Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
It was free for participants to join and independently funded by Andrew Quitmeyer,
Tasneem Khan, and additional crowdfunding.
Yannick Mazy provided the incredible facilities of the Diva Andaman to serve as our
ocean makerspace.
Most imagery collected by the Documentary crew (Danielle Hoogendijk and Mark
Lifana), Andy Quitmeyer, Tasneem Khan, and Umeed Mistry with additional content
provided by participants such as Seamus Killdall, Hannah Perner-Wilson, Saad Chi-
noy, and many others. Magdalena Sorger also provided several ant photos through-
out this book.
This book was put together hastily by Andrew Quitmeyer while trying to balance out
finishing the conference, quitting his job, teaching classes, moving across the world,
and seeing a PhD Student through her final defense. There’s probably lots of mistakes
and typos for which I apologize. I am happily amazed this book came out as much as
it was able to anyway. I hope it entertains you and spikes your curiosity as you see the
variety of fascinating projects conducted over an incredible time together.
The proceedings of this entire conference are published under a Creative Commons
Share-Alike Attribution License. Please feel free to share, remix, and recreate any of
the content within.
It is only by working together that we can collectively form new ideas and methods
for exploring and understanding out world.
i-ii Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 i-iii
Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 i-v
Contents
Crab Lab P-30
The Digital Naturalism Conference i-i The Amphibological Society
Pamela Parker and Matteo Farinella
Foundersi-xvi
Tasneem Khan Biomimeticx2P-38
Andrew Quitmeyer Päivi Maunu and Marko Nykänen
Tribenet P-100
Elizabeth Bigger, Luis Fraguada, and Agosto
Mesh sensor network for battling future distopia
RecycloomP-112
Recycled Textile Loom
Maggie Kane
CrocheteeringP-116
Hannah Perner-Wilson
+C, KOBAKANT
A tale of fishy innovation
IMMERSEA P-130
Oya Damla, Kira deCoudres, Adam Zaretsky, Ryan Cotham
ImmerSea: Subversive Submersibles is water-adapted augmented reality (AR).
i-viii Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 i-ix
Pearl Ryder Kitty Quitmeyer
GlowF-298
by Kathy Macleod
Diacamma ant - Photo by Magdalena Sorger Devon Ward hunting for bacteria for microbial fuel cells
i-xii Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 i-xiii
PEOPLE
i-xiv Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 i-xv
FOUNDERS LOCAL CHAIRS
Yannick Mazy - Diva Marine
Tasneem has spent the last decade facil- Dr. Andrew Quitmeyer is a hacker / ad- Daniëlle Hoogendijk
itating interdisciplinary initiatives in the venturer studying intersections between
fields of ecology, conservation, education wild animals and computational devices. Daniëlle is an international field research-
and science communication. Her formal His academic research in “Digital Natural- er, environmental educator, paraveteri-
training in marine zoology and practice ism” at the National University of Singa- narian, and soon-to-be tropical forester
in the development of experiential learn- pore blends biological fieldwork and DIY from the chilly Netherlands. Dani not
ing pedagogies was translated into active digital crafting. This work has taken him only documents projects, but uses her
programs during the eight years spent as through international wildernesses where skills as an adventurous polymath to help
director of the Andaman and Nicobar is- he’s run workshops with diverse groups practioners solve problems and fully real-
lands Environmental Team. Tasneem’s of scientists, artists, designers, and engi- ize their goals in wilderness contexts.
photography and writing are visible neers. He runs “Hiking Hacks” around the
across scientific and popular publications, world where participants build technolo- Mark Lifana
book contributions and development of gy entirely in the wild for interacting with
learning materials. nature. His research also inspired a ridic- Mark Lifana is a Professional Filipino
ulous spin-off television series he hosted filmmaker. He has worked with different
Beyond the scope of research and field for Discovery Networks called “Hacking award-winning directors in Manila for
based education, she believes that learn- the Wild.” The Digital Naturalism Con- many films and documentaries as a cine-
ing and working across subject boundar- ference is his largest undertaking thus far, matographer. Mark aims to create docu-
ies is fundamental. Her participation in and is leading him to start his own perma- mentaries about grassroots communities,
public speaking and leadership programs nent Art-Science Field Station Fab Lab. and use those films to help elevate the
is an effort to explore these pathways. lifestyle these groups.
i-xvi Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 i-xvii
Dinamugs- by Kathy Macleod
i-xviii Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 i-xix
NODE LEADERS PARTICIPANTS
The node leaders were experts from many fields invited to seed the conference with We accepted over 100 people from every part of the globe have been accepted to work,
interesting projects and ideas. Because the entire conference is open and emergent, explore, and create together! We had freeform dates where they could join us whenev-
the node leaders have no official roles or responsibilities. It was an artificial hierarchy er they wanted during the course of the entire conference.
attributed to some early individuals as an experiment to see how people would orga-
nize. The only responsibility of someone assuming “node leader” status was that what-
ever projects they work on are are open to public collaboration with all participants.
Each node leader thus was charged with finding their own ways to contribute to the
overall helpful and creative atmosphere of dinacon.
Pamela Parker
Matteo Farinella
David Bowen
Maggie Kane
Kitty Quitmeyer
Michael Candy
Seamus Killdall
Hermes Huang
Adam Zaretsky
Alex Rogers
Jessica Anderson
Craig Durkin
Amit Zoran
Deke Weaver
Madeline Schwartzman
Mika Satomi
Hannah Perner-Wilson
Elizabeth Bigger
Luis Fraguada
i-xx Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 i-xxi
PORTRAITS OF SOME DINASAURS
Aziza “Zing” Daksla
Aziza Daksla Made a Lovely Series of portraits of different participants she worked
with during her stay.
Yannick Mazy
i-xxvi Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 i-xxvii
ABOUT
A-2 Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 A-3
Motivation plore what would happen if instead of
CONFERENCE PHILOSOPHY
Why am I putting on this conference for dropping that money on myself, I used to
free? What’s my beef with current aca- to provide a free conference for hundreds
demic Conferences? of people?
Andrew Quitmeyer -Dinacon Co-Founder Academic Conferences have gotten kinda Timing
terrible. I like a lot of the people involved A less philosophical problem with aca-
with them, and they do great work, but demic conferences, and more just logis-
they get caught in a terrible, exploitative tically tricky, is that most conferences
system. The whole system relies on the are held over a very short time (like 3-5
unpaid labor of busy academics to orga- days). This means that if you are a busy
nize and run big logistical nightmares. person with many potential conflicts, you
The academics also have to create the might not ever be able to attend purely
content being “sold” by these conferences from circumstance (For example, I hav-
(the papers, and talks, and workshops, en’t been able to attend a CHI conference
and reviews) and are then expected to pay despite getting some proposal accepted
large amounts of money for the privilege for 4 years simply because of conflicts).
of being able to attend the things they
provided all the work for. Summary of Problems to address
Exploitative – Powered by Unpaid labor-
In any other situation, people would find ers who then have to pay to attend
this totally ludicrous, but because of the Expensive – only rich folks get to attend
system of tenure and fear instilled in ac- Exclusive – generally you have to already
ademia, they go along with it anyway. be “vetted” with your papers to attend
These conferences also manage to hit the (not knocking Peer review! Just vetted
price point where most middle-class pro- networking)
fessors can get these expenses covered by Steer Money in not great directions – e.g.
grants, which sadly means many poorer lining the pockets of fancy hotels and
students and professors are unable to at- publishing companies
tend. Restricted Time – Most conferences leave
just enough time to get bored waiting for
Many academics also argue that the big others unenthusiastic presentations to fin-
sin of these conferences is how they ex- ish, and maybe grab a drink before head-
ist primarily to fuel the hotel-industrial ing back to all the duties one has. I think
complex. People have to pay outrageous for good work to be done, and proper
fees to rent out boring rooms and eat ex- connections to be made in research, peo-
pensive food in order to stand and talk ple need time to live and work together in
to each other. Most gigantic conference a relaxing, exciting environment.
budgets get sucked up by hotel fees. On
top of this, most of the output of these Solution
elitist conferences (the papers) is finally I can’t solve all these problems, but we can
locked away behind paywalls. at least try to make something more in-
teresting and accessible. We want to start
On average many folks how found the full luring these professors over to the side of
cost of going to an academic conference at fun, sharing, collaboration, and inexpen-
about $2500 USD. This includes the 600- siveness. We want to connect people out-
1000$ price tag for registration, $500+ for side the walls of academia to free some
hotels, $1000 for transportation. Some of that valuable information trapped in
conferences can be cheaper to go to, but those circles. My goal is to make a really
many can be much more expensive! fun and productive event that can accom-
modate non-academics while also incen-
New professors often go to at least 3 con- tivizing professional academics to join.
David Bowen’s drone visualizing plant data in the night sky. (Photo by Umeed Mistry) ferences a year ($7500). I wanted to ex-
A-4 Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 A-5
Conference Budget (USD)
BUDGET
STATUS
Adventure Fund (Cash from Books, Honoraria, etc...) (from Andy) ($ 3,600.00)
Andy Personal Money (cash from the fact I have a real job now, yay!) ($ 5,500.00)
Informal Crowdfunding (from Andy's side) ($ 2,651.00)
Rental Payments from People ($ 8,287.60)
From Tasneem's Indiegogo campaign ($ 9,200.00)
($ - )
($ - )
Total Allotted Funds ($ 29,238.60)
Funds Used to Date ($ 31,554.80)
Funds Remaining ($ (2,316.20)
ITEM DATE CATEGORY BUDGET COST (Paid by Andy) Cost (Paid by Tasneem) DIFFERENCE
$21,341.80 $10,213.00
What’s the budget like? Where you get- zations. He also did not want to involve
ting all your cash!? Why do you want a my own institution with this in case they
small budget? Are you using grants? might pose restrictions on what we do or
how we do it. He says, “I have a decently
Not including extra accomodations, Din- paying job for the first time in my life, and
acon cost $23,267.80 USD. I am happy to be able to share this money
to create something new in the world that
We put in $11,416.80 USD and crowd- helps people learn more about technolo-
funded the rest. gy and nature.”
CLICK HERE TO CREATE BUDGET TEMPLATES IN SMARTSHEET
Originally the whole conference was sup- From there we opened up applications,
ported from Andy’s own money collect- and other people tossed in money to help
ed from past expeditions and a 10% fee he pay for things like a food budget, and
charged himself for his own job’s income. renting out Yannick’s ship, The Diva, at an
This money allowed us to rent out the lo- extremely reduced rate.
cation with room for about 25-30 people.
We also steered money towards a docu-
Andy wanted to use my own personal mentarian budget and some minor sti-
money for this project to prove that put- pends to help some folks make it to din-
ting on a quality conference is not some- acon. Other than that, people expanded
thing that has to be super complicated the conference by renting out their own
requiring the blessing of large organi- cabins from Baan Mai.
A-6 Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 A-7
FREQUENT QUESTIONS
Andrew Quitmeyer -Dinacon Co-Founder
A-8 Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 A-9
island, and you can choose your level of publishers don’t seem to mind! Yeah. Unfortunately so like most other
outdoorsy-ness for stay: live in a fancy international conferences of academics.
cottage on the beach, stay in a ten on the WHAT TYPES OF PARTICIPANTS? The longevity of the conference aims to
lawn, or go live in the deep forest for the I don’t consider myself a field biologist, help keep folks in place longer than most
whole time.- it’s up to you! or an artist, or an engineer. Can I still conferences though (where people zip in
come? and out for a couple days). The eventual
What are the accommodations like? goal of this conference is to hopefully
They will be minimal. It will also be in Totally of course! You can be whatever spawn lots of “Digital Naturalism” con-
the tropics which means hot, damp, full you want, no experience required, just ferences in a similar style around the
of biting things, and beautiful luxurious have an interest in any aspects of these world, where people can rent out some
nature! Full description of our accom- areas! land, and invite people to live and work
modations will be here: Location on it in a more localized fashion.
I’m a biologist, but I usually work in the
Basically we can accommodate 10 peo- laboratory, not in the field. Should I still —————–
ple indoors, and 20 people camping try to come?
style nearby. There are 2 extra cabins Totally of course! Take the cool things And that’s it! This ensures that everyone
that people can rent as well if we don’t you know and do in the lab, and come going to the conference comes away with
have enough room, or you want a private try them out in the field with us! a finished project in hand, that has been
place to hang out! They aren’t too expen- reviewed by amazing experts you got to
sive. I’m an artist without much experience co-habitate with.
me (a person over 18 years old) which in art or technology stuff, but i’m inter-
KIDS AND FAMILIES includes some members under 18. Can ested in exploring it more in the wild
I have a child that is super amazing and we come? with you. Should I try to come?
brilliant, can I send them to your con- Totally of course! We will love combining
ference? Yes! You should register your group as a your talents with all the other interesting
team, and note that you will be ENTIRE- stuff going on!
