Although Drew André ’16, Juan Flores ’16 and Grace Juster ’16 all combine art and technology in their projects as scholars of the Ammerman Center for Arts and Technology (CAT), they do so in unique ways.
Due to his interest in music technology, André, a Music major, applied to CAT. Once accepted, he took the required Computer Science course. “Computer science changed my world,” he said. It gave him the skills to create his project, which explores accurate representations of music through light. Using Arduino, a microcomputer, he has developed a technology to create audio-reactive LED art. The technology converts sound to colored LED light, based on the sound’s frequency. For example, when André connects his technology to a drum, red light represents the bass kick, green the snares and blue the hi-hat cymbals. He jokes, “It’s great to see instruments in new light.”
Now that André has developed the technology to convert music to light, his CAT advisor, Professor S. James Lee of the Computer Science department, has encouraged him to further develop the artistic appearance of the light through creative coding. “What will make my project stand out is the art. Everyone can convert sound to light, but not everyone can do it beautifully,” André said. His audio-tech internship with the artistic lighting team at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center in Waterford, CT last summer has given him skills to perfect his artistry in the medium of light.
André plans to spend the next ten years developing sound to light technology that enables users to display their unique visions of sound. He aims to get an MBA to gain the business skills to manage supply lines and refine his creative vision. He seeks business programs that, similarly to CAT, support an arts and tech curriculum. Needless to say, his future looks bright.
Another visual artist, Flores, whose medium is painting, explores how mental, geographic and political borders define individuals’ identities. His internship with the sculpture and visual artist Adriana Corral in San Antonio, TX the summer after his sophomore year inspired him to artistically consider the U.S.-Mexico border. Similarly, his internship with audiovisual artist Daniel Canogar in Madrid, Spain last summer encouraged him to reflect on the Spain-Morocco border through video projections, and through studying abroad in Berlin he explored the lasting impact of the Berlin Wall on the city.
Flores has created four paintings about the idea of getting stuck on the border and the implications of crossing over it, and his CAT project will add dimension to the paintings he has already created. He is in the process of constructing three video projections of a figure climbing a swinging fence and installing an oscillating metal fence to overlap the videos. He intends for his work to encouage viewers to put themselves in the shoes of immigrants, and he hopes not only for his art to add to the conversation on immigration, but also to interpret his and others’ experiences as members of minority groups at Connecticut College who live far from home.
Flores will display his paintings and video projections at a solo show in San Antonio in June.
Similarly to Flores, Juster, a double major in Computer Science and Art, is interested in exploring identity. She is fascinated by the duality of individuals’ virtual and physical identities. For her CAT project, Juster plans to represent her virtual presence through a visual artifact. Already an expert in 3D printing through her internship at MakerBot, the leading producer of desktop 3D printers, and having built her own 3D printer, Juster decided to use a 3D printer to display her virtual presence. In order to print her virtual presence, she has tracked her virtual activity, meaning the time she spends using electronics. Juster views her project as a prototype of a machine that could help individuals better understand their virtual activity and, thus, their identities. “My project explores the implications of humans inability to ‘see’ the nature of their virtual selves in familiar terms. That’s why I’m mapping virtual activity to physical output, to get to know ourselves, all of ourselves, better,” she said.
After graduation, Juster hopes to continue using 3D printing for the common good. She takes particular interest in the capacity for desktop 3D printers to battle the environmentally unfriendly surplus that results from mass-production.
According to Juster, CAT provides its scholars with an “artistic community on campus.” She also appreciates CAT because its lecture series and symposium enable her to keep up on artistic and technological trends and to better understand art. In addition to providing its scholars with the intellectual tools to conduct their projects, the center provides students with the necessary material tools and has recently opened a new workshop on Williams Street. “The Arts and Technology Center is limitless,” André said, “whether or not you are majoring in Computer Science.”
To learn more about all CAT scholars’ projects and the intersection of arts and technology, attend the Center’s 15th Biennial Symposium on Arts and Technology, entitled “Open All Ports,” at Connecticut College on Feb. 25, 26 and 27. •
