Physical Graffiti

Course Code: PSAM_5600_KELBERMAN_FA15

Tuesdays 7pm – 9:50 pm

6 East 16th Street, Room 1202

Instructor: Mike Kelberman

Email: Mike.Kelberman@newschool.edu

TA: Aaron Lehr

Email: Lehra714@newschool.edu

Office hours:

Thursday afternoons with Aaron

By appointment with Mike

 

Course Description

Physical Graffiti Graffiti (noun) – 1. A form of art involving painting text or images in public places. 2. A form of vandalism involving painting text or images in public places. 3. Informal inscriptions, figure drawings, etc., as opposed to official inscriptions.Evan Roth’s Graffiti Analysis Sculptures and FRONT Design’s Sketch Furniture, are examples of capturing expression and physicalizing the result. This class will explore new ways to interpret the notion of graffiti in a tangible form of expression. These two themes, expression and dimensionality, will drive our weekly assignments.

 

We will begin with traditional/parametric design in CAD (Rhino), and soon graduate to new forms of generating 3D models. We will create our own forms from audio, video and sensors, to name a few, and employ rapid prototyping tools to produce objects. This is a production-heavy class with a final project. Students are required to produce physical objects with a variety techniques, including 3D scanning, 3D printing, laser cutting, paper folding, etc.

 

Course Objectives

 

Students will leave with the ability to:

Design in CAD using Rhino and prepare models for 3d printing or laser cutting.

Understand the best choice depending on situation when using laser cutting, 3d printing & CNC.

Generate 3D form in Grasshopper.

Integrate 3D with Arduino & Processing.

Utilize 3D scanning technology.

 

Weekly Summary

 

1. [9/1]     Course Material Outline, Introductions,

Class Survey

Install software (rhino, illustrator, arduino, processing)

       

Watch: EXIT THRU THE GIFTSHOP (Free for Amazon Prime Members, 30 day trial)

If you’ve seen it, watch: F is for Fake

Partner Up: Research a street artist and make a 5-min presentation

Short Bio (Era, Location, Pieces, Influences/Group).  

How he/she is unique?  

Why are they inspirational?  

Create (partner or solo): An object / campaign / tag / ethos.  These designs should be inspired by your street artist (so pick someone that inspires you!).  Come up with 3 different designs and decide the best medium for each (rubber stamp, wheatpaste, light art, sculpture, etc)

 

1. [9/8]    

     Using Lasers for 3D: Intro to Rhino

     Rhino Intensive

Curves, Snaps, Objects Classes, Extruding, Nurbs & Vectors

Create: Digital Shoplifting – reappropriate something from the internet (make it your own)

Bring in the object (at least one prototype should be digi-fab’d)

Watch: Lynda tutorials on Rhino 5 – Essential Training (Chapters 1 – 6)

     

3. [9/15]  

Deeper Rhino – Loft, Revolve, Iteration, Wirecut, Booleans, Sweep along Curve, 1 & 2 Rail Sweep, Sectioning

Designing for 3D Printers

Design considerations (overhangs, density, shrinkage & tolerances)

Prep for output – Checking & Repairing nurbs & meshes

 

Install Grasshopper (Bootcamp + Windows 7 / 10)

      Watch: Finish Lynda tutorials on Rhino 5 – Essential Training (Chapters 7+)

Watch: Print the Legend (Netflix)

Create: Two-Week Project: Take an object and give it a twist (Example: Blow Away Vase by FRONT)

     {Bonus:  Replace an object from the street/apartment with your modified one}

 

[9/22]  No official class

3D & Laser Orientations should be finished by this week

Learning how to use the Ultimaker, Makerbot and Universal Lasers

 

4. [9/29]

3D Scanning – Structured light & Stereoscopy

We’ll using 3 types of scanning tools (Sense, 123D Catch, Next Engine)

Create: Digital Shoplifting (Part Deux)

Partner up: Go to a store/museum & digitally scan object for reappropriation (123D Catch, Sense, etc)

Photo/Video documentation required

Bonus: Modify & List on Etsy or Thingiverse

Proposal: 3 proposals for your Two-Week Project  (Digi-Flo$$)

Research: Find a new 3D scanning tech (software or hardware) and attempt/demo

 

5. [10/6]

Parametric Modelling: Crash Course

Antimony, TopMod, & Grasshopper

Create: [Two Week Project due 10/20]

Digital FLO$$: Generative Street/Net Culture Artifact ($Bling$, Pop!, GIFs, Performance) from the ephemeral (song, light, vibration, etc)

 

6. [10/13]