Sorry, this conference is meant for au- LY responsible for not only yourselves
tonomous individuals and groups to but also any individuals under 18 that are I’m an engineer working with comput-
interact with each other. Everyone is in your care (i.e. I’m sorry to say we can- ers or electronics, I’ve never been out-
entirely responsible for themselves, and not provide any babysitting services). side, but i want to try it out with you,
thus we can only admit persons 18 years should I come?
old and up. DOCUMENTATION (are you starting to notice a pattern) To-
What’s this rule that everything has to tally of course!
I have a family that I want to come with be open-sourced and shared?
Being good scientists and technologists, I’m a jerk, and I’m real mean to people,
we know that all work builds off the and I don’t care about the environment,
works of others. Therefore our goal is to should I try to come?
expand humanity’s collective knowledge, -uhhhhgg i guess probably not?
and not limit it. For this reason, a key
rule at our conference is that everyone’s
projects have to be publicly shared. MISC
Even though you are funding it with
I wanted to use the conference as a your own money, and trying really hard
writing retreat to write articles, and get to provide a free, accessible space for
them reviewed in preparation for sub- all kinds of people, are some folks still
mitting to different journals or confer- going to get angry at you about different
ences. Won’t sharing my article prohibit aspects of the conference.
me from publishing in these other plac- Yep! Probably!
es?
Won’t this conference involve people
Nope, you can just share what you are flying from all over the world, leading to
working on as a “pre-publication” which the release of lots of greenhouse gases
is some sort of loophole that lots of these and increasing the toll on our earth?
A-10 Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 A-11
Digital Naturalism investigates the role imposed on any participants at dina-
A-14 Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 A-15
BEHAVIORAL IMMERSION OPEN ENDEDNESS
mals or environments. with the frog behavior?” Making adaptable, improvisational tools
A-16 Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 A-17
CREATURES
The island we lived on for this first Dinacon was home to incredible creatures of the
land, sea, and in between. They come as large as 3-meter reticulated pythons and as
small as newly hatched baby squids. Here’s a quick look at just some of the fascinating
living beings we got to live with.
Reticulated Python
Golden Tree Snake
Sponges
Pistol Shrimps
Horseshoe Crab
Hornbills
Wasps
Octopodes
Squids
Geckos
Monitor Lizards
Stingless Bees
Vine Snake
Annelid
Weaver Ants
Lesser False Vampire Bats
Flying Foxes
Moray Eels
and many more!
A-18 Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 A-19
dfasdfasf
NATURAL REFLECTION
Kathy Macleod
A-20 Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 A-21
Kathy’s illustrated journals continue
A-22 Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference throughout this book //////////>>>>>>>
PROJECTS
CORAL-TEXTURED PANELING
corals, the project translates the coral The 3D objects (casted with natural ma-
textures into modules of tiles through terials), while itself a piece of art, could
the casting process. potentially have secondary functions
which may create interactions with lo-
Eakapob Huangthanapan (Guide) The tiles are scalable to fit different cal animals.
Designer, Architect, Visualizer functions from a facade or fence to a
seawall tiles friendly to marine lives. The experiment intended as both doc-
umenting research and creating art that
The project aims to experiment with involves technology, contextual re-
the existing natural materials and ele- sources as well as the local spirits.
ments to create an architectural object
or interventions This could range from The project involves site study to find
creating a small scale of architectural any interesting natural elements or
building material (eg. bricks..) from na- materials that could be used for the
ture, or creating interesting 3D sculp- experiment. This could be the study of
tural forms that derived from the ge- different types of soils as materials or
ometry of the selected natural elements different types of plants as base geom-
P-26 Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 P-27
etries to create interesting 3D objects.
The project could be achieved through
the use of 3D modelling softwares (eg.
rhino, grasshopper..), 3D printing tech-
nology (making prototypes) and hand-
on crafting (molding and casting..). The
end product would be the result of the
holistic process that could be a piece of
art, research experiment, or even func-
tional in the built and natural environ-
ments.
P-28 Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 P-29
CRAB LAB
The Amphibological Society
Pamela Parker and Matteo Farinella
INTRODUCTION
Here at the Department of Amphibological
Research, our primary studies are in the equivocal
interpretation of the natural world. While on Ko Lon,
we used technologically aided misidentification
techniques to discover a host of ambiguous
new species on the island. However, we became
especially fascinated with one particular animal: the
hermit crab (Fig. 1).
P-30 Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 P-31
METHODS AND RESULTS We later got over our excitement and returned to
our original goal: we collected 3 crabs (Fig. 5) with
distinctive shells and let each one of them paint
1. Sand for a couple of minutes with a different color on
sheets of papers of equal size (NOTE: each crab
The most obvious first step was to attempt to
was arbitrarily moved around at random locations
record the crab tracks directly on the original
whenever the crab got fixated on a corner – more
inspirational medium: sand. However, we needed
often than not). Comparing the three drawings
a way to record crabs behaviour in a controlled
clearly reveals very different levels of craftsmanship
environment, one crab at the time. We proceeded to
and artistic sensibilities.
dig a more or less rectangular arena (Fig. 3A), high
enough to prevent a medium sized crab to escape
(which some passersby delightfully misunderstood
as a crab-fighting pit). We then proceeded to place
in the arena 3 separate crabs, with notably different
shells, letting them free to wander around for a
couple of minutes each and took pictures of their
tracks. However, this first method was not satisfying
for two reasons: the most extravagant crabs emerge
from their burrow toward dusk, which meant that
the lighting conditions on the beach were far from
ideal at the time of the experiment. Also, the crabs
instead of wandering around were mostly trying to
escape, slowly demolishing the walls of our arena.
Soon enough we decided to fold up the Crab Lab #1.
Figure 3A
2. Paint
Although less faithful than sand tracks, paint
provides a much more durable and easy medium
to record the crabs crawling. We first experimented
with some blue acrylic paint, to see if the crabs
were comfortable with this medium. Protected
by their exoskeleton the crabs didn’t seem to
mind having their legs dipped in blue paint and
we were extremely pleased with the results (Fig.
4A). We therefore proceeded with more elaborate
experiments, completely disregarding our original
plan to record each crab individually. The painting
in Fig. 4B was produced by letting an indeterminate
number of crabs, randomly sampled from our
surroundings, wander around as long as we
pleased. Figure 5
Crab A (blue) has a bold Crab B (red)’s work takes a Crab C (yellow) took a more
sensibility with rational, linear more tentative, thoughtful playful approach, her work recalls
strokes. There is a sureness and approach – its mark making has the graffiti like scrawls of a young
sophistication to these graphic, an impressionistic quality with Cy Twombly. The claws here have
directional lines, evoking a a cross-hatched layering effect a freshness and immediacy that
flowing river or receding tide. – describing dimensions of an show great promise.
unknowable form.
Figure 4A Figure 4B
P-32 Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 P-33
3. Light CONCLUSIONS
Late on the last night of our residency after a
In conclusion, based on our poorly-designed and
hard day in the lab, we thought the crabs could
shoddily-performed experiments we can firmly
use a little fun. We teamed up with Andy and
reject the null hypothesis (based on pure self-
Chris to create a final, light-based experiment.
confidence): hermit crabs are not just simple
We temporarily attached colored LED lights to
arthropods made more relatable to the human
different crabs (Fig. 6A) and allowed them free
eye by their mismatched shells. We argue that
(more or less) to chart their own courses. First in
these crustaceans exhibit unique personalities
a confined environment in the house (Fig. 6B) and
and advanced artistic sensibilities, revealed
later completely unbounded on the beach (Fig.
only in part by their choice of shell and
6C). Of course, this technique did not allow us to
crawling behaviour.
record the tracks of the crabs in any detail but it Figure 6A Figure 7A
had several other advantages: 1) LED lights were
Future directions. These experiments, as well as
more durable than paint; 2) it allowed us to study
recent reports by Minsky et al. 2018, show that
crabs in the dark and we were in a hurry; 3) it
there is great under-appreciated art potential in
looked pretty damn cool!
hermit crabs, and arguably in crabs of all species.
Indeed, in the following weeks, while exploring
We actually had 6 (maybe 7?) crabs in our initial
other tropical beaches we came across many
trial and unfortunately LED lights could only be set
interesting sand markings left by other kinds of
to 3-4 different wavelengths. This meant that we
crabs. Not only do crabs produce elegant tracks
had crabs with completely different shells wearing
when they walk but most of them burrow during
the same colour, which completely confounded
the day, producing further patterns of great
our results and did not allow us to unequivocally
interest. Here are only two examples: the Ghost
associate specific crabs with their tracks, but to
Crab (Fig. 7A) besides looking extremely badass,
be honest we didn’t much care anymore.
also creates these comet-like shapes around their Figure 7B
burrow (Fig. 7B). The elusive Sand Bubbler Crab
(too small for us to take a good picture), builds
delicate constellations of tiny sand balls (Fig. 8).
Figure 6B
Figure 8
Figure 6C Figure 9
P-34 Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 P-35
Cobra - by Mari Crook
APPLICATIONS
Beyond their aesthetic value, there is considerable
potential in crab-inspired designs and tools. As a
proof of concept, our in-house designer studied
the individual crab markings and processed
these into a series of digital brushes (Fig. 10A) –
available to download here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pNjZZ8Za4Npwq
yjKwd55wwjJBWl8aNN3/view
FURTHER READING
For more information on our equivocal studies on
Ko Lon and beyond or to get in touch, please visit
amphibologicalresearch.com
P-36 Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 P-37
BIOMIMETICX2
Päivi Maunu and Marko Nykänen
P-38 Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 P-39
TREE YABBIE
Michael Candy
TREE
undulating wire-brush drive and a re-purposed drone
propeller.
P-40 Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 P-41
25/09/2018
INTRODUCTION
++++++++++++++++
++++++++++++++++
+++++++++++++++ Scaling walls with the grace and eases
+++++++++++++++ of jungle critters is nothing new to the
dreams of robotics engineers, thus
+++ countless projects have been developed
//////////////////////////////////// to climb vertical surfaces from using
INDEX
gecko like grip, magnetic wheels or
+++++++++++++++ vacuum/propeller power.
+++++++++++++++
Due to limited time and resources, the
+++++++++++++++ propeller option was adopted to be
+++++++++++++++ the key component to keep the vehicle
attached to the vertical surface.
PAGE No +++++++++++
3 INDEX //////////////////////////////////// PICTURED
Disney’s VirtiGo robot
+++++++++++++++ MINOAS magnetic climber
4 FIELD TESTS +++++++++++++++ DARPA’s RiSE
Some kinda tape robot thing
+++++++++++++++
5 FINAL PROTOTYPE ++++++++++
////////////////////////////////////
6 POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS/
FURTHER IMPROVEMENTS
7 NOTES
P-42 Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 P-43
FIELD FINAL
TESTS WHEEL HUB
PROTOTYPE
(SUITS TAMIYA RUBBER TYRES)
P-44 Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 P-45
POTENTIAL
APPLICATIONS NOTES Like most modern robotics projects i could say its purpose is obscure or
arbitrary - the obligatory, Search and rescue, disaster areas or the battlefield
come to mind. But tree Yabbie isn’t going to help you much in any of these
[SITE INSTALL]
situations, in fact it might not help you at all.
The device could easily be used to carry a tether up a tree, or with further
advances attach itself to the tree mechanically at a certain point and act as a
camera trap in the jungle canopy. Realistically this could be done with a drone
and a pilot with enough skill to not get stuck.
FURTHER Thanks for reading this ill informed document. Tree Yabbie was a fun experiment,
though its purpose may still elude me, the lessons learnt during this project will
greatly influence my understanding when fabricating machines with hobby
IMPROVEMENTS
[SITE INSTALL] robotics. And i hope this document may too share some insight on the weird
things you can do with crazy powerful drone motors.
LINKS
CAD FILES AND IMAGES - https://drive.google.com/
open?id=1PKC9X52YddiqVKEZYTDiusJh3sEFMzUS
Tree Yabbie was hugely inefficient, sometimes finishing its battery well before
VIDEO 1 - https://youtu.be/O587C0ieTME
reaching the top. A ducted fan would help improve thrust efficiency, and a
VIDEO 2 - https://youtu.be/IDvQ4NHmXeY
lighter chassis could additionally help runtime.
VIDEO 3 - https://youtu.be/IDvQ4NHmXeY
Another improvement might be to use some kind of mixing or PID control to
increase motor thrust while climbing and decrease it when stationary. This
was done manually with the prototype version.
