preventing waste by repairing and reusing clothing items to keep them longer. I assume material made out of bacteria is not meant to last long as it may disintegrate faster than the regular fabric in order to be a kind of sustainable material to reduce pollution when thrown away in the long run. So how do you or even why should you repair and reuse something that is not meant to be kept for long? On the other hand, perhaps on the more realistic side of things, these two seemingly opposite ideas do go hand in hand in the sense that we don't try to repair and reuse the clothing made from living organisms but we do try to repair and reuse the material that are not as sustainable. Thus, we are led into the last two chapters of the documentary, Sophie Mather (YEH Group), and Kyle Wiens and Brittany McCrigler (iFixit). Mather begins with a story that leaves a vivid impression about her love for watermelons and her disgust after she witnessed the polluted river water used to feed and grow said watermelons. This experience led her to press towards a method of dyeing without water. This approach reduces water pollution because it does not use a single drop of water. Wiens and McCrigler further impress us with the human ability in learning to fix things. They claim that when you fix something, you become more connected to your products and it becomes part of your skills, learning, and persona that wouldn't be if you were just to buy a new jacket. Instead of being something I bought, it now becomes something I own. In conclusion, the overall message from this film is that the direction of fashion is changing and moving towards the integrating of technology, changing the buying culture, and increasing sustainability while reducing waste. Specifically in regards to the idea that we should learn to buy less but longer-lasting products, personally, I applaud this way of thinking and am all for it but in reality, how feasible is this way of life? Consider these things: 1. People already have this shopaholic habit ingrained into them, 2. People have this innate need to always acquire new things, 3. There's always greedy people out there. Production and marketing will always strive for more sales, more profit with disregard for the sustainability of the earth, and 4. These type of high-tech fashion items will be initially expensive which will deter many and create a negative first impression of the inability to ever afford them. Thus, there is a need to gain traction in this market before it can really take off at full scale. Regardless of these concerns, there is also the fact that people change, habits can be changed, and companies go where the money goes which is still in the hands of the people. If the cost of purchasing these futuristic items could be borne initially by these makers and their sponsors so that wearable tech can gain traction, this whole movement can definitely move forward. However, this is a battle and it needs to be fought tactfully and strategically. We can't just run into it full force and hope to win. In other words, we can't just throw all these new products into market and expect it to take off on its own. Because that would result in a collapse and utter failure. People need time to have their concepts changed. People need even more time to have their habits changed. It may take at least another generation to turn the entire ship in a different direction. But it can be done if done properly. ---- Additional Assignment Question: Are any of the innovators in the video doing work that interests you to pursue? If so, who and why? If not, what would you like to see people researching when it comes to the future of fashion? I am particularly interested in iFixit's work. I think it is necessary to have some kind of open source place to collect high quality information that is easily accessible to everyone so that people can learn how to do things themselves instead of outsource and pay for a service they can easily learn on their own. IFixit used to only be a website but a few years ago they extended into a mobile app. I find it convenient to have it on my phone but it is a little small and hard to see. The optimal device though is the iPad or iPad mini. In any case, iFixit is definitely a life saver and I believe having the general public as contributors is also an excellent source of information.