Processing Crash Course: 2D Generative Design

   Generating shapes from sound

   Generating shapes with webcam

   Integrating with Grasshopper

Optional: Integrating with Max/MSP

Create: Keep working on Digital FLO$$

 

7. [10/20]

Digital FLO$$ Presentations

 

Arduino: Sensors as Parameters

   Connecting Arduino and Processing

   Generating shapes with sensors in Processing

   Generating shapes with sensors in Grasshopper

 

8. [10/27]

Kinect & Rhino/Grasshopper

   Augmenting 3D with workflows

   Create:  Two Week Project #3

Using Grasshopper, make a self- portrait (literal or abstract)

                 

9. [11/3]   Generative 3D Modelling in Processing

Using Marius Watz’s Modelbuilder library to generate and export STLs

     p5 sliders and setting up workflows

 

Assign: Watch CLOUDS with Occulus

Write response to three of the conversations (please quote).

Create: Continue Two Week Project #3

 

10. [11/10] Advanced Finishing Techniques:

Hollowing and wall-thickening techniques

Lighting & Skinning Basics

Mesh Repair – Netfabb and Rhino are great tools for mesh repair

Pepakura – 3D files to paperfolding

Generative Mold Making

 

Present Two Week Projects #3

Assign: Final Project Proposals

 

11. [11/17]  Final Project Discussions & Feedback

 

CNC and Subtractive Processes

Plasma-cutter

Blue Foam

 

     Assign: Site & Project Proposal

     Last Chance: All previous work must be well documented and blogged by next class

 

<11/22 THANKSGIVING BREAK>

 

12. [12/1] Final Project Workshopping

CNC Part 2

     Construction techniques: Joinery, Fasteners

3D to 2D – Creating 2D cuts from 3D objects, to re-assemble

(If available: 5-Axis CNC Orientation)

 

13. [12/8] Final Project Progress – Guest Critiques

 

14. [12/15] Final Presentations!

 

15. [12/22] Rescheduled for TBD class trip!

Last chance for late submissions

 

Recommended Reading (there will be readings assignments from but not limited to):

 

Bohnacker, Hartmut, Benedikt Gross, Julia Laub, and Claudius Lazzeroni.Generative Design: Visualize, Program, and Create with Processing.

 

Graham, Paul. Hackers & Painters: Big Ideas from the Computer Age.

 

Antonelli, Paola. Design and the Elastic Mind.

 

Bergdoll, Barry, Dario Gamboni, Philip Ursprung, and Angeli Sachs. Nature Design: From Inspiration to Innovation.

 

Lefteri, Chris. Making It: Manufacturing Techniques for Product Design.

 

Ching, Francis D. K. A Visual Dictionary of Architecture.

 

Flake, Gary William. The Computational Beauty of Nature: Computer Explorations of Fractals, Chaos, Complex Systems, and Adaptation.

 

O’Sullivan, Dan, and Tom Igoe. Physical Computing: Sensing and Controlling the Physical World with Computers.

 

Shiffman, Daniel. Learning Processing: A Beginner’s Guide to Programming Images, Animation, and Interaction.

     

 

Resources

NYC supplies: Utrecht, Home Depot, Adorama (MB filament), Tinkersphere, Littlebits, Rosenzweig, Compleat Sculptor

Online: Adafruit, McMaster, Ninjaflex, Sparkfun,

Univeristy Resources: http://resources.parsons.edu/

Materials: Chinatown Building Supply, T&T Plasticland, Canal Plastics, Mood Fabrics

 

Final Grading Breakdown

Weekly Blog Entries: 20%

Attendance / Participation: 20%

2-Week Assignments: 30% (there are three total)

Final Project: 30%

 

Assessment of Work

 

Students will be graded on their effort and persistence.  Rapid Prototyping is an iterative process meant to shorten the time between design changes and physical results.  Students will be graded on their process; how their original designs are modified to overcome material constraints, as well as correcting form, utility and aesthetics.  Likewise, algorithmic work is expected to become refined and/or more sophisticated over the process.  Students will update the class blog with the story of their processes through text, video and imagery.  

 

Late work will lose 10% per week it is overdue.

Excessive lateness and/or absences will affect the attendance portion of a grade.

 

Graduate

 

A Work of exceptional quality

A- Work of high quality

B+ Very good work

B Good work; satisfies course requirements

Satisfactory completion of a course is considered to be a grade of B or higher.

B- Below-average work

C+ Less than adequate work

C Well below average work

C- Poor work; lowest possible passing grade

F Failure

GM Grade missing for an individual

 

Grades of D are not used in graduate level courses.