P-46 Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 P-47
“Nature doesn’t speak human.” That’s
FACE NATURE
the first line of the curator’s text I wrote
for an exhibition I curated at Pratt
Manhattan Gallery called See Your-
self E(x)ist (December 2017 – February
Madeline Schwartzman 2018). It’s also the line that inspired
Face Nature. I went on to write, “Hu-
mans, though, have ways of speaking
to nature. We engineer evolution, cre-
ate new tools and technologies, mimic,
and refashion, not always to the mutual
benefit of the planet and its inhabi-
tants.”
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3 MICROFICTIONS ABOUT KOH LON
Cherise Fong
https://www.dinacon.org/2018/06/29/3-microfictions-on-koh-lon/
PALM
i knew it was just a matter of time. but me. then, she disappeared. it wasn’t long
it’s important to keep up appearances, i before i understood the curse that she had
thought. tall and slim, with my nuts at the layed upon me. dozens of larvae, hatching
top. once in a while, i let one drop. this is from abandoned eggs, emerged into my
my gift to the island. anyone who dares entrails. hungry and blind, they ate their
to climb my torso and touch my private way through my wood. the squirming in
parts should know they have it coming. i my loins went on for days and nights, in-
wonder if the humans who drink my clear visible to the outer world. it’s important
milk can taste my bitterness when they to keep up appearances, i thought. finally,
incinerate plastics and let diesel seep into the grubs disappeared on six legs.
the soil.
still, i stood straight, tall and lean. yet,
my siblings and i, beacons of baan mai. turmoil had grown inside me. and dare i
soak in the tides, survey the boats, sway say, other species can sense insecurity. the
with the wind, sweat with the rain. ca- fungi that grew on my skin started out as
ress the air with feathered digits. and of friends. we exchanged nutrients; both of
course, blessed by the big buddha on the us grew stronger together. but once they
hilly horizon. a royal perch for the heavy felt the chemical change under my bark,
hornbill. home to the golden tree snake. they too began to bite. mycelium crept
bejewelled by the translucent exuviae of into my guts, into the crevices left by raw
a reborn cicada. because on the ground, trails. they spread and settled into patches
we rule. of poisonous white fur, chewing away at
the walls between the tunnels. slowly but
the question is, why me? neither an el- surely, i was being eaten alive. ravaged
der nor a sprout, just another misplaced within, savaged without. night after day,
middle child in a clan of kings. four full from moon up to sun down. until sunday,
moons ago, it started with the beetle. she june 24, at 13 hours 8 minutes and 53 sec-
burrowed underground. i could sense her onds, I crashed. i can no longer keep up
within my roots. me, tickled by her vis- appearances, i thought. this is my gift to
it. she, searching for the perfect nest. be- the island.
cause i am royalty, i thought, she chose
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HERMIT
what are you, blind? can’t you see i live if one of them isn’t brandishing some
here? i know my jade green shell is drop- other crab’s claw like a victory torch, it’s
dead gorgeous, that’s why i chose it. i like dragging another severed torso off for
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COCOCRAFTS
DO YOU HEAR AEOLUS: THE KOH LON(G) AND (NOT SO) WINDY ROAD
An exploration of natural materials and construction of wind instruments on Koh Lon
Here they present a paper overviewing their work. INTRODUCTION trees, bamboo poles, large branches that
When we first arrived on Koh Lon, we fell from trees in the forests and coconuts.
noticed the abundance of coconut palm Palm tree leaves are useful for the fast
trees. Each of these trees had clusters of construction of makeshift workspaces
coconuts hanging on them, ready to drop where the ground might be hard, damp,
at any moment and ripe for the picking. or sandy. Their water-resistant proper-
They are part and parcel of the islanders’ ties make them suitable for weaving into
lives, providing a handy and sustainable several useful tools including crude hand
resource for food and fuel. In fact, the fans, baskets, and containers.
Baan Mai Resort makes use of the coco-
nuts to keep their fires going as well as for The center stem of the palm tree leaves is
refreshing drinks and delicious Thai cui- fibrous. We initially attempted to separate
sine. these fibers by hand. Then, we tried to
break down the fibers to make them eas-
To the uninitiated, the coconut trees are ier to separate by bashing the stem with a
not a source of danger. Most people are rock. However, this did not help the slow,
more wary of the diverse wildlife found tedious process and the resulting fiber was
around the many different habitats on not very strong. We will revisit the use of
the island. But the islanders know bet- these stems as a material in later projects
ter and avoid standing directly under the detailed below.
tree! The loud, dull thud of another large
heavy coconut hitting the ground every Wood is a common resource that is avail-
few minutes serves as a constant remind- able in many environments. However,
er, and sometimes a costly one, to not do when looking for wood to use in craft
so. projects especially those that you can ob-
tain without having to chop down a tree,
Seeing how these coconuts were of such it is important to think about what sort of
abundance, it makes sense for people to stress would be placed on the wood. Some
make use of coconuts as craft material! of the wood that we scavenged had insects
We decided to try to incorporate the co- that bored deep into the wood, which
conut as a natural material in our projects. compromised the integrity of the mate-
To start, we began with an exploration of rial. This made the material unsuitable
what sort of materials we could find on for certain craft projects, including some
the island, of course including the hum- those we detail below, particularly those
ble coconut and its tree. where the wood is expected to withstand
immense pressure due to the nature of
Materials on Koh Lon the project. Still, these pieces of wood can
The main materials we used from the is- be used to fuel fires when required.
land were the leaves and stems from palm
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Making full use of the coconut
The entire coconut fruit can be used in
some way or another. We present a com-
prehensive coverage of how to make full
use of the coconut starting from the inside
of the coconut and working to the outer-
most layers. Most of us would be famil-
iar with the consumption of the juice and
flesh of a coconut. But did you know that
in an emergency situation coconut juice
can be used as a short-term intravenous
hydration fluid [1]? Luckily, we didn’t have
to test that one out for ourselves.
The flesh of the coconut can also be
used in many ways. Young coconut flesh,
which tends to be translucent, has a jel- COCOCRAFTS
Before discussing how to make coconut the husk off the shell (see Figure 3 below)! we are now going to crack that coconut
ly-like consistency making them perfect
rope, we first need to learn how to pro- open and enjoy a refreshing sip of that
for desserts. The riper coconuts tend to
cess the fiber. In the next few sections, we sweet coconut juice.
have tougher and crunchier flesh that is a
show you how to deconstruct a coconut, Figure 3: Ripping coconut husk away
bright opaque white. Desiccating the flesh
from outer layers down to the innermost from the shell. Hold down that coconut! We also have a video tutorial up on You-
of such coconuts with a fork or anything
layers. Tube at https://youtu.be/4xOJsgy8HTs.
with a pointed edge gives you a tasty bowl
Work your way around the coconut, us-
of shredded coconut that you can eat as
Stripping the husk from the coconut shell ing the bare areas of the coconut exposed To crack open the coconut, locate the
a snack or put in dishes as an ingredient.
The first thing you need to do once you from the previous rips to access better three natural markings that are on the co-
With enough flesh, you can extract out
get your hands on a coconut is to strip areas to grip the husk. It might help to conut. The markings resemble the eyes
coconut milk simply by mixing the shred-
the husk away from the coconut shell. To use your rock to bash a line on the husk and mouth of a surprised face (see Figure
ded coconut with a bit of water or juice
do so, you do not need any fancy tools. from the top to bottom. Doing so would 4 below).
and continuously squeezing the mixture
One simple tool that will help you in this weaken the fibers on that line and make it
until it becomes thick. Simply strain the
quest is the humble rock. Find a rock with much easier for a rip to be executed there. Figure 4: The “eyes” and “mouth” of a co-
mixture with a fine sieve or cloth to sepa-
a blunt protruding edge (see Figure 1 be- At the end of this, you should end up with conut! :o
rate the solids from the coconut milk.
low) that fits comfortably in your domi- almost no breath left, a pile of coconut Locate the natural line that will be found
nant hand. husks, and a bare coconut. just in the middle of and a little bit above
The shell of the coconut is a very hard
the “eyes”. That is the line that we will cre-
material. It can be used as a reusable wa-
Figure 1: A rock with a blunt protruding Crack that coconut ate a crack on in order to get to the juice!
terproof bowl, an environment-friendly
edge circled in red. Before you proceed on to extract the fi- Grab your trusty rock, hold the bare co-
planter, or even for musical instruments.
bers from the husk, you need a break! So conut in a comfortable position where
It can be difficult to manipulate the mate-
The goal here is to weaken and separate you will have easy access to the line.
rial into the right shape since it tends to
shatter or split easily once you attempt to the husk away from the hard shell hidden
below. Place the coconut on a flat surface For first-timers, it might help to hold the
cut it. However, particularly when cleaned
so that it doesn’t roll around (grass works “face” sideways, as if the coconut is about
and cured properly, it can become a very
really well), take the rock and bash both to take a nap. This is so that when the co-
durable material.
the top and bottom of the coconut a cou- conut splits into two, the juice does not
ple of times. The top of the coconut is just leak out onto the ground.
Covering the shell is a thick, fibrous layer
of coconut fiber, or coir. The maturity of usually roundish and the bottom is usual-
ly pointy (see Figure 2 below). Aiming carefully, give the line a sharp
the coconut would determine the stiffness
thwack with the protruding edge of the
of the fiber, with younger coconuts yield-
rock. The coconut shell will split into
ing softer fiber compared to more mature
Figure 2: The top and bottom of a coco- two, exposing the flesh and the juice! If
ones. The advantage to using coconut fi-
nut indicated by red arrows the crack does not split the coconut shell
ber in craft projects is that the fiber is rel-
in two, continue with sharp hits with the
atively easy to separate out and provides
Once the top and bottom fibers have been rock along the line until it splits into two
immense strength when twisted together.
bashed, make use of the separation to rip halves.
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wire and attaching them to light an LED
(see Figure 7 below).
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strument because of the flexible nature of together into a rectangular frame, with
the palm leaf stem. It did eventually stop some twine. Enough space was left on
warping and was able to withstand the one end of the frame so that the harp had
tension of the strings when they are tuned legs that we could then stick in the ground
to standard ukulele tuning. (see Figure 9 below). Approximately
twenty nylon strings were then stretched
WIND INSTRUMENTS taut lengthwise across the frame. After
We also explored musical instruments assembling the harp, we stuck its legs in
that did not make use of the coconut but the sand on the beach and waited for the
instead were focused on making use of right wind to pass through it. Occasional
wind to produce sound. adjustments were made to optimize our
chances of catching “good” wind.
Figure 9: The first Aeolian harp, post-ter-
mite wood salvage Unbeknownst to us, our unfortunate
choice of a termite-infested tree branch
Figure 10: Our 2nd Aeolian harp would cause the frame to collapse partway
through the waiting. Following this event,
Aeolus, as portrayed in Homer’s The Od- a new replacement branch was picked Bullroarer
To achieve this, we fashioned a finger- yssey [2], is the keeper of winds and the after careful inspection. The two broken Impatience and curiosity gave us the idea
board for our coco-uke using a palm leaf ruler of the floating island Aeolia. The Ae- ones, while still holding the nylon strings, to create the wind where there was none.
stem that had been dried for a couple olian harp, as the name suggests, is a harp were pulled and tied as close as possible To demonstrate our point and explore our
of days. The soundboard was construct- played by the wind. As with a normal harp, to the new branch. options, we built some bullroarers. First,
ed out of a broken coconut shell that we its traditional design comprises a frame, a we tied two sticks together to make a cross.
trimmed with a handsaw before filing it resonator, and some taut strings. Unlike a Aeolian harp (medium) Notches were then made on the ends of
flat (see Figure 8 below). normal harp which requires human inter- Reacting to the breakage of the first frame, the sticks so that a rubber band could be
vention (i.e. plucking) in order for sounds a triangular frame was used in this medi- stretched out and set in these notches to
Figure 8: Coco-uke made out of palm leaf to be produced from the strings, the Ae- um sized design to provide better struc- make a taut quadrilateral shape. Finally,
stem and a coconut shell olian harp sounds when wind is blown tural integrity. a length of twine was tied to the end of
across the strings in the right way. one of the sticks. An oscillating drone was
We attempted to make tuning pegs using The triangular nature of the structure also produced when the bullroarer was spun.
some brass hooks which functioned okay, Aeolian harp (big) allowed for a range of difference in the
but future iterations of the coco-uke Inspired by large-scale Aeolian harp lengths of nylon strings that the rectangu- Bullroarer/Aeolian Harp Hybrid
could use a better mechanism such that builds that have been done in other parts lar frame did not. Unlike its predecessor, With the concept of a bullroarer in mind,
the string doesn’t unravel as easily from of the world, we attempted to build one of this design had only one leg holding it up we sought to come up with a bullroarer/
the tuning pegs. our own using the resources on the island. in the sand, making it easier to adjust by Aeolian harp hybrid to solve our windy
rotation. problem (see Figure 11 below).
