Hacking and Meta-Creativity

how open source, cheap electronics and onlinecommunities are making it easy to add high tech

gadgets to creative practice

David Gerhard

REACT: Research into Art and Creative Technologies

CTECH

Computer Science

Fine Arts

CTECH

The sea change• Creative practice is starting to include

traditionally “by the book” media

• Electronics, Mechatronics, Code

• Collision between established pro and self-taught amateur

• Making these tools easier to use is itself a creative act

• Hack

(meta)

3 root causes

• Cheaper, better, easier-to-get stuff

• Accessible fabbing

• Community, including FOSS/OSHW

Hack

A quick, clever, or unusual solution

(uninformed, sloppy, ...)

“Professional”

Stable, well-tested, predictable

creative?

Creativity = good?

“Creative Accounting”

Four stories of Metacreativity

•Electronics Prototyping

•Manufacturing

•Music

•Film

(look for the meta)

(look for the hacking)

1. Electronics Prototyping

for engineers only

Artists

Kinetic sculpture, wearables, interactive

exhibits....

$

(meta)

arduino designoomlout kit

Biggest problem of engineering design:

Designed by engineers

Designed for engineers

Arduino is a hack

No engineer needs the arduino

Circuit design as a creative practice

(meta)

CS207: Building Interactive

Gadgets

2. Manufacturing

Creating physical stuff

Industrial Prototyping

$1,000,000

$1200

Hack

(meta)

3. Music

Case Study: iPad Orchestra Class

Topics• History of Laptop Orchestras

• Improvisation and Experimental Sound Art

• New Media in Music

• What is an App? History and Structure of Mobile Applications

• Soundscape Composition and Found Sounds on Mobile Devices

• The iPad in Music Production

• New Media Musical Instruments and Interfaces

• Immersive Soundscapes

• iPad in Music Education

• The iPad in Interdisciplinary Arts

Virtuosity

Barrier to Entry

Music on the iPad is a hack

Case Study: Musix and the Rainboard

(meta meta?)

4. Film

The Crane Shot

Robotic Motion Control

Only in professional films

$$$$

there must be a better way

Ardupilot

Brains for helicopter

Aside: Wii Hacks

DIY drones: a hacked-together

helicopter

GoPro on an RC gimbal

Build a quadcopter from scratch:

creative

Use a scratch-build quadcopter for HD

video?

meta-creative

Hack → Consumer Product

Demo

$2000

$3000

4 stories

•Electronics Prototyping

•Manufacturing

•Music

•Film

Recurring Memes...

Meme:

Justin

“Just in time”

“Just enough”

Compare to traditional professional degrees:

“Just in case”

Professional vs amateur

Drawback of “Justin” thinking:

Don’t know what’s possible

Don’t know what’s been done

Which comes first:Ideas or Tech?

Cool Tech

Idea

What can I build with it?

Idea

Cool Tech

How do I make it happen?

Meme:

“ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE”

Meme: Technology removes constraints

3d printing: “you can build anything”

Arduino: “you can make any circuit”

Exercise: Let’s remove some constraints!

Write the next great novel....

GO!

tyranny of the blank page

One final thought

Creativity ≠ no rules

Creativity = breaking some rules in new ways

Go hack.

Learn just enough to be dangerous

Questions