Code That Sings Itself
sound, C++
2011
This computer program maps its own code structure to sounds, which I recorded using the microphone built into my computer. It goes through its own code line by line and uses the characters, whitespace, punctuation, and line length to generate the music. The following are two tracks created by running the program over the two files which make up its code:


codeThatSingsItself.h


codeThatSingsItself.cpp
Singing Code
video, C++
2011
I Am Singing to the Computer
video, C++
2011
I attempted to build a chord by singing as cleanly as possible and recording myself using the camera built in to the computer. First, I sang one note and recorded both the audio and video of myself singing. Then, at the same time as playing back the recording, I sang the next note in harmony and again recorded myself using the computer's camera. I repeated this as many times as I could until eventually I had a recording that had the audio of me singing 13 notes together (where the first note was fed through the computer 13 times and the last just once). The more times a note is re-recorded by the computer, the more distorted it becomes due to the limitations of the computer's hardware and software. I presented the outcome of this investigation as a C++ program which displays the video recordings in a grid on the computer screen. The program randomly goes through the videos to show each stage of my process along with the corresponding audio.
Carte Blanche
C++, YouTube videos of trees in the wind and wild horses
2012
Caressing the Perimeter of my iMac
video, C++
2011
Each one of these stories is created by assembling the sentences taken from 3 different romance novels by three different authors. I have a computer program pick randomly which book and which page I must use. Then I pick the most interesting sentence on that page. After I have 10 sentences, I rearrange them into a story.
What Had Happened Hadn't Happened Yet
There is no colors, no jewels, no needlework. All that was left of him were the spiteful yearnings of a whining man. "Oh, but I can't!" When the man made no effort to take the coins, she put them on the edge of the tomb. Annabelle fell silent, her lashes lowering as she considered what she was about to say. Ignoring the brilliant sparks that danced across her vision like fireflies, Annabelle left the room with short, careful steps. She took them and smiled at him. What had happened hadn't happened yet. Victoria returned, white with rage and shock.
The air was soft with twilight, settling damply over the estate with no breeze to stir the thick atmosphere. Somehow she forced a shallow smile to her face. During these lessons, Miss Flossie listened to Victoria's diction, observed her every mannerism, and questioned her on her accomplishments and interests all the while nodding her curly head and fluttering her fingers in a manner that reminded Victoria of a fidgety little bird. Throughout the rest of the house, however, there was a vibrating, ominous tension that sprang from Lord Fielding and stretched its tentacles around everyone else. In a society that considered it vulgar ever to speak or think about mercantile concerns, there was nothing more ill-bred than a man who had made his career out of investing. Charles's gaze slid away from hers. Glancing up at the man, she saw the way he was studying his reflection. Was he going to walk away and leave her too? Slowly, he opened his eyes, but he saw nothing. He was sitting in his office when his heart stopped.
Approaching the back of her chair, he rested his fingertips on the curve of her shoulder. "Isn't this the most wonderful surprise you could imagine?" Victoria heard him, but her mind was on Jason, her heart filled with warmth for the man who has sheltered her when she came to England, given her beautiful things, teased her when she was lonely, and ultimately married her. Smiling, she closed the drawer. Taking the jewel from her hand, he pinned it between the collar points of her blouse. Maybe it was in her blood. Awful, terrible things. "Don't go near her," she said, amazed that her voice was steady. And she knew he had--she could see it in his face. Damn, damn, damn she thought as she tore down the stairs and ran out of the hotel into the rain.
Daphne, who had always been the girl everyone liked but no one adored, was suddenly proclaimed the season's Incomparable. She hurried to the lake with her satchel tucked under her arm. She said nothing, but her eyes were enchantingly curious. They danced to the accompaniment of men stoping their feet and clapping their hands to the lively rhythm of the tune. Her cheeks pinkened as she dipped her head, shyly. "We have a bargain." And, as hatred flooded his body and poured from his eyes, he made a solemn vow. The words washed over her. Nastasia. Understanding dawned. They both smiled, and for a moment Daphne thought that all would be well again, but as soon as the smiles faded, an uncomfortable silence fell across the room. Gillian fought the most irresistible urge to strike him. And when that happened, she knew she'd feel a glimmer of disappointment.