 

Grade of W

The grade of W may be issued by the Office of the Registrar to a student who officially withdraws from a course within the applicable deadline. There is no academic penalty, but the grade will appear on the student transcript. A grade of W may also be issued by an instructor to a graduate student (except at Parsons and Mannes) who has not completed course requirements nor arranged for an Incomplete.

 

Grade of WF

The grade of WF is issued by an instructor to a student (all undergraduates and all graduate students) who has not attended or not completed all required work in a course but did not officially withdraw before the withdrawal deadline. It differs from an “F,” which would indicate that the student technically completed requirements but that the level of work did not qualify for a passing grade. The WF is equivalent to an F in calculating the grade point average (zero grade points), and no credit is awarded.

 

Grades of Incomplete

The grade of I, or temporary incomplete, may be granted to a student under unusual and extenuating circumstances, such as when the student’s academic life is interrupted by a medical or personal emergency. This mark is not given automatically but only upon the student’s request and at the discretion of the instructor. A Request for Incomplete form must be completed and signed by student and instructor. The time allowed for completion of the work and removal of the “I” mark will be set by the instructor with the following limitations: [You should include one the following standards, depending on the level of your course].

 

Graduate students: Work must be completed no later than one year following the end of the class. Grades of “I” not revised in the prescribed time will be recorded as a final grade of “WF” (for Parsons and Mannes graduate students) or “N” (for all other graduate students) by the Office of the Registrar. The grade of “N” does not affect the GPA but does indicate a permanent incomplete.

 

Divisional, Program and Class Policies

 

• Responsibility

Students are responsible for all assignments, even if they are absent. Late assignments, failure to complete the assignments for class discussion and/or critique, and lack of preparedness for in-class discussions, presentations and/or critiques will jeopardize your successful completion of this course.

 

• Participation

Class participation is an essential part of class and includes: keeping up with reading, assignments, projects, contributing meaningfully to class discussions, active participation in group work, and coming to class regularly and on time.

 

• Attendance

Faculty members may fail any student who is absent for a significant portion of class time. A significant portion of class time is defined as three absences for classes that meet once per week and four absences for classes that meet two or more times per week. During intensive summer sessions a significant portion of class time is defined as two absences. Lateness or early departure from class may also translate into one full absence.

 

• Canvas

Use of Canvas may be an important resource for this class. Students should check it for announcements before coming to class each week.

 

• Delays

In rare instances, I may be delayed arriving to class. If I have not arrived by the time class is scheduled to start, you must wait a minimum of thirty minutes for my arrival. In the event that I will miss class entirely, a sign will be posted at the classroom indicating your assignment for the next class meeting.

 

• Electronic Devices

Use of electronic devices (phones, tablets, laptops) is permitted when the device is being used in relation to the course’s work. All other uses are prohibited in the classroom and devices should be turned off before class starts.

 

• Academic Honesty and Integrity

The New School views “academic honesty and integrity” as the duty of every member of an academic community to claim authorship for his or her own work and only for that work, and to recognize the contributions of others accurately and completely. This obligation is fundamental to the integrity of intellectual debate, and creative and academic pursuits. Academic honesty and integrity includes accurate use of quotations, as well as appropriate and explicit citation of sources in instances of paraphrasing and describing ideas, or reporting on research findings or any aspect of the work of others (including that of faculty members and other students). Academic dishonesty results from infractions of this “accurate use”. The standards of academic honesty and integrity, and citation of sources, apply to all forms of academic work, including submissions of drafts of final papers or projects. All members of the University community are expected to conduct themselves in accord with the standards of academic honesty and integrity. Please see the complete policy in the Parsons Catalog.

 

It is the responsibility of students to learn the procedures specific to their discipline for correctly and appropriately differentiating their own work from that of others. Compromising your academic integrity may lead to serious consequences, including (but not limited to) one or more of the following: failure of the assignment, failure of the course, academic warning, disciplinary probation, suspension from the university, or dismissal from the university.

 

• Student Disability Services (SDS)

In keeping with the University’s policy of providing equal access for students with disabilities, any student with a disability who needs academic accommodations is welcome to meet with me privately. All conversations will be kept confidential. Students requesting any accommodations will also need to meet with Jason Luchs in the Office of Student Disability Services, who will conduct an intake, and if appropriate, provide an academic accommodation notification letter to you to bring to me. SDS assists students with disabilities in need of academic and programmatic accommodations as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) and Section 504 of the Federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973. http://www.newschool.edu/studentservices/disability/.