The tuning process itself was very grad- The frame of our first and largest build
ual as compared to that in a standard in- was made with fallen tree branches, tied
P-70 Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 P-71
the wood, instead of through the air. wonder this length of wood would sound ation, which happens to be the smallest
like if it was made into a flute. version of all the Aeolian harps we made.
Figure 13: Amplified bullroarer
While part of the exploration was to find
To stop the wires from slapping against Figure 15: Embouchure hole of the trans- ways to effectively digitally record Aeoli-
the bullroarer and the bullroarer from verse (side-blown) flute an harp-esque instruments, we faced dif-
flailing around while it was spun, the ficulties in terms of harnessing the wind
wires connecting the piezo disc to the au- While this attempt was unsuccessful be- as and when we wanted to test out our
dio jack were tied to one of the sticks and cause the wood turned out to be too po- prototypes. As such, more effort was put
also braided with the length of twine that rous to use, we did find several pieces of into finding designs that were more like-
was already attached to the bullroarer. dried bamboo to make a transverse flute ly to produce audible sounds rather than
(see Figure 15 above), and an end-blown the actual recording of these sounds.
Aeolian harp (small) flute (see Figure 16 below).
After testing the bullroarer/Aeolian harp From the recordings of the bullroarer,
hybrid we took the twine off and modi- we already have insights as to some of
fied the Aeolian harp half so that become Figure 16: Sanded blowing edge of a bam- the challenges we will face in recording
Figure 11: Bullroarer/Aeolian Harp Hy- something that resembled a window sill boo end-blown flute the Aeolian harps. The ability to produce
brid brainstorming designs drawn in the Aeolian harp (see Figure 14 below). Palm tones from larger harps would alleviate
sand leaf stem bridges were added, giving us These two flutes were simple studies that part of the difficulty of recording this par-
the option to change the length and taut- we would have taken further if we had ticular instrument. Larger harps would
We began by putting together a yet small- ness of the strings. more time. We came across a beautiful produce more audible tones as compared
er version of the Aeolian harps we had flute-to-be, the root end of a bamboo that to smaller harps and thus might not re-
previously built. This version featured Figure 14: Small Aeolian harp with bridg- had very recently been detached from the quire the recording apparatus to be locat-
the sturdy stems of palm leaves instead of es rest of the plant. It would have been cool ed directly on the body of the instrument.
tree wood (see Figure 12 below). to dry and bore through this piece to cre-
This small design gave us the most suc- ate a flute inspired by the Japanese shaku- Thinking ahead, getting clean record-
Figure 12: Bullroarer/Aeolian Harp Hy- cess in producing tones from the coastal hachi. ings of these sounds, specifically of the
brid, with a stick in place by brass eyelet winds. Unfortunately, the winds did not harmonics produced by an Aeolian harp
hooks pick up until much later, so we had lit- CONCLUSION would require a more contained environ-
tle opportunity to attempt to record the We started off with an exploration of what ment than an open beach on an island in
Three options of rotation aids were con- tones. materials the island had to offer for us to Thailand. An open space with a wind-tun-
sidered and tested: 1) a length of twine use as resources for naturalistic projects nel mechanism might be more suitable
tied to one end of the harp like a bull- To watch some of our instrument making and designs. We found that palm tree for these sort of recordings as one would
roarer, 2) a stick held in place by brass process, you can head over to Youtube at leaves and coconuts are versatile mate- only consider a singular wind direction
eyelet hooks so that the result resembled https://youtu.be/3HzHFWHyXL4 rials suitable for a variety of crafts given as opposed to the several directions in a
a ratchet noisemaker, and 3) a length of creative freedom. more open environment.
twine pulled through the series of eyelet To reduce the wait time for wind, we re-
hooks to create a collaborative jump rope sorted to using an electric fan found in We tested out the concept of coconut wire
type situation where the harp is the per- the nearby headquarters housing the and found it to be quite suitable to be used REFERENCES
son in the middle. participants of Dinacon. Despite feeling as a replacement of normal electrical wire 1. D. Campbell-Falck, T. Thomas, T.
smug about cheating Mother Nature at in hobbyist projects when concealment M. Falck, N. Tutuo, and K. Clem. 2000.
Bullroarer amplification first, the stream of air produced by the fan or use of certain forms of material might The intravenous use of coconut water.
The challenge of amplifying a bullroarer was rather uneven, in pulses rather than a be a concern. The American journal of emergency
started with getting a clean enough audio steady stream. Thus this method was not medicine 18, 1: 108–111.
recording of the sound produced. The quite suitable to produce any tones from Furthermore, we did several design itera- 2. Virgil, Homer, and Robert Fagles.
simplest solution we came up with was to such instruments and we had to wait to be tions of Aeolian harps based on the incre- 2009. Aeneid / Odyssey / Iliad. Penguin
hot-glue a piezo disc to the center of the blessed with the winds again. mental knowledge we garnered over time Classics.
bullroarer (see Figure 13 below). In this from experience about the winds on Koh
solution, however, the sound captured is Transverse & end-blown flute Lon. From shifting to manual wind gen-
not an identical representation of what Walking along the beach, we came across eration methods to smaller models more
is heard. This is because sound captured a straight branch that had once been suited for the sort of winds found on the
and amplified is a result of vibrations home to some unidentified wood boring island, we were successful in achieving
from the rubber bands traveling through creatures. The holes left behind made us short audible harmonics on the last iter-
P-72 Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 P-73
When your glasses get broken in an ac- “Stylish jungle glasses braided from
P-74 Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 P-75
The Third Best Thing about Dinacon
ODE TO DINACON
Is more important than the first
we’re in love
but still in the early stages of this rela-
tionship
Plusea learning to make meaningful connec-
tions
between zeros and cocoanuts
between dinaflagulance and ones
as love-affairs go
The Best Thing about Dinacon The Second Best Thing about Dinacon we worry about making this one last
You work Sitting on the porch our fear of rejection
get hot crochetting plarn growing every day we don’t act
maybe frustrated too listening to friends talk
and then about why we’re all here but let us not expect
take off your clothes and why we’ll all come back too much too soon
and swim in the ocean. together again. let us become great listeners
observers, smellers, touchers and feel-
Koh Lon, 6/7/2018 Koh Lon, 7/7/2018 ers,
“amazing” organs
of a loving -ism.
Bangkok, 20/7/2018
Berlin, 30/8/2019
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Presentation Night - Photo by Umeed Mistry
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keep off the rain (or torrential downpour hour and a 50 minute flight from Chica-
depending on the moment) that was actu- go O’Hare International to Hong Kong…
ally intended to simply prevent the oth- whatever that airport is called. I have a
er food in the fridge from becoming in- seat next to a window: 69K. When I check
fected with your fishy onion stench. They in to claim my seat, the chart doesn’t have
packed us onto the buses. The buses were many openings. There is an open row at
under an overhanging roof – so no threat the back, in front of a row of seats that are
of the rain here. But standing there on the all marked “U”. I look at the keys. What
bus looking at the rain absolutely DRIV- does “U” mean? “U” stands for unaccom-
ING DOWN out of the sky – well, I put panied minors. Ah. A row of lost children.
on my saran wrap. Most other people did This, clearly, was a wildcard. Which way
too. But then, as we stood there, on the could it go? Terrified, silent, wide eyed
bus, more and more people packing on, children? (Possibly the best kind of chil-
the rain let up. And then the rain stopped. dren on long plane trips.) Loud belligerent
Finally the bus drove out to the plane. tweens, nonstop computer games, kick-
Right up to the canopy stairway that led ing the seats in front of them. Or babies
up to the airplane door, so when it came that scream. For 14 hours straight, with
down to it, there was about… 6 feet that the 50 other minutes spent drinking wa-
was unroofed, uncovered, unprotected ter because they are so parched from the
from the sky. 6 feet and hundreds of bags screaming. Well, as it turns out, the row
of organized saran wrap, liberated, free designated reserve for unaccompanied
and wild and open and loose–this saran minors is actually just old folks on their
wrap could go back to its natural habitat: way to Kolkota. They are quiet. They are
the Pacific ocean Northern Gyre. Great layover. Five hours of solid melatonin in- feet across? So there’s the picture of the
sleeping. They’re watching action movies
garbage patch of the north. Does the In- duced sleep and then waking up at 2:30 Bulgari watch. On a bright white back-
with headphones. There is a Chinese man
dian Ocean have a gyre? Are the waters in AM, because it’s really 1:30 PM… and why, ground. All glowing, lightbox. Lit from
that sits down next to me. A large round
Hong Kong the China Sea? How does this for God’s sake, are you asleep? Wake up. within. And under the watch is a sign that
Indian woman sits next to him on the
work? I can talk to Mr. Google I guess. There are some flashes in the dark, and says TYPHOON ADVISORY, FORCE 1.
aisle. Across the way is her husband. He is
I think to myself, “Lightning?” And I’m A hurricane bearing down on the Hong
also large and round and has dark circles
I drove up to O’Hare on Tuesday morn- surprised. Because it all feels so hermet- Kong International Airport?Should I be
under his eyes. The man next to me has
ing. Left at 10:15, got there by 12:15, driv- ically sealed. So canned and bottled and worried? Should I figure out how I can
unruly gray eyebrows. Lots of personal-
ing 80 most of the way. (Oh – the cicadas completely free of the uncontrolled. It is elevate my lifestyle so I can achieve this
ity. He has gray hair. Not quite a flat top
have started again– it’s very subtle– who 70°. Probably 68. So everyone has to wear magnificent timepiece – a mark of ex-
but close. He’s pretty low to the ground. A
starts it? Why does it start? What is the ini- a light sweater. There is a low hum. A fan. cellence, a mark of the very best. A watch
collared sort of striped golf shirt. He does
tiating factor? Barbara Ehrenreich quote A motor. A mechanical drone to bring that is powerful. A watch that is a force of
not speak English. I do not speak Manda-
“an emergent quality.” That’s what was us back to the swoosh and slosh of the nature.
rin or Cantonese or whatever they mean
happening at 6 AM. I don’t often find my- womb. Ebbing tides. In the morning. At
when you say “I don’t speak Chinese.” He
self paying attention to a sunrise. Actual- 5:30, I head back to the terminal. It’s pret- June 9 2018 Saturday
reads his Chinese newspaper. I give him
ly there was no sun this morning. Just a ty quiet. The only time I’ve really had to What does typhoon mean? What does
my chocolate bar. He gives me some pea-
brightening of the clouds and the ocean. wait was the security line in O’Hare. But Force 1 mean? Is it related to hurricane
nuts.
Chalong Bay. Cicadas. Ocean. Herons. it worked out. Otherwise – everything’s categories? Will they eventually give us
Wind. Palms in the wind. Myna birds. been fast and smooth. I have not had to Category 6 with Category 5 becoming or-
There are moments in the itinerary that
Cats. Bugs are holding still in the wind.) take off a single shoe. I have not had to dinary? Will the coming years bear Cate-
I’m anxious about. These are moments
It took a little longer than usual to park. take off a belt or unpack a bag. I did have to gory 7 or 8 what would a Category 8 hur-
that I might label “unknown.” Or, “things
The train–shuttle to the terminals is on remove one laptop. So everything is qui- ricane be? 360 mile/hour winds? Raining
I’ve rarely done.” Like Getting a Taxi. Or
the fritz, so, buses to the terminal. The in- et. Everything is white and metallic and knives. Tsunamis as a matter of course?
Getting A Boat That Will Essentially Be
ternational terminal was last. Cathay Pa- bright. Everything is both in English And Who will be our heroes? Who will save us?
A Taxi. Or Going Through Immigra-
cific. Hardly any line. Checked my bag all Chinese. There are beautiful blond fami- The last hope. Will Turtle or his father,
tion and Customs In a Foreign Land. Or
the way to Phuket. Makes me a little ner- lies and advertising. There are beautiful Colonel Turtle lead us? Will the Pacific
Finding the Hotel That is Supposed To
vous. 12 hour layover in Hong Kong– will square jawed Chinese men and women. Reef herons lead us? The mynabirds. The
Be In the Airport, And it Pretty Much Is
the bag make a dash for freedom during There is the dream of luxury and leisure. hornbills. The palm trees. The coconuts.