He looked up at the sky for a moment before answering. "My son is dead--I no longer have any use for legacies." He said his mother had been cold to him and his wife had been frigid. "And you didn't push me away." And the truth was, she hadn't. Sun was streaming through the old windows high above her head, and sharp, clear rays lit the white marble tomb in the archway to the left. A large hand lifted to the shimmering fall of her hair, and he combed his fingers through it, watching with fascination as the golden brown strands slipped across his knuckles. And then, just before she died, she whispered another name--Charles. Victoria flattened herself against the wall, feeling as if the security and peace of her world had been somehow threatened by what she had seen. It was the first entirely unselfish act of his life.
How had he found her in the dark and pouring rain? He reached the nadir of the stairs and stood before her with a nominal bow, looking unbearably smug. Funny what the threat of being burned alive could make one do. Sighing shortly, Jeremy pushed back a swath of honey-colored hair that had fallen over his forehead. "Go," he said again. No doubt it was a sign that the venom's effects were fading...but that didn't explain why she suddenly felt so relieved and peaceful. A strange fancy, but one she couldn't seem to dismiss. She did not have any emeralds. "You must take it from my hand if you want it," she warned. "Don't go anywhere," he murmured, smiling.
Elizabeth gave her head a haughty toss, glanced sympathetically at the flapping fish and then gazed at him with haughty condemnation in her eyes. Pausing to sip the spicy mixture, she savored the flow of warmth through her veins. His arrogant grin changed her mind. She was swamped by a feeling of utter hopelessness as she waited for him to destroy her with a few caustic words. "You really think I'll believe anything you tell me, don't you?" People glanced furtively at the woman, but they passed her without breaking pace. He lost his thought as he beheld the utterly comic sight of two stiff-backed women seated on a trunk together, prim and proper as you please, beneath a black umbrella in the middle of nowhere. After giving the pitiful infant one quick glance, he was convinced war was inevitable. He smiled at his angels. That piece of alarming news made Berta let out a muted sob before she lapsed again to sniffling and blowing her nose.
Crying to Dragon Dictate
Dragon Dictate, Mac OSX screen reader
2011
I cried for five minutes to Dragon Dictate. I used the Mac OSX screen reader to read back the result.
Dell Dimension XPS D266 Pentium II 266 MHz
30x22", gouache on paper
2011
Commodore 64
30x22", gouache on paper
2011
Sun Lab
30x22", gouache on paper
2011
gouache on paper
2011
For many months, I was unable to hold a brush or pencil. I made this series of works by putting paper on the floor and drawing with my hands.
96x50", graphite, ink, gesso, tape on paper
2011
96x50", graphite, ink, gesso, tape on paper
2011
71x50", graphite, ink, gesso, collage on paper
2011
84x50", graphite, ink, gesso, collage on paper
2011
113x60", graphite, ink, gesso, collage on paper
2011
106x60", graphite, ink, gesso, collage on paper
2011
119x60", graphite, ink, gesso, collage on paper
2011
49x25", graphite, ink, gesso, collage on paper
2011
These paintings are created through a combination of the computer's choices and my own. Using Processing, I printed out a series of randomly colored grid patterns, which were rotated in 3D space. I transferred these grids to paper and connected squares of the same color across the grids using arcs.
36x48", Processing, gouache
2010
36x48", Processing, gouache
2010
36x48", Processing, gouache
2010
36x48", Processing, gouache
2010
Dream Seeds
24", gouache on black paper
2009
3", gouache
2009
Mystical Strand #1
shapes generated by javascript, scanned watercolor background
2009
When I worked in the tech world, I thought of an interface being a clean layer between the user and the technology being used. As an artist, I realized that this idea of an interface being a distinct boundary completely breaks down. In using technology to make art, I was surprised to discover to what extent technology conditioned my behavior and perceptions. By spending years mastering technology and repeatedly interfacing with it, I was unknowingly shaped by it. Currently in my artistic practice, I am writing software which involves repetitive interactions with the computer to both investigate and bring awareness to this power relationship. It is unclear if I am controlling the computer through the interface or if it is controlling me.

