Mobius

In this project we reinterpret the creative process and aesthetic philosophy of pottery as algorithmic music to help users rediscover the latent story behind pottery through a synesthetic experience. Projects Mobius I and Mobius II illustrate two potential directions toward a musical interface, one focusing on the circular form, and the other, on graphical ornaments of pottery. Six conductive graphics on the pottery function as capacitive sensors while retaining their resemblance to traditional ornamental patterns in pottery. Offering pottery as a musical interface, we invite users to orchestrate algorithmic music by physically touching the different graphics.

Showcased in NIME 2019 Demo virtually
Published in The Journal of Korean Society Of Media & Arts

Process
In our project, we aim to activate algorithmic music through tactile interaction between the user and the pottery graphics to invoke the aesthetic philosophy of pottery. We custom designed six graphics on a moon jar that users can touch to evoke different sound and melodies that would suggest the pottery’s latent story. We adhered six vinyl stickers that are cut through custom graphical patterns and covered with black conductive spray in order to detect touch. Each vinyl sticker forms a contiguous shape and measures 4Mohm on its resistance. A micro controller, resistor, battery, and a Bluetooth module enable the customized vinyl stickers to function as a capacitive sensor. Both projects, Mobius I and Mobius II, illustrate different potential musical systems toward interpreting pottery. While they use the same capacitive technology, they are programmed with different algorithms for the musical systems and graphical patterns. In Mobius I, the ambient sounds that the user hears suggest the potter’s striving for spiritual perfection that his/her artwork represents. In Mobius II, melodies that the user hears bring out the beauty that the potter created in his/her work of art.