In The Airport, But You Still Have To Go
its 12 hours in non-transit? But I go with And there are expensive watches. Images Pythons and pit vipers and hermit crabs.
Through Immigration To Get To The Air-
it. I have prepared for this journey. A 14 of expensive watches that are – what – 4 The wind. The rain. The sky. The ocean.
port Hotel. That was brilliant. A 12 hour
The Buddha on the mountain. The bros
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that just arrived for their weekend with Christmas Tsunami, this side was flooded. she wanted to sleep with me. We went
their dance music. LOTS of garbage and debris left over. To- to her apartment. She had a cat named
day, less, but still plenty of garbage. Here Monster. He was a pretty nice cat. At first.
There are bros everywhere. All around the are some of the things I saw: a flip-flop And then he was less than nice. He was
globe there are bros. And some of them (left foot) covered with barnacles. A fan, big. Maybe he was gray. Whatever color
are here. I have a cat in my lap. Named somehow all the parts within a couple of he was, he weighed over 30 pounds. Kris’s
Turtle. I love this wind. It’s low tide right yards from each other. Big woven plas- apartment had a small entryway, a small
now. So what about heroes? Based in sto- tic sacks for grain. A motorcycle helmet. kitchen. Small bathroom. And a bed. Kris
ries. We tell ourselves what we can do and A dead puffer fish as big as a motorcycle lived in this small place with her big cat.
what we can’t do. And this limits us. He- helmet. A big chunk of thick green rope. They had figured out how to live togeth-
roes (are stories about) throwing out the Plastic bags. Plastic water bottles. Beer er. But if you brought in anyone else– the
limits– stepping outside the boundar- cans. Beer bottles. Broken glass. Netting. balance was off. I think Monster slept on
ies, outside the box. Beyond our mortal A dead ray with it’s wings cut off. the bed with Kris. So when I slept over–
selves. Hanuman – bigger than a moun- Monster was shoved aside. Onto the floor
tain. Smaller than a mouse. Saving the Maybe today I will write about Monster, and the barely used cat bed. Monster did
world. The lynx water-god. The amphib- Kris Schwartz and the night of 1000 or- not like this. So the first night we went to from bristling and hissing. I am naked. I
ious Tiger God. They are not friendly. gasms? Ha ha. 4. Tigers. 50. What? How? bed– to her bed, to Monster’s bed, Monster have to make a decision about my dangly
They are not happy. They have enormous Why? When does it flip into pure me- the mid size predator, not a 500 pound ti- cat-toy-ish bits which may or may not en-
power and that power can go in every di- chanics? Maybe it’s always mechan- ger, Monster the 30 pound house cat who tice Monster the 30 pound predator and
rection. When you are sitting in a fan- ics? Pure electrochemical biology. She had been displaced from his bed. Kris his claws. I survive the passage. I come
tasy… well, no, not the fantasy, sitting in worked at the Lifetime Channel as an did not want to sleep. Kris wanted to have back to bed. There is Kris. Mousy. Try-
the real world but surrounded by all the editor. Her soft stomach was crisscrossed sex. Kris wanted to come. Over and over. ing to smile. Trying to get over her shy-
elements of what people fantasize about: with scars. Lots of long scars, making a And she wanted me to come. Over and ness. Trying to put on a show, get out past
beach, palm trees, ocean, mountains in kind of raised skin network. I asked her over. Maybe there are people out there her usual desolation … or at least put on a
the distance, birds calling, Last night I saw about them. She didn’t want to talk about who know what normal is. I have no idea. funny front where we can join, meet each
my first flying fox. A bat as big as a red it. Her fallback, resting state was dour and Is it normal to have sex and fall asleep? other in mutual darkness.
tailed hawk. Fuck. Amazing. Also: hermit depressed. She didn’t seem to stand out Let’s say you’re with someone for the first
crabs with their vast array of varying show in any way. She had dirty blonde hair. Her time. It could be kind of great. It could be Just got back from a 5 1/2 hour interrup-
houses. And then two very big crabs that shoulders hunched. She could be coaxed exciting and new and thrilling. I’ve heard tion. Just in time for the family down the
scuttled into big sand holes. Where am I? into a kind of braying, chatty humor –– stories of famous athletes sleeping with beach that likes having babies, playing
and she assumed, well, of course if we’re literally thousands of women. So, okay, so shitty music, and grilling. Grilling. A verb.
The mornings have been so nice. When having this frank talk– we are talking that’s one kind of normal. I guess. You’ve At 12:30 Andy got his drone going and we
the sun actually crested the mountain honestly here, right? Well, if speaking got Tom Brady and Gisele. First night. shot some mangrove stuff. The roots that
today– just for a little while– there was frankly– of course you’re going to agree How many times? Now for these two, I’m come up, out of the sand or the mud. Like
a time when all the color came into the with her. And that whine, that… whine, not sure if they’ve even actually had sex– a small field of them. Oh God… the wind
world. Pinks and teals and tangerines and with its assumed,”We’re all friends here” like I bet they bought those kids online. has started. It’s so good. It feels so good.
aqua greens/blues… I had looked down talking about the agreed-upon ways of the I can’t imagine them spending any time
to read for a little bit, and when I looked world– this whine was soaking in the as- not looking at themselves in the mirror. The first morning when I woke up early
up– the world had gone from the latent sumption that the world was fucked. That Or working on his website – how to live here, I lay out on the porch, in the dark, 5
quiet potential of grays and blacks and sil- – yes, we can make jokes about it, you forever and for a small monthly fee, he’ll AM. And the wind was up. And it’s warm.
houettes and shadows to full kinetic color. know, to lighten the load– but through tell you how you can live forever too! How It’s not hot outside at night, but it’s not
Like someone had flipped a switch. The and through, deep down, at the core of all about Wilt Chamberlain– a legendary cool. But the breeze comes in. And it’s
cicadas. A Hornbill in a tree 15 feet above humanity–everybody everything is dark- lover. Or Genghis Khan. Genghis Khan. I all over your body, very gentle. And for
me. The cats returning to hunt and mew ness. Everything was fucked. And there am not Wilt the Stilt or Ghenghis or Tom a little while, with the cicadas, very slow
and jump into my lap. was nothing they could change that fact. or a two-legged tiger. dawn, the herons walking on the beach
And apparently, she wanted to go out with in silhouette –an emergent quality–
Just got back from a tidal walk with Andy, me. She didn’t tell me directly. She told Ok. So it’s somewhere in the middle the breeze, the perfect wind on me–the
scouting for a drone shot with mangroves. me through a friend. I’d never met her. of the sex and the not sleeping and the world as a lover. Yes yes yes–it can smack
The tide was coming in, but still low I knew nothing about her. But somebody bleariness. I get up to pee. Standing in you down too. So can a lover. But this felt
enough to walk out along the rocks and wanted me. Sadly, that’s all I need. the doorway between the bed and the toi- so nice. So soothing and perfect. It was a
sand, out past the Muslim Village, around let is Monster the 30 pound predator. I very hot day with sun – so even hotter. So
the bend. The ocean side of this island We went to a bar. We drank beer. She have to step over this enormous cat. He the wind, now, quiet, on the porch with
was pounded. Devastated by the 2004 talked about her favorite bands. She said is clearly not having it. He is a step away Turtle the forgiving kitten– Ah. So nice.
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You will need to prepare:
NO MORE SPILLS!!!
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Dani sneakily crafted this wonderful
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Tidal Memories is an interactive, envi-
TIDAL MEMORIES
ronmentally-informed visualization of
photos posted to Matrix (Riot) during
Dinacon. It displays photos taken
during Dinacon, on a representation of
Oliver Steele the intertidal zone in front of the Din-
acon site in Koh Lon, Phuket, in Thai-
land.
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ART+BIO COLLABORATIVE
EXHIBITION
Carmella Verrastro
Elexis Padron
Ariel Simon
Laurie Wiesner-Phillips
Stephanie Dowdy-Nava
Vida Nava
Isla Nava
Saúl Nava
ART+BIO Collaborative joined the Dig-
ital Naturalism conference as part of
their “Jungle Life: Field Studies of Art+-
Nature” program.
NOCTURNAL GARDEN
Green play the Khaen a traditional Lao/
Thai mouth organ made of bamboo
pipes, as colors reveal the garden forms
of the Thai forest. Curate the sound of
Touch Sensor Environmental Art Installation the Khaen and the colors of the noc-
Joan Marie Kelly turnal garden by touching the tropical
plants. Discover each note or song and
color the touch triggers. Gregory Hanks
Green, the curator of the Echols Col-
lection of Southeast Asian music at the
Cornell music library is also a Khaen
player. Green can be heard in the Noc-
turnal Garden playing a song on the
Khaen in the Lai Nyai mode or create
your own Khaen song as you touch the
leafy plants. Khaen is tradition Thai
and Laotian free reed instrument that
sounds when the player breathes in or
out. A touch of the plants provokes a
note on the khaen or a complete song
played by Green as well as an array of
twilight colors.
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SUN SET CLOCK PROTOTYPE
Rob Faludi
PATTERNING
The pieces of tartan were patterned,
marked and cut, beach side. Using
string to translate live measurements
and marking the pattern pieces with
washed up beach coral pieces. I cut
the pieces using first aid kit scissors
and hand sewed the pieces together. I
stitched the electronics to the wearable
pieces and made the appropriate chan-
nels to protect wiring and cords. The
last pieces to to be attached were the
protective mesh shell forms over the
esp8266 Node MCU modules. All piec-
es were constructed with reusability in
mind, as if we were in actual survival,
we’d want to be able to reuse and alter
pieces as necessity and need called for.
MESH NETWORK
The three wearables are linked togeth-
er via a mesh network based on the
esp8266 Node MCU modules. These
nodes are easily programmable via the
Arduino IDE, with the complexities of
mesh network topologies abstracted
out. Two nodes essentially translate
an input signal into tones, sent to the
output node (worn by Elizabeth). Each
node included an addressable RGB
LED stick which shows information
about the mesh topology, including if a
node is online or not. MQTT was uti-
lized as the base data protocol for pub-
lishing and subscribing to the different
nodes’ data stream.
CAMERA NODE
The Camera node takes a live video
feed and runs a kmeans clustering of
the color information of the input vid-
eo frame. The camera is mounted to
the front of the wearer, giving the sys-
tem a view in front of the hiking party.
These predominant colors are encoded
into tone and duration information and
transmitted to the Speaker node.
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Node, These melodies were a combi- transmitted by drinking and absorbing
PROXIMITY NODE nation of the sensor data, so it corre- microplastic polluted water. At first,
The Proximity node takes a series of sponded to the colors on the Camera this disease was confused as a trend as
ultrasonic sensor inputs distributed Node and the ultrasonic sensors on the people began to accessorize their Shine
along the height of the human wearing Proximity Node. While the hike was sores with 3d printed parts and hot
them and translates this “section” into short, the party already could start to glued lab grown crystals. The TribeNET
tones. Because the sensors are distrib- discern the melodies created when they travelers are able to escape contracting
uted along the height of the wearer, the were in different positions and next to The Shine by drinking water filtered
textile pattern extends from the shoul- different kinds of vegetation. by the Faircap (http://faircap.org/) and
der to the ankle. These tones are trans- designing their TribeNET wearables. In
mitted to the Speaker node. OUTPUT order to warn the Dinacon participants,
While the ‘TribeNET’ project started the travelers go back in time through a
SPEAKERS NODE to be conceived prior to Dinacon, it newly discovered, but very dangerous
The Speaker node receives signals really took shape on the island during mode of transportation called Light
from the other nodes in the system a particular lunch where a story was House Jumping, or Light Jumping for
and creates a melody which describes conceived about a group of travelers short. This allows travelers to jump
the current reality of the hiking party. that came to Koh Lon a few months from light house to light house instan-
The data from the nodes was strictly in the future after Dinacon. The story taneously, albeit to another point in
mapped from sensor signal inputs into also had inspirations from episodes time. Unprotected light house jumping
tone and duration. The resulting melo- of the Biobang podcast, especially the causes immediate and advanced skin
dies must be learned to be understood. episode with the Bathisphere. In this diseases so protective suits must be
The speakers were sourced from the story, TribeNET is worn by the party worn. Unfortunately, many light house
airline headphones we received on our of travelers to become a part of nature, jumping pioneers perished just days
way to Koh Lon. The internal compo- or at least, to try to understand nature after the discovery due to unprotect-
nents were harvested from their plastic and become nature themselves. This is ed light house jumping. The travelers
casing and rewired to the mcu. While because in the future (November 2018 jumped back in time to Dinacon at Koh
this is a low power, low volume solu- in the story) many things had changed. Lon to share the future with the par-
tion, it worked very well for the hiking Microplastic infiltration into everything ticipants and to share their technical
party. led to a shortage of clean water like the knowledge in hopes to steer the future
world had never seen. Countries en- away from the Water Wars, The Shine,
HIKE gaged in the latest of the Water Wars and Distopia.
