{"id":2628,"date":"2016-06-23T14:07:55","date_gmt":"2016-06-23T18:07:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/creativearts\/?p=2628"},"modified":"2016-06-23T15:58:06","modified_gmt":"2016-06-23T19:58:06","slug":"starting-off-summer-with-caad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/creativearts\/2016\/06\/23\/starting-off-summer-with-caad\/","title":{"rendered":"Starting Off Summer With CAAD"},"content":{"rendered":"

We have three wonderful projects underway in Poughkeepsie with a group of ten students. \u00a0While the three projects are all radically unique, they all capture the CAAD spirit of integrating the creative arts with different academic disciplines. \u00a0Last Wednesday we had our first group roundtable to hear about the progress that has been made in the first two weeks of work.<\/span><\/p>\n

First, we heard from Create and Control, made up of Omri Bareket, a drama and math major, Andrea <\/span>Orejarena<\/span>, a cognitive science major, and Carson Packer, and computer science major. \u00a0Create and Control\u2019s final project will be a science fiction theater production incorporating interactive storytelling by giving the audience control of certain production elements throughout the show. \u00a0They seek to ask questions such as \u201cWill theater become more immersive in the future?\u201d and \u201cWhat is consciousness?\u201d as it relates to artificial intelligence.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s Andrea writing in the group blog about their developing plot:<\/span><\/p>\n

We have a plot! A scientist is murdered and his AI is accused of killing him\u2014 straight out of IRobot. Although you probably couldn\u2019t tell because there are a million other stories like this. Fear of robot \u201cdomination\u201d(?) has been around since \u010capek\u2019s 1920\u2019s play <\/span>Rossum\u2019s Universal Robot<\/span>. But this isn\u2019t our fear and this isn\u2019t our focus. What really interested me from IRobot, which was very <\/span>very <\/span>informed by many debates with my fellow cog sci peers (shoutout), is whether or not this robot can be judged \u2018guilty\u2019. I don\u2019t even know what I fully think yet. And I\u2019ve been thinking about it for the past three years (either directly or indirectly).<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\"920x920-300x253\"<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n


\nI looked back on a book I read where a robot monkey was given human-like emotions and attributes and sent to the moon as a companion to an astronaut. This was for the sake of the astronaut\u2019s mental health. The book takes place upon their return, in a court room, where they are debating whether the robot company has the right to \u2018disconnect\u2019 the robot or if this would be considered \u2018murder\u2019. ~AKA~ \u00a0Because of it\u2019s hinting-towards-cognition behavior, is this robot monkey now considered a \u2018person\u2019? Stay tuned.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

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Next, Sensory Panels presented on their plan to integrate philosophical texts with music and visual art. \u00a0They explained that of the three of them, at least two have an expertise in two of these categories, which helps the group function non-hierarchically. \u00a0Gordon\u00a0Schmidt, a Greek and Roman studies and philosophy double-major, also has a background in music, Henry Krusoe, also a philosophy major, has a background in visual art, and Jonah Parker, a studio art major, has a passion for music. \u00a0The three plan on using projections in a small space to capture dimensions of classic philosophical texts that are sometimes left out in the classroom.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"fant-2\"<\/em>Here\u2019s Henry describing some of his group\u2019s research process:<\/span><\/p>\n

This week we watched Disney\u2019s Fantasia (we showed ourselves no mercy<\/em>
\n and watched the uncut 2+ hours). I was struck by the opening episode and the last. The first was a pure illustration of<\/em>
\n visual abstraction of musical forms. Part of this abstraction involved playing this stacks and\u00a0layers of shadows the orchestra members on a colored screen. To me the orchestra mirrored the chained prisoners (they remain rooted in the pit throughout the performance) with the peculiar double resonance that they were watching their own shadows cast on the wall of their \u201ccave.\u201d The last scene also reminded me of the cave. It depicts the revelry of a hoard of demons giving way to a procession of figures ushering in the dawn. This scene, and \u00a0particularly the last image which pans through a dark cavernous building to on to a vista of the breaking dawn, reminded me of Plato\u2019s description of ascent from darkness into the light of day.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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Finally, Do You Hear What I Here? taught us that there is no divide between art and science, although this idea has yet to reach the Hudson Valley. \u00a0The group is composed of two \u201cscientists\u201d and two \u201cartists,\u201d but they are working hard to break down the divides that traditionally separate their disciplines. \u00a0Elisabeth Boyce-Jacino and Maya Enriquez are both cognitive science majors, and Gabby Miranda and Conor Flanagan are both political science majors with interests in creative writing and visual art. \u00a0The team plans on exploring the world of audio illusions using EEG brain scans, and turning their results into an artistic installation at the beginning of the school year. \u00a0They expressed that they were all pushing themselves visually, experientially, and sonically.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s Maya going into more detail on the project:<\/span><\/p>\n

For our project, we will be studying the effects of audio illusions on the brain. Primarily, we\u2019ll be looking at the McGurk Effect<\/a>. This effect occurs when you\u2019re presented with the sight of a mouth forming certain motions and a sound that does not match the sound you would expect those motions to produce. You will then perceive a sound that matches neither what you heard nor what you saw. Example:<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n