[Artful-Design] A Midsummer's Newsletter

[Ge Wang]

Dear friends,

I hope this you finds you well and enjoying the summer! I'd like to 
share a number of projects from this past academic year in my courses 
and research group at Stanford/CCRMA, representing the work of many. For 
your midsummer perusin'...


--- [ARTFUL DESIGN] ---
It's been nearly a year since the book was released. Since then, I've 
somehow given more than 70 talks on Artful Design:
     https://artful.design/events.html

We held an Artful Design Manifestival in November:
     https://artful.design/manifestival/

A new Thinking Matters course, based on the book, was designed and 
taught to a class of 80 students at Stanford, exploring the aesthetic 
and ethical dimensions of shaping technology (a second iteration will be 
taught in Winter 2020):
     https://artful.design/think66/

/Artful Design/ and Stanford University Press won an Independent 
Publisher Book Award:
     https://twitter.com/gewang/status/1135349354925944832

As we transition from summer to autumn (back to school for many!), I 
invite you to consider putting /Artful Design/ on your reading list (or 
course syllabus!). By the way, we are producing a video series based on 
/Artful Design/ -- coming this fall. We'll continue to add content to 
the main website:
     https://artful.design/


--- [CCRMA VR Lab] ---
We instantiated the CCRMA VR Design Lab this year:
     https://ccrma.stanford.edu/groups/vr/

The Lab was quite productive -- when it wasn't the destination of a 
sewage leak originating from the 3rd floor CCRMA bathroom...
     http://bit.ly/vr-lab-underwater-2019-1

The VR Lab reborn, post-sewage:
     https://stanford.io/2KOECxu

Check out some of the projects from Spring:
     http://bit.ly/vr-midi-citi
     http://bit.ly/vr-sign-2019
     http://bit.ly/vr-shadow-2019
     http://bit.ly/vr-foot-piano
     http://bit.ly/vr-12sents-2019


--- [MUSIC 256a / CS476a: "Music, Computing, Design"] ---
"This course explores the artful design of interactive musical software, 
tools, instruments, toys, and games. Topics include strategies for 
crafting interactive systems, audiovisual design, game design, and a 
practical philosophy of creatively shaping technology. Course work 
features several programming assignments, an emphasis on critical design 
feedback, and a "design your own" final project. Prerequisite: 
experience in C/C++, Java, or Unity."

Final projects from 2018:
     https://ccrma.stanford.edu/courses/256a-fall-2018/projects/


--- [STANFORD LAPTOP ORCHESTRA] ---
This was our most ambitious SLOrk year yet, culminating in 2019 A SLOrk 
Odyssey: A Concert of New Frontiers -- featuring musical lanterns, VR, 
Star Trek, a laptopera, and more!

Concert page + program:
     http://slork.stanford.edu/events/2019/spring/
     http://slork.stanford.edu/events/notes/2019-slork-spring.pdf

Photos:
     https://www.flickr.com/photos/gewang/albums/72157709136426417

Videos of a few performances:
     Lanterns: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MT7x8EYyxQ0
     VR: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8s1knkVKh0g
     Nomadic Hues: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jf_BLBcL3Vg
     Giography: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8k4sF_vBrws


--- [FURIES: A LAPTOPERA!] ---
We created a laptop orchestra opera (or laptopera, possibly the first 
ever). It was masterminded by composer and instrument designer Anne Hege 
in close collaboration with CCRMA graduate students Elena Georgieva, 
Camille Noufi, and SLOrk. Anne will be at CCRMA next year as an Artist 
in Residence; we plan to create and premiere the entire laptopera.  Act 
III was performed at the SLOrk concert in June:
     https://www.flickr.com/photos/gewang/albums/72157709045291467
     (video still being edited!)


Okay, that's it for now -- until soon!

Savor the summer,
Ge!

~~~
Ge Wang
Associate Professor
Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA)
Department of Music (also Computer Science, by Courtesy)
Stanford University
https://www.gewang.com/
~
Co-founder, Smule
~
Artful Design: Technology in Search of the Sublime!
-- what we make, makes us --
https://artful.design/
~~~