TribeNET was used on a hike through as citizens began to contract MicroAc-
the paths of Koh Lon. During this hike rylisys (aka The Shine), a new form
the hiking party started to get used to of skin disease that starts to produce
the melodies created by the Speakers plastic sores on the epidermis and is
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CARGOL – FOUND NATURE OBJECT
Agosto
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BIOLUMINESCENCE TEXTILE
Elizabeth Bigger
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The felting process was completed by Frangipani- by Mari Crook
the washing in the sea, with non-toxic
dish soap and the waves pounding on
the wool fibers. I rung out the textile
and then hung it over a nearby tree
branch to dry in the sun.
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RECYCLOOM
Recycled Textile Loom
Maggie Kane
+ https://www.dinacon.org/2018/01/12/
maggie-kane/
P-114 Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 P-115
By trying to realize this unlikely com-
CROCHETEERING
bination of moving to stay afloat while
moving to make, I want to see if I can
dive deeper into the experience of
what it means to be able to “make while
Hannah Perner-Wilson moving through the world”.
+C, KOBAKANT
Precisely because this endeavor may
A tale of fishy innovation sound silly, it appeals to me. I have
hopes that by distancing myself from
I wanted to build myself wearable stu-
reason – in this case “reasonable modes
dio gear that will allow me to go into
of making” – I can create an opening in
the ocean to spend time there fishing
the fabric of optimized experience to
for materials, diving for details, weav-
slip through and experience the other
ing with water and etching salty circuits
side. Looking back at our lives shaped
in my datasheet-swimwear.
by optimized experience I might catch
a glimpse of something one can only
see from underwater.
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Photo by Umeed Mistry
P-118 Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 P-119
A GOOD-
NIGHT STORY
FOR
DINACON-
NAISSEURS
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We had wonderful experiences dou-
IMMERSEA
bling our sound and vision under the
sea. Kira, Oya, Adam and Ryan formed
a temporary collective of multimedia
artists, bioartists, psycho-geographers,
Oya Damla, Kira deCoudres, Adam Zaretsky, Ryan biologists and free thinkers who col-
Cotham laborated in the ImmerSea: Subversive
Submersibles node at the Digital Nat-
ImmerSea: Subversive Submersibles is water-adapted uralism Conference. We manipulated
augmented reality (AR). live feed footage from environmental
settings. We designed and built sub-
Abstract - ImmerSea: Subversive Submersibles is wa- merged interactive/immersive sound
ter-adapted augmented reality (AR). This included and video wearables for architectur-
aquatic AR goggles, immersive AR environments and ally encasing art installations using
site specific sonic and tactile sources.
AR submergibles.
We ran experiments in psychologi-
ImmerSea: Subversive Submersibles are installation cal experience and altered states of
experimentations involving creative real time super- semi-consciousness. We dedicated our
imposition of re-mashed audio visual overlays onto time on the island to rugged prototyp-
everyday audio-visual and other sense data for expe- ing allowing for flexibility that utilized
rience alteration and tabulation of reactions. The ex- the ready-made technics we brought,
borrowed and found. We incorporated
periments focused on (1) Eye Candy Disruptors, (2)
naturally occurring sounds found in
EcoSensual Synesthesia and (3) Gamification of Risk. the acoustic environment of Koh Lon
Centered around our pop-up sustainable miniature golf and build them into our novel device
course, we designed transmissions and communicated laden suits.
odd augmentations to our immersed and submerged In the mists of a lush tropical island en-
co-artists in the Andaman Sea. vironment, we composed six channel,
‘real’ surround sound for zorb ball im-
mersive experiences and Video Jockey
creative misuse of AR software explo-
rations for a hand crafted underwater
iPad floatie suit. We detuned, crashed
out and mashed up with our sound
art, performance art and mad interdis-
ciplinary sciart skillz in the DinaCon
Cone of Tropical Geekdom (DCCTG).
Underscoring our critical quandary
into behavioral, cognitive and queer
studies, while relying on our own brand
of fringe philosophy, we unpack for
you here our experimental designs and
the resultant psychoacoustic/psycho-
geographical analysis of augmented
underwater experience.
Yes, we designed submerged aquatic
AR environments and underwater AR
submergible wearables. ImmerSea:
Subversive Submersibles made installa-
tions of DIY bio-body art experimenta-
tion by building mediated exoskeletons
and getting in them, in the water. We
were receiving creative, real-time and
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new images and interactive screens, do post-biological post-truth information
not alienate me. Rather, they form an experientially available, stimulating
integrated circuit with me.” curiosity and interest previously inacces-
sible to post-programmed populations
- From Xeorox and Infinity, Jean Baudril- (the human, post-human and a-human
lard / Translated by James Benedict organismic masses). Initializing User
This essay was originally published as Deprogramming Experience (UDX) for
part of Jean Baudrillard’s “La transpar- Mashup Remix Mixed Reality (MRMR),
ence du mal: Essai sur les phénomènes we present third or fourth level irony in a
extrèmes” (1990), translated into English time where Kitsch has fallen flat. The lay-
in 1993 as “The Transparency of Evil: ers of bullshit detectable have upped the
Essays on Extreme Phenomena”, http:// delayed ante up on Critique. We are still
insomnia.ac/essays/xerox_and_infinity/ trying to favir pop-regurg-a-purge hyp-
(footnote numbers / what citation style is nogogic options to standard immersion.
preferred?) Into which product orientation seminars
shall we build satire? What exactly has
re-mashed audiovisual overlays while vacation communication as utter surren- That the near entirety of living human been left un-gamified? What target has
in and on the sea. We had that experi- der? animal populations could be bought off the naturalism to uncover, to reveal, as
ence of alteration that mocks, and yet “We lived once in a world where the so succinctly with a two thumbed, LCD opposed to make appear less world wide
joins in, screen hypnosis through gadget realm of the imaginary was governed by touch sensitive, tool-being hand to eye cobwebby?
love/hate relations. In this field report the mirror, by dividing one into two, by sized bauble that bleeps intermittent Our three experimental designs are
we include our own qualitative tabula- theatre, by otherness and alienation. To- rewards is a tribute to the era of Homo titled: Eye Candy Disruptor, EcoSensual
tion of reactions from the audio visual day that realm is the realm of the screen, Rechargerus and the addictive nature of Synesthesia and Gamification of Risk.
occlusion front of mixed reality super- of interfaces and duplication, of conti- conditioning. Regardless of however trite This report includes the materials, meth-
imposition. Working from the vantage guity and networks. All our machines are the reward (the bleep for bleep’s sake ods and results of these three experi-
points of artistic self-experimentation, screens, and the interactivity of humans or the glow brightness itself as iHearth), ments. It is our hope, in the spirit of the
tech-no-masochism and begrudgingly has been replaced by the interactivity of regardless how onerous the odds, regard- Digital Naturalism Open Source Public
admitted tech-titillation, the following is screens. less of how guaranteed the eventual am- Lab Aesthetics (DINAOSPLA), that the
our lab book. … nesiac economy of loss, this is tech that art over data ratio (A/d) will be equal or
What is Hydro Immersive Augmented We draw ever closer to the surface of offers satiation on the installment plan greater than one. This is of course plus or
Reality (HIAR) to Us? the screen; our gaze is, as it were, strewn and hence satisfaction for many. minus a 3% negsanguineously margin of
Augmented Reality is a super-imposi- across the image. We no longer have the Simply by cataloging the percentage of error for the duration of our unstill life
tion of digital media onto the natural spectator’s distance from the stage -- all time spent recharging our handhelds studies.
world for artificial intimacy. We study theatrical conventions are gone. That we can tabulate the incremental toll, Immersea Experiment One: Eye Candy
Computer aided User Deprogramming we fall so easily into the screen’s coma the hemorrhagic loss of service that our Disruptors
Experience (UDX) as well as push-adver- of the imagination is due to the fact that screens take. The moth-like to the light Experiment One: Eye Candy Disruptor
tisement styled media coersion. Is im- the screen presents a perpetual void of the screen identity is a relic of the TV Goals: Through the mediatization of
mersion in the sea a way towards more that we are invited to fill. Proxemics of years. Identity has now gone beyond the audiovisual fields with Live VJ Blipvert
easily abscessed critique of a common images: promiscuity of images: tactile CRT beam hook into the infinite line AR in a wearable AR snorkeling suit, we
mass obsession? Due to the changing pornography of images. Yet the image is of LCD glow scrolling (touch sensitive monitor Exposure Therapy to virtual/
state of the aqueous mind, an undersea, always light years away. It is invariably a screen) and the audio intermittent re- physical superimposition. The attempt
layered-on, disruptor of immersive re- tele-image -- an image located at a very ward of Pavlovian ring tones and alerts. to approach some semblance of medi-
laxation may be the ticket towards a re- special kind of distance which can only The ‘you’ve got mail’ instaSnap Limited ated saturation, beyond both utility and
veal of the prosthesis between the blinds be described as unbridgeable by the Interactivity Extended Reality (ISLIXR) entertainment was our goal. We were
of both inner and outer worlds. In other body. of AR superimposition is the clicker able to modulate variables of visual time
words, we theorize that Underwater AR … training of the commons. alterity and applied repetition media re-
may provide evidence of cognitive glitch There is no ambiguity in the traditional How and Why are We Using AR? gimes. This confirms with our intention
implicit in consciousness (i.e. equating relationship between man and machine: This project engages with topics of be- to study the effects of the artistic taking
the needless stressor blow out anomie to the worker is always, in a way, a stranger havioral immersion by connecting envi- over of the augmented visual and au-
the thrill of mediated stim seduction ex- to the machine he operates, and alienat- ronmental and experiential bio-data-tics dio field with more Crap than is already
cess). Does the fall of alienation through ed by it. But at least he retains the pre- across human, animal, and technological available while swimming in the open
a leisurely addition of social entertain- cious status of alienated man. The new populations. Here, media manipulation sea.
ment screens open us to gamified virtual technologies, with their new machines, serves to make post-environmental and Materials: DIY Water Proof iPad, wear-
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noise ratios. should be automated to in- sextanaural sonic space) in a closed and
crease whole brain de-synchronicity and yet N degree of cognitive freedom user
imprint vulnerability. We are still looking movable space.
for something like real-time giphy world Methods:
3D sculpt brush AR jockey software for In order to transmit the sensual sounds
beaming real time to others in the un- of the island into a semi-submerged hu-
derwater AR screen spectator faceplant man augmented reality zorb ball inter-
worlding. Perhaps that is something we face we positioned the waterproof speak-
could seek collaboration for building. ers: fore, aft, port, starboard, stern and
Immersea Experiment Two: EcoSensual bow. The six channel sonic compositions
Synesthesia are available online mixed and as origi-
Goals: We are focused on smell, taste, nal six directionally distinct tracks. Made
CNS nerve stimulating (touch) and pro- from generated, remashed and digital
prioception for this experiment. We audio field recordings from the Koh Lon
created an inhabitable instrument--the local island ecosphere soundscapes.
semi-submerged wireless human aug- You can try this yourself! “Music For
to experiential, repetitive, strobic, vapor- mented reality zorb ball interface (See Zorb Balls” is the result of a Digital Nat-
wavicle, remash noise ratios. image + caption) -- to measure sonic uralism Conference Project, ImmerSea:
Results: arousal in a spherical 360 degree sex- Subversive Submersibles. An experiment
People had fun! People clamored to be tanaural sound space. in sext-o-phonic sound (6-channel 3D
inside the contraption. People craved to Materials: omni-directional audio), “Music for Zorb
swim with a screen in their face, to snor- We created an inhabitable instrument Balls” documents audio tracks created for
kel in the most lovely sea while looking -- the semi-submerged wireless human an immersive media-tastic soundscape
through a busily augmented screen full augmented reality sextanaural zorb ball while in an inflatable bubble on water.