The definition of good user interface design is uncannily similar to Foucault's concept of governmentality, which describes the way governments use techniques to produce citizens best suited to fulfill those governments' policies. Good interface design empowers the user to effortlessly accomplish some goal without drawing any attention to itself. While it is empowering the user to harness complex technologies to do useful tasks, it is at the same time guiding (even controlling) the user's behavior and thoughts. Ideally, the user does not think about the interface at all, only about accomplishing their goal successfully. Currently, this new form of governmentality is not the creation of a defined group, but it is emergent from the culture of the tech world. It emerges from many small decisions, often seemingly unimportant, by the many well-intentioned designers and engineers only trying to do their best with whatever feature for which they are responsible.

While I am able to view technology critically, I am not at all suggesting we should reject technology altogether. I remain passionate about engineering and design, and I still believe that technology has the potential to have a huge, positive impact on the world. The question becomes this: now that I have recognized the overwhelming power of technology to dictate our behavior, what will I do with this knowledge? How can I bring awareness to how we are conditioned by the technologies we use and its potential dangers? In the cases where I feel this is already happening in a negative way, is it possible for me to circumvent or subvert that through what I make? How do I apply this awareness to ethically design new technologies that give users a genuine sense of agency? And, finally, how can I encourage others to do the same?
EDUCATION
Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI
MFA Digital + Media, expected 2012

Brown University, Providence, RI
Sc.B. Applied Mathematics/Computer Science, magna cum laude, 2005
EXPERIENCE
Instructor, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI, 2012
  • Designed syllabus and taught course combining science fiction, art theory readings, and studio work for graduates and undergraduates
  • Taught intro to programming (Processing) workshops for graduates in Digital+Media department and in freshman foundation studies
Software Engineer Intern, Google Research, Cambridge, MA, 2011
  • Interned with Martin Wattenberg and Fernanda Viégas
  • Designed and programmed a visualization project (HTML5/Javascript), which is not yet public
Software Engineer Intern, Google Research, Mountain View, CA, 2010
  • Interned with CEO Eric Schmidt and Joshua Bloch
  • Designed user interface and programmed front end for a project, which is not yet public
Software Engineer, Google, Mountain View, CA, 2005-2008
  • Frontend developer for iGoogle, Google's personalized homepage (22.5 million users and 20% of all visits to Google's homepage in 2008) and Google Gadgets
  • 7th engineer on iGoogle team
  • Designed and wrote some of the most popular Google Gadgets (millions of users)
  • Worked closely with business partners including CBS, NY Times, Sports Illustrated, Entertainment Weekly, etc. writing and designing Google Gadgets and taught them to develop their own
  • Google Gadget API Speaker - presented at Google Developer Day in Tokyo and Google Developer Night in Seoul; gave many internal talks at Google offices all over the world; spoke at several universities in Japan. Overall, reached thousands of developers and students through these talks.
Teaching Assistant, RISD and Brown University, Providence, RI, 2001-2005, 2010
  • Classes taught: Introduction to Creative Programming, Introduction to Algorithms and Data Structures, Head TA for Advanced Algorithms, and Javanese Gamelan
Research Assistant, RISD and Brown Department of Engineering, Providence, RI, 2001-2002, 2011
  • Researched thin films in materials science/mechanical engineering departments
Software Test Engineer Intern, Microsoft, Redmond, WA, 2004
AWARDS
  • RISD graduate fellowship and assistantship, 2011
  • National Science Foundation grant for AVAToL Ideas Lab (tree of life visualization), 2011
  • RISD graduate fellowship and assistantship, 2010
  • Google's EMG (Executive Management Group) Impact Award for outstanding innovation on iGoogle, 2008
EXHIBITIONS
2012
Group show at Tompkins Projects, Brooklyn, NY
COLLISION17, AXIOM Center for New and Experimental Media, Boston, MA
Group show at Multiplexer, Las Vegas, NV
Transceiver, Bemis Center for Contemporary Art, Lincoln, NE
Transceiver, Drift Station Gallery, Lincoln, NE
Mediated Realities, Cohen Gallery, Providence, RI
Come Here, I Need You, Gelman Gallery, Providence, RI
Digital + Media Biennial, Sol Koffler Gallery, Providence, RI
2011
GLI.TC/H, Amsterdam, NL
GLI.TC/H, Chicago, IL
Chopped & Stretched, Drift Station Gallery, Lincoln, NE
On the Threshold of Something Else, Something Other..., Sol Koffler Gallery, Providence, RI
2009
Framed, solo show at Scout, Santa Cruz, CA
Group show at Cabrillo College, Santa Cruz, CA
Student Exhibition 4, Cabrillo College Gallery, Santa Cruz, CA
Student Exhibition 3, Cabrillo College Gallery, Santa Cruz, CA
SKILLS
  • C/C++, JavaScript/DHTML (cross-browser), HTML5, Java, Python, Cinder, openFrameworks, Processing, OpenGl, Kinect, openCV, Max/MSP, Arduino, FLEX/ActionScript, MatLab
  • Mac OS X, Linux, Windows, Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Office
  • Polish, French