What we’ll do this semester
Theme
This year, I propose a theme for our class, and I invite you to consider how it can be woven into all your work throughout the semester. This year’s theme is Gnomon.
The gnomon is the part of the sundial that casts a shadow. The name has deep origins in a hypothesized mother language older than Latin: the Proto-Indo-European (PIE) root “gno” means “to know” (as in agnostic, prognosis, and ignorant). The oldest known gnomon, the Taosi gnomon, is a painted stick used for measuring shadows from 2300 BCE, and it bears a striking resemblance to the several gnomon that have been left on the moon by the Apollo program (There are also gnomon on Mars.)
To study the movement of a gnomon’s shadow is to gain understanding of the world.
Overview
The first half of the semester there are weekly production assignments that lead to creating a midterm timekeeper. The second half of the semester you will continue developing your final project, which will be presented in weeks 13 and 14.
Throughout the semester, students will take turns facilitating weekly discussions.
Deliverables
- Sundial, due week 2, Sept 21
- Mood board and static 2D designs, due week 3, Sept 28
- HSNY Mood board addition, animated 2D design, due week 4, Nov 5
- Hardware study, due week 5, Wednesday Oct 14
- Software study, due week 6, October 19
- Midterm timepiece, presented week 7, Oct 26
- Final timepiece, presented weeks 13 and 14, Dec 7 and Dec 14
- One week as discussion facilitator, dates to be assigned.
Assignment Details
Sundial
Due week 2, Sept 21
Build a sundial! Document it. It is very, very valuable to build a literal sundial, even one as simple as a stick in the ground, but that said, the sundial can be a metaphor if you like. There are tons of types of sundials, and humans have been making them for a long time – look around for inspiration. There are software tools ranging from simple to elaborate that can help you design one.
See the syllabus material on sundials as a starting point, and find sundial software in the Time Code software tools section.
Mood board / Midterm Concepts
Due week 3, Sept 28
- Find three inspiring reference timepieces. At least one should be a traditional clock or watch, and at least one should not be. Document them on your blog, with a brief write up about what drew you to them.
- Create two 2D design concepts for your midterm project. Post them on your blog with a description of how they speak to the “Memento” idea (see Midterm, below).
Mood board addition, animated 2D concept
Due week 4, Nov 5
- From the resources at HSNY, find another watch or clock that speaks to you. Study its design carefully – proportions, palette, materials. Recreate it in the tool of your choice – a hand drawing, Illustrator, P5, Unity, whatever.
- Refine one midterm concept and animate it. Consider the timeframe that it will operate – minutes? hours? days? Your animation should help you imagine that timeframe. Use any tools you are already comfortable with: animation, stop motion, gifs, software etc.
Hardware / software technical demo
Due week 6, Oct 19
I want you to gain technical proficiency in this course, but I understand that each of you will have unique interests, skills and goals. For this assignment, demonstrate at least one hardware or software technique from this list:
- Hardware:
- RTC
- Interrupts
- Explicit timer-referenced change
- Ramp or Tasker library
- Suncalc, Mooncalc, or equivalent libraries
- NTP (for networked microcontrollers)
- Software:
- Easings
- Timelines
- Simulations
- Formal state management
- Suncalc, Mooncalc or equivalent libraries
- NTP
Midterm timepiece: Memento (Mori/Vivere)
Presented week 7, Oct 26
For your midterm, please create a Memento (Mori/Vivere).
The term “memento mori” literally translates to “remember you will die.” However, the purpose of memento mori is memento vivere: remembering to live. With the midterm timepiece, connect to something that makes you feel uniquely alive. Use the weekly design exercises above to find inspiration, develop and refine a concept, and build hardware and software skills for implementation.
See the Syllabus culture entry on Memento Mori and this NY Times Opinion piece.
Additional constraints:
- Your Memento should be a physical artifact smaller than 30cm x 30cm x 30cm.
- It should be in conversation with a specific work discovered in your research – homage, tribute, rebuke.
- It should make use of one or more of the hardware and software technical concepts covered in class.
- You may not use the color black.
Final timepiece
Presented weeks 13 and 14, Dec 7 and Dec 14
Build on the semester’s theme, Gnomon, to create a timekeeper that reflects your unique experience of time. Is it chronos or kairos? Timeless or of-the-moment? Light-hearted or profound? Develop the project through weeks 8-12, and present the final result on either week 13 or 14 in class.
Discussion facilitator
One week, group, dates to be assigned.
On various weeks, a group of students will function as discussion facilitators for the class. You will take the lead in prompting your peers to engage with the reading or the theme of the week. You might also use your week to share art or an artist that you think is relevant, a writer beyond our reading that is inspiring, or an event or experience you’ve attended that fits the class.
One week before your assigned week you will email the class list with a reading, artist, question, activity, video, or podcast connected to your topic.