of touch sensitive 3d emojis and first interface. This included a zorb ball and For our purposes, we assigned each di-
person zombies to shoot and three di- six waterproof portable MP3 players with rectional track to six separate wireless
mensional glitter drawings tracked by six MicroSD cards synched to play our Bluetooth speakers attached to points
space and head movement . The idea was six channel compositions. We composed inside the Zorb ball. The audio can be
that snorkeling through schools of fish several six track digital audio compo- streamed through any audio-playing de-
or peeking at anenomes in coral reefs sitions. These included six tracks to 6 vice: iPhones, iPods, iPads, IAmASpeak-
would be reason enough to dispose of speakers in the Zorb Ball (Front, Back, er, Car Stereo Speakers, etc. Try duct tap-
the screen. We were wrong, most people Up, Down, Left, Right), as well as exper- ing pillows to friends and slipping their
want to augment and peer through the imenting with binaural standing waves phones on loop into the pillow cases and
screen as often as they can. Instead of in full six channel dimensionality (hence then modern dance moshing with them
able AR snorkeling suit non-virtual fidelity, celibate edutainment
Methods: Much of our ‘data’ is based is the norm.
on pre-present & post surveys of hu-
man performance volunteers focusing Future Research: We hope future exper-
on Annoyance, Habituation and Recall iments will include real-time monitored
as quantitative, qualitative and cataton- reactions to live blipvert wireless VJ
icative data sets. Qualitatively, we used remashed madvertisments. Superimpose
an all-orificial data set including ques- motion tracked data collection with spe-
tionnaires for tabulation. This entails a cific experimental brain wave stimulating
synopsis of amalgamated qualitative data binaural-sextanaural new age automated
from all 11-13 of the major collection samsara control variables, and we may
points or body portals of our voluntary score that mind control research grant
human arts subjects. This survey data was we always dreamed of. The plan for now
compared to motion analysis of body is to expand our repertoire into a wid-
language tracking video documentation. er manipulative media range through:
Use of binaural new age meditation au- percentage of audiovisual augmentation
dio with 31% translucent clouds as a con- (loudness and field of superimposed
trol was meant to approximate degree vision), speed of editing-jumpcutting,
zero samsara experiential authenticity in strobic/distorted sonic and signal to
order to compare the subject reactions
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while connected to their feet and hands familiarity with over-commercialization is possible by sudden and incremental urge to stay alive outside of the MRMR
with industrial rubber bands. This may of experience. It was a clumsy kinetic alarming risk suggestion. We are look- XR.
give you the interactive UDX experience learning-curve to walk on water, with big ing at demonstrating extreme what ifs, Future Research: The superimposition
that it takes to feel the interface. Jesus-like footsteps to fill. This tumbling neurotic paranoia and underwater fear of a second, generated or algorithmi-
was quite entertaining and meditatively factors to induce panic. This is to see if cally filtered version of your sense data
The album is free for public access and exhausting due to the amount of energy reliance on augmentation is such an ad- accruement through your inborn and
includes each artist’s contribution to the exertion required to move an immea- dictive autopilot that users are capable of falsifiably inept orifice input-output
interactive sound installation. For public surable amount in any direction. This downgrading risk assessment or if dan- economy may be safer than separating
replication of this experiment, download cyclical going-nowhere and treading on ger as a concept can be subsumed by the the two on competing screens (LCD/
each directionally determined track and water must be what hamsters and labor- multisensorial eye candy and responsive Flesh). Commercially available screens
assign each to individual speaker outputs ers trapped in capitalist loops feel like. In ISLIXR HIAR environments. are brighter than the in-born filtered (i.e.
for the best, most disorienting experi- conclusion, this inverse rebirth was en- Materials: Zombie Apocalypse AR soft- eyes or nostrils) sense data of the every-
ence. lightening and recommended for anyone ware, fake shark fin hat,fear itself and day world. Interestingly, we found that
in search of an affixiatingly intense psy- general tropical sea/mangrove/rain-for- digital LCD camera flowthrough screens
To download the full album from Band- chophysical re-alignment through medi- est fear mongering information sessions that are not semi-transparent (like
camp, select “Buy the Full Digital Al- ated reprogramming.” for players. phones or tablets) may be of a higher
bum” but rest assured, the album and – Kira deCoudres. Methods: The intention is to compare bodily harm risk than mixed reality hel-
all tracks are free! Name your price at notes on the reaction to panic attack in- mets or headgear. Semi-immersive gad-
$0 (or more!). To download only specific Future Research: We would like to ex- ducing threatcasts, with or without aug- gets are smaller, brighter, louder, more
tracks from the album, select the track(s) periment with waterproof, six channel, mented reality. Working with the gener- vibratory and more penile than immer-
of choice and select “Buy Digital Track”. acoustic contact microphones that use ation of psychotic states or schizogenesis, sive headgear or wearable environments.
FREE. Enjoy! streaming wifi. Live streaming from six we combine overlaying the audiovisual Comparing risk assessment artifacts and
https://immerseadinacon.bandcamp. sonic on-ground (or hydrophonic ‘in-wa- experiences of emergencies with actual actual risk of the handheld gadget ver-
com/album/music-for-zorb-balls ter’) contact sites of interest would be dangerous or convivially able to be per- sus the wearable gadget may be worth
The system of zorb-bodies conformed fun and analog enough to have a warm- ceived of as dangerous environments looking into further. It does seem that
to the human hamster wheel XYZ au- ing mediatationed effect. With the right such as the Andaman Sea. So, this is pre- any situation other than life endangering
dio architechture simplot. Our research psychogeographically positioned field dominantly a genre of overlaid media to impact crashes or other forms of sudden,
subjects were floating spherical on the station, we could include instrumenta- be explored while at risk of shark attack, potentially fatal, mortal ruin are consid-
waves of an immersive interface. This six tion used to collect data that measures drowning, unusual currents, poisonous ered to be most often ignorable in or out
channel Zorb space is semi submerged arousal, (for instance, a penile or clitoral fish, stinging jellyfish and sea gypsy pi- of augmented reality. On the other hand,
with user controlled motion and multi plethysmograph, a electromyograph for rates of the Malay Peninsula. Immersea even long, drawn out, miserable pain
sense intensities. This is implicit in most rythym contraction data, Doppler veloci- experimental volunteers were subjected itself can plausibly always be heightened
full immersion media heavy, seafaring metry penis cuff/sleeve, etc). But there to a media barrage of: flashing lights, by the digital.
globes of transparent inhabitation. Our is a limit to the measurement devices loud voices giving orders, mass media A final Gamified Risk analysis involves
interest in binaural sounds stemmed available for five kingdoms wide, cross styled endless emergency warnings, faux the cognitive effect of the amplification
directly from researching the CIA fund- species real time arousal. These interspe- shark attack and crashed, impeded glitch, of technological pain along with analog
ed Monroe Institute declassified docu- cies types of inclusive all-phylum arousal audiovisual environments. pain. This is a question of the rehabitu-
ments. economies of fetish measurement de- Results: Actual dangers encountered ation of illusory meta-pain in dialogical
Results: vices can be prescient techno-predictors were: strong currents to nearly drown interplay with brute force. The compe-
“Being a primary experiment subject of both the chemistry and early reporter us, coconuts falling from the sky, jelly tition between immersive digital tor-
contained within the Zorb Ball fulfilled weather predictions . Orgonomic coef- fish stinging and oxygen depletion in the ment and screen based digital torment
many fetal fantasies of being inside of a ficients coincident with ecological fore- Zorb ball as well as AR zombies every- in relation to bodily (technologically
techNO-FEAR PROTECTO-SPHERE. casting may yet prove that incorporating where. There was a distinct inability for unattached) torment is a Department
Surprisingly, this enclosed experience the sensual psychophysiology arts into the volunteers to conceptualize a differ- of Defense (DoD) issue worth pursuing .
externalized dissociation in a most climate change studies is a novel use val- ence between the Gamified Eye Candy Perception of risk is a fun and interesting
dreamy, oxygen-deprived way. The sun ue for our currently sparse interspecies, and the emulation of mind control fas- area to analyze when comparing distinct
beaming down on the Andaman Sea Kinseyesque, sexual response data and… cist depersonalization indoctrination cult media to the cognitive conception of the
quickly steamed the dream bubble, cre- correlated to climate change… we have tactics. It all seemed like an enjoyable unmediated Central Nervous System
ating a sauna effect. This, coupled with even more reasons to cum . and playful adventure, until the air start- (CNS). The real money is probably in
sonic bombardment from all directions Immersea Experiment Three: Gamifica- ed running out or the drowning feelings how much poor risk assessment behav-
(up, down, left, right, front, back) was tion of Risk started. At that point, the virtual became ior can be coordinated through UDX AR
immediately disorienting and yet, ca- Goals: This experiment is about what secondary to survival, so there is still MRMR DoD & ISLIXR CNS (see Terms
cophonously comforting due to cultural level of virtual overtaking of the ‘actual’ much to learn before we overcome that Key below) as opposed to other kinds of
P-136 Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 P-137
mind control in terms of fully trained tropics might be pasted into the human Thanks to Andy and Tasneem for all TERMS KEY:
assets and glitching enemy assets. genome. The Public Lab Book includes a the organizational skills and joy of DI- • AV = Audio Visual
Sustainable Mini Golf tabulation and interpretation of Natural NACON. We did independent DIY re- • AR = Augmented Reality
Simply as a Central Node for ImmerSea: Excesses, Exuberant Traits and BioBanks search and fun, wild, hacking together • HIAR = Hydro Immersive Aug-
Subversive Submersibles at Dinacon, we for Future Human/Nonhuman Germline with resultant novel instrumentation mented Reality (HIAR)
spearheaded the first ever Sustainable Hybrid Experiments in Human Inherited for alternate realities. Thanks also to Pat • VR = Virtual Reality
Miniature Golf Course. Nearly on the Genetic Modification. What do you think Pataranutaporn and Werasak Surareung- • VJ= Video Jockey
equator, this might start an equatorial the range of possible future bodies is? chai of the Freak Lab https://freaklab.org • XR = Extended Reality
fad, especially with a Biodiversity Bank- Which GMO humans should be included KMUTT for generous support and for • ISLIXR = instaSnap Limited
ing Theme! in the Transgenic Human Genome Proj- hosting us to review, presentation and Interactivity Extended Reality
Miniature golf is great low-impact fun ect (THGP)? What can the biodiversity exhibition of our Artistic Research on the • UX = User Experience
especially if it is sourced from local and of Koh Lon and the Andaman Sea tell us Interspecies Physiology of Immersive • UDX = User Deprogramming
sustainable materials. Our node host- about the range of potentials, enhance- ArtSci Environments through Eye Candy Experience
ed a social outpost made from crafted ments and options for future human Disruptor, EcoSensual Synesthesia and • DCCTG = DinaCon Cone of
natural golf balls (baby casaba), DIY anatomies? Gamification of Risk. Additional thanks Tropical Geekdom
golf clubs (bamboo and brain coral and Future of Artistic Research on the Inter- to Tentacles Gallery, Bangkok, Thailand. • UI = User Interface
conch shells, tied together with coconut species Physiology of Immersive ArtSci Thanks to Praba Pilar for designing the • MR = Mixed Reality
twine) and temporary redesign of loosely Environments initial Underwater AR prototype at our • MRMR = Mashup Remix
themed nature. Equatorial Sustainable Woodstock gridfree residency in prepa- Mixed Reality
Miniature Golf Courses are a perfect This is an emotionally deep research ration for the NO!!!BOT performances at • DoD CNS = Department of De-
interface to teach-in about biodiversity, process compared to the usual data re- Grace Space in NYC, May 2018. https:// fense Central Nervous System
human gene editing and bioethics. cording pilot studies. Instead of using www.prabapilar.com/events/nobotnyc • DINAOSPLA = Digital Natu-
The ImmerSea: Subversive Submersibles the general facial recognition software, ralism Open Source Public Lab Aesthet-
Equatorial Biodiversity Bank Themed eye tracking, blink assessment and live ics
Sustainable Miniature Golf Course was cortisol level monitoring (without a • A/d = art over data ratio
a home base for our node as well as the funding dollar spent on gestural, full
source-mixing and wireless beaming for embodied or any lower body orificial
our remixed Immersea databank. Be- economy explorations), We would like to
ginning with local Koh Lon mangrove, propose artistic research to amass fuller
rainforest and coral reef biomes, this than standard physiological data spaces-
minimal impact portable eco-minigolf capings. Contiguous with our biomedi-
course houses the qualitative and quan- ated-popsyche-ecosensual experiential
titative ImmerSea: Subversive Sub- developmental theme, we are striving
mersibles library of biodiversity. The for an all-body-portal accumulative
ImmerSea: Subversive Submersibles database. Future research will include
Equatorial Biodiversity Bank Themed anal-tensegrity monitoring as a part of
Sustainable Miniature Golf Course is the any full physiological observation of
AR-VJ immersive transmission station to our (w)hole organism [assuming this is
our underwater ImmerSea: Subversive an organism with an anus]. Along with
Submersibles Human Subjects Our vid- gene expression patterning over time
eo, audio, photo and written collection (including multi generational epigenetic
of ImmerSea: Subversive Submersibles environmental effects) and further col-
biodiversity notes have been kept in a lection of tangible and intangible objects
water proof lab book; notes and data from our subcognitive focus groups, we
available by request. We beam our tracks intend to use AI to data mine our UX
for output into the ImmerSea: Subver- bioinformatics data swarms to provide
sive Submersibles Biodiversity Bank further MRMR iterative, permutative
Themed Sustainable Miniature Golf Li- and pseudo random artistic nodes for
brary which functions as a VJ home base future studies in Artistic Research on the
for UDX AR MRMR ISLIXR underwater Interspecies Physiology of Immersive
and semi-submerged transmissions. DINAOSPLA ISLIXR HIAR ArtSci Envi-
Let’s talk about how the genes for the ronments.
natural excesses of exuberant traits in the
P-138 Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 P-139
MICROFEEL IN NATURE
Sebastian Seifert
SPANISH
La música para mi es una forma uni-
versal de comunicación, un lenguaje
de sentimientos que permite llegar
al corazón de las personas. De alguna
manera, una especie de código univer-
sal que tenemos para poder conectar-
nos.