REFLECTION It was interesting to hear about the Maker Faire at Barnes & Nobles from Alyssa and everybody else's opinion about it. It sounds like it was something very quickly put together and not very centered on making but rather on sales at the bookstore. I wasn't there so I can't say for sure, but in an attempt to be balanced in thought, I think it is expected that the B&N staff would default to selling stuff because that's all they were trained to do. It's like this Maker Faire was just thrown onto them and they're just doing the job they were hired to do. So in all fairness, I don't think it was their fault for trying to sell things at the Faire. Also, the Maker Movement contains a type of open culture that not everybody is familiar with. People in general are used to fending for themselves and trying their best to please everybody in whatever they do. But the Maker Movement doesn't care about that. We care about sharing thoughts and ideas and skills and teaching others what we know. We care about just making cool, fun, useful (and sometimes not that useful) stuff but it is definitely something we find interesting and have passion for. This culture is something that will take time and needs to be gradually exposed to the community at these bookstores and even into the staff there to ingrain it in them. In any case, I am not surprised that the Faire did not turn out to resemble a real Faire as much. I had hoped it would have been exactly like a real Faire but I didn't expect it to be one. But at least it's a start. Get the event going, work on perfecting it. READING SUMMARY Browsing through sewelectric.org and the T-Shirt Fashion Pinterest search, there is some really cool stuff out there that could be done. I like how Sew Electric brings together these 3 areas of craft, electronics, and programming (sounds like "Maker" to me!). I am curious to see what "the monster who sings when you hold its hands" looks like. It was very interesting to see the technological approach and advancement in the fashion industry in The Next Black. I like to see how technology can be incorporated in a useful and practical way into clothing items and even make them still look good. Particularly of interest to me was the use of bacteria on sports attire to open and close the gill- or scale-like patterns based on the body functions. It was also cool to see the use of simple wiring to measure heart rates and other stats. I'm kind of skeptical about the use of bacteria to grow clothing material though. Not that I don't think they can do it because they can and have been working on it. But the thought of putting on a suit of bacteria on my body is kind of strange... and a little gross. Maybe I'm just prejudiced and maybe this would be the norm in the near future and there would be no issues on the matter. Well, we'll see how it plays out. I was also impressed with how actual engineering was incorporated into Lady Gaga's bubble dress. I knew they did it but I just never paid attention and did not think about the details of how the dress was made. It is very cool to know that it was 3D printed too. Additionally, Patagonia's approach to Black Friday sales ad was also interesting. I think it's great that they are advocating that it's not just the production company's responsibility to take care of the environment and prevent material waste but it's also the responsibility of the buyer or customer to not buy things they don't need. Even they should learn to take proper care of items they already own and learn to fix them and repair them and reuse them. I think Patagonia, though painted in a protagonistic light, actually has a twofold intention. The first, they probably do have a real and genuine care or concern for the environment and preventing waste but on the other hand, I think they are also doing this for their own profit by appearing to be the "good guys" with the "out-of-the-box" thinking to discourage purchases on Black Friday. In actuality, they are making the customers trust them more and like them more even if they don't love the designs and therefore increasing customer retention. It's almost like reverse psychology. Take Nike for instance, sales went down when word got out about their China factory child labor. People still loved their designs and products but because they knew children were used to make them, they didn't feel good and even no longer wanted to purchase Nike products. Anyway, this doesn't really have anything to do with making or makers but it's just my thoughts on marketing for customer retention. Lastly, I was pleasantly surprised to see a couple of interviews from iFixit. I myself have been using iFixit for 4-5 years now to fix iPhones, iPods, iPads, and Macbooks. I first stumbled upon it when I damaged my iPhone 4 screen and refused to pay $300 to get it fixed at the Apple store. So I did a little research and found iFixit with clear instructions and photos to replace your own screen. It seemed very doable and I decided to try it. 2-3 hours later I successfully repaired my cracked screen with a $30 OEM part I got from Amazon. It was a great sense of accomplishment (check out my before and after photos of my iPhone 4 below)! Since then I have helped friends and family fix their broken Apple products (including broken speakers, microphones, cameras, earphone jacks, home buttons, power buttons, etc.) and I've gotten really good at it. I can now replace an iPhone 5 screen in 45 minutes if I take my time and I don't charge them any service fees. They only pay for the parts used. Anyway, iFixit is such a great available open resource with quality and accurate information. I haven't used iFixit for fixing things other than Apple products and the occasional Android phone but I'm pretty sure they are excellent across the board. It's great to see the faces behind iFixit in the documentary. Photos of my damaged and first repair of my iPhone 4 using iFixit back in 2011:
*** XTRA TO SHARE In line with our short side conversation in class today about linguistics, here is another interesting THNKR video: This young man speaks over 20 languages: https://youtu.be/Km9-DiFaxpU
Lastly, not a maker thing but if you were curious about the video I shared professor Kristin about Malaysians and how we speak, here it is: https://youtu.be/ieZwYjMcP20
Crafted (2015) by Morgan Spurlock is a documentary on 3 very different groups of makers. It stars 5 individuals who have a passion to apply their skills into the things they enjoy making. Luke Snyder and David Van Wyk are a pair of professional knife-makers and blacksmiths in Arnoldsville, Georgia. Courtney Burns and Nick Balla create exquisite and delectable dishes from unique and local ingredients for their restaurant in San Francisco, California. Yuji Nagatani is a Japanese potter making household goods in Iga, Japan. Beautifully encapsulated with twilight and sunrise sequences, Spurlock portrays the diligence and passion of these 5 makers and their handcrafted techniques. From hand-rolled knife handles and grandmother recipes of third-world countries to sculpted pots of rich natural clay, these individuals all display the same irreplaceable trait of "handmade". In Crafted, the viewer is brought into the life of these makers and brought through their process of making their specialized products. Snyder and Wyk started their business when word got out on Wyk's wife's blog about his knife-making hobby. Creating knives and knife handles out of objects of sentimental value, it has been their primary source of income since with over 18-month long waitlists. Their hands are the precious tools of the trade. If anything ever happens to them, they won't be able to feed their family. Burns and Balla, on the other hand, specialize in food. Specifically, they specialize in food made in developing, third-world countries that are made by grandmothers. They strive to use whole local produce and harbor their own preserved food experiments to be served in years to come. Furthermore, having been a potter for 50 years, Nagatani uses the rich organic mineral clay in Iga that had been buried under Old Lake Biwa 4 million years ago. Nagatani, the 7th head of the pottery workshop today, uses a large kiln to bake these clay pots. Earthquakes and natural disasters are a huge threat to his business. If one hits and damages the kiln, it imposes detrimental effects. Though there are threats and risks in each of these three very different types of makings, it does not stop the determined makers in their endeavor to create products of high value and quality through their detailed and intricate respective processes. This film excellently depicts how each incorporate both art and science along with dedicated passion to produce their final products to share with the world.
REFLECTION Teaching a class an activity is a very interesting exercise and experience. I actually really enjoyed it. There's something about sharing your knowledge about how to do things and having people learn them. You feel the joy when you see them succeed and make something they really wanted to create. I thought I'd be doing a lot more talking and answering questions and explaining things but perhaps due to the nature of the task, there was not as much as I imagined. I was hoping more people would ask me more questions or bring up some ideas they'd like to try and we can try to plan or draft it together. But perhaps every one was busy trying to start the process. I hope every one had a good time. At least they seemed engrossed in what they were doing. We'll see in the upcoming classes how this will play out. I'm definitely looking forward to helping out more when we do actual painting! Quite exciting! READING SUMMARY No readings this week! Woo! *** XTRA TO SHARE A few weeks ago, I emailed the class with a couple of YouTube videos made by THNKR channel. I will repost them here as I still think about them every now and then and consider them according to Buechley's talk and other readings. 14 year old Kathryn rebuilding her own car: http://youtu.be/9vZpNQUIqIg 15 year old Kelvin building FM radios with electronic parts found from trash cans in Sierra Lione: http://youtu.be/XOLOLrUBRBY
Below are the 6 built-in Arduino examples I did today in class. I thought they were supposed to be really difficult, confusing, and time-consuming but they were actually quite simple to construct, which was such a surprise to me. What I got out of them is that there are lots of possibilities with Arduino. The possibilities lie in your understanding of a little programming and electronics. But all you need is to start with an idea and there is so much open source available online. Without further ado, here are my 6 examples: Example 1 Blink