ENGLISH
Music for me is a universal form of
communication, a language of feelings
that reaches the heart of people. In a
way, a kind of universal code that we
have to be able to connect.
P-142 Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 P-143
SANDCASTLES BY JOREG
Joreg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlEao2AxUMkhttps://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=GaFRcvvP0JI
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WAVE TRANSLATOR
Devon Ward
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When humans are near, making noise
P-152 Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 P-153
safe time to come back out. battery pak. I also decided on an indoor
installation space for our largest crab.
We simplified my (Margaret’s) orgin- For the humans, it feels like walking
al wearables Dinacon project concept on the beach while carrying a rock or
to collaborate on creating “humans” shell one might have picked up. For the
and “crabs” animated on Microbit crabs, is that like carrying a shell? No
boards, which felicitously have cute idea…
orange-red displays on board suitable
for crab claws! We installed one of our Here’s video of DinaCrab: Dinacr-
crabs in a mighty shell, and let Dina- ab with human 23 sec and Dinacrab
saurs carry human boards and other in-progress 2 mins
crab boards around with them. Using
the Microbit’s packet radio capability This is most of the blocks code for the
as a quick, though not very accurate or main interactivity. It supports as many
precise, ranging technology, crabs can “crab” and “human” boards as you want,
tell whether there is any human nearby. we had four at Dinacon. Usually config-
As soon as any human gets in range, it ured as one crab, three humans, some-
snaps into its shell, leaving just a claw times two crabs two humans.
visible (like a hermit crab’s visible ar-
mored claw blocking it’s shell opening).
As soon as all humans are far enough
away, the shy crab comes back out wav- Any questions contact us!
ing its claws about.
You can find the micro:bit code to
Using the packet ranging for interac- make your own humans and crabs at:
tivity between creatures was inspired https://github.com/margmarg/Dinacr-
by a lovely and extensive dance per- ab
formance interaction project by Emily
Daub, her student capstone project at You can also find Oliver’s micro:bit
the ATLAS Center at CU-Boulder. We RSS metering code here: https://github.
are grateful for her inspiration, and for com/osteele/microbit-signal-meter
help from Emily and her student col-
league Annie Kelly. by Margaret Minsky and Oliver Steele
Koh Lon, June 27 – July 7
Creating the animation of the crab
claws, in my happy place near the sew-
ing/textile/yarn corner. Microbit uni-
verse in an egg crate.
P-154 Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 P-155
Hannah Wolfe’s goal was to explore
ISLAND CATERPILLAR
caterpillar movement while on the
island. She looked at different mate-
rials to make the caterpillar with and
different movement techniques. She
Hannah Wolfe tested using a motor to spool fishing
wire and a linear actuator driven spiral.
The final design used a 12 volt motor
to power a spiraled linear actuator.
While the initial design was 3d printed,
the final construction was made out of
bamboo, linked together with an elastic
band. Feet were added to stabilize the
caterpillar.
P-156 Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 P-157
DINASOUND PODCAST BIOBANG! PODCAST
Pearl Ryder Andrew Quitmeyer, Tasneem Khan
Featuring many real, imaginary, and musical guests
Pearl Ryder is a cell biologist who came to DinaCon with the goal Biobang! is the Digital Naturalism Conference’s Podcast. Having
to explore the natural world to revitalize her life as a biologist a unique 8 week conference allows us to do long-form art and
and to learn more about creating audio stories. She has created documentation such as having our own weekly podcast docu-
DinaSound to collect her stories and sounds of the jungle. So far menting the work and imaginations of our guest visitors.
you can listen to an audio diary and a fun conversation about
weaver ants. Stay tuned for interviews with participants and lots Available here: https://www.dinacon.org/category/podcast/
of “stumbled upon” conversations at DinaCon!
Following the basic format of the entertainment podcast,
Podcast here: https://dinasound.wordpress.com/ “Comedy Bang Bang,” Biobang is a series of casual interview
with the hackers, scientists, and artists around. It’s generally half
Follow Pearl on Twitter @pearl_ryder for more stories from Di- real interviews and half fictional characters and the lines of real-
naCon and glimpses into the life of a scientist in training. ity blur often. Every week we broadcast from a new fictionalized
facility at dinacon and grow the conversation around local hap-
penings and creatures. Each episode also features a “Poke it” seg-
ment where you can learn what should and shouldn’t be poked!
P-158 Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 P-159
DIY SCIENCE PODCAST
Lucy Patterson
Lucy reports back from her trip earlier this year to Dinacon –
the international “digital naturalism conference”, bringing to-
gether jungle, beach, ocean, microprocessors, new media art,
DIY science, food-phreaking, crafting, coconuts, robots, crystals,
drones, crabs, cats, disturbing intertidal invertebrates and a great
many interdisciplinary humans for 6 weeks on a small island in
Thailand.
P-160 Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 P-161
MAKERY ARTICLE HUFFPOST ARTICLE
The Thai Island and the Biopirates Welcome to Inventors’ Camp
Cherise Fong Tristan Copely-Smith
(excerpted from a story originally published on Makery) (excerpted from a story originally published on HuffPost)
“Phuket (Thailand), special report “Inspired by Von Frisch, Quitmeyer teamed up with biologist
Tasneem Khan to organize a six-week inventors camp on Koh
Inspired by the Slovenian PIF Camp, the first Digital Naturalism Lon, a large, mostly empty, rainforest-covered island off the
Conference hosted more than 80 scientists, artists, hackers and coast of Phuket in Thailand. Artists, scientists and technologists
makers on an island in the south of Thailand from May 26 to were invited to propose any kind of experimentation involving
July 8. the local natural environment, the only requirement being that
they documented their experiment and shared the tools and re-
sults online for others to see and recreate.”
Walking among hermit crabs at low tide. Making microbial bat-
teries on the beach. Flight testing a drone piloted by a plant. The gathering, which ran from May to July, was an eccentric mix
Stepping through sea urchins to escape from the island. Record- of creativity and investigation, with the resulting inventions at
ing a podcast within the submerged “bathosphere” of a pirate once ingenious, beautiful and extremely weird. Michael Can-
ship. Examining saliva crystals under the microscope. Knitting dy, an Australian roboticist artist, built a tree-climbing robot
stuffed animals from plastic yarn. Silhouetting yoga against the from a wire brush, a repurposed drone propeller and various
setting sun. Welcome to the Digital Naturalism Conference, a.k.a. 3D printed parts. The robot was able to quietly scale the island’s
Dinacon.” 70-foot palm trees without disturbing animals above the diffi-
cult-to-reach canopy, feeding back live video using an onboard
Full Article Here: http://www.makery.info/en/2018/07/17/lile- camera..
thai-et-les-bio-pirates/ Full Article Here: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/inven-
tors-camp-science-experimentation-wild_us_5b979d64e4b-
0162f4730c952
P-162 Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 P-163
FOOD
P-164 Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 P-165
FORAGING MAP
Craig Durkin and Contributors
He was in the first week of dinacon and his and Pom’s early work
making use of these local, wild delights echoed throughout dinacon!
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Some old/fossilied DINAsaurs are com- them ? How do we create objects or
PLANT SCATTER
piling a cookbook! Not just any cook- extension tools to sense what stuff be-
book; one with a guide to forageable longs to others? Fun maps aside, a map
ingredients and how they scatter over is great to plot out things in space, but
space. use relations shift constantly. Some-
Huiying Ng (based on maps by Craig Durkin) times the best maps are still in our
Why visualise plant scatter? Maybe heads!
because plant proximities intrigue us, If maps are still a good viral way to
or we’re seeking insect friends in nice spread ecological awe, what other func-
ecological habitats, or a specific murky tions could we place on the map? Cat-
mud-water mix for a salty nightcap. egories of usability? Animal habitats?
Working through plants to find these Shades of green? Land elevation?
other things has a zoom-out effect:
seeing individuals in interconnected
spaces. I am interested in how we image and
imagine continuities of space, as an
But isn’t it also amazing how rife with abstracted aspect of life. Life is spatial
life small patches are? And how much in so many ways we intuitively get. So
more we can learn to see? messing around with space/sight means
messing around with ourselves!
More scatter(d) musings coming up. Here are resources and ideas I’m/we’re
For now, we also consider: continuing to work on with others, and
resources you are free to build on and
use and property relations: who “owns” share-alike:
the plants? How can we use them know- Soil tests: soon!
ing that others in the forest also use
P-170 Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 P-171
storage tank on a ship, the lavatories of stubborn than barnacles. A system’s input ise: we’re led by our noses and senses decide which footholds to lean on, and
a train, or the wondrous open toilets of and a system’s output are pretty different, whether we like it or not, know it or which I’d lose my footing on? It’s an in-
the jungles and woods. Strangely, even but a DINACON that accepts a new wave not. Most times connections maintain teresting question to pose in unstructured
as we’ve drawn toilets closer into the in- of people, as a seasoned group leaves its a system, or fall away. Sometimes it environments like DINACON. But a more
timate proximities of our lives, they’ve shore, becomes an earthly being rotating leads to new, viable connections: new interesting question would be how these
grown the opposite way, becoming through space-time with a gravitational (medicinal) drug routes, civic partner- open connections can stay open, as things
more alien to most of us. Specialisation field of its own. What goes in and what ships, interdisciplinary breakthroughs to care for rather than domesticate: some-
has created black boxes of muck. We’re comes out all stay in orbit, whether con- and collective-but-autonomous epiph- thing to play on and around, prodding
useless to actually live on the planet sciously choosing to or not. So then: how anies. So it wouldn’t be strange that and pushing and bumping and nudging.
now without the technical knowhow many times in two months does DINA- social connection, ecological and syn- A better question might be: how shall we
of a small group of people who can’t CON complete an orbit? And perhaps: thetic-biological connections pushed read connections best, so they can each be
possibly get around all that much, to be how many times in two months do other together become a florid display and a nurtured in the time and space they need?
captains of a system in a way that fits bodies complete orbits around DINA- poopy display altogether.
the needs of every member in it. CON? Things I referred to:
I’ve been obsessed with soil for the past
So much for connection. Connection Connectivity is so central and so deadly: half a year. Everything for me is a sign Plant impedance – Cybres Impedance
and poop really don’t seem to fit. But buzzing circuits that fail; electric wires to something else about soil; soil might Spectroscope with Stig
if DINACON is a connected, bustling, buzzing overhead after a rainstorm; buzz- be my orbiting body – as it well should!
lively island conference/house of ideas ing human conversational germs and bees Water covers about two-thirds of the Bees on a weaver ant nest – with Magdale-
in the making and people meeting, that unwittingly bump into their deaths earth’s surface, and after subtracting all na’s torch
it’s also about all the residual stuff that on weaver ant nests, chasing the shine of the bits of land inhospitable to agricul-
sticks, settles, and holds on – more a torch. Life is hooked to signs of prom- ture (too hot or too cold), only about 3% The Windup Girl – http://oceanofpdf.
of the earth is covered in agricultural com/pdf-epub-the-windup-girl-down-
soil. We like to think of it sitting quietly load/
in plots of land, causing landslides in
poor nations or being carted to rich na- Orbiting celestial bodies, moons and tides
tions, when soil is really a single body – charades with Tasneem, Rob and Andy
of continuous work that stretches be-
tween all our minute, not-as-separate- The blackwater tank problem – The Diva
as-we’d-like worlds. Andaman and some funky physics
DIGITAL GASTRONOMY
tegration of digital fabrication technol-
ogies into the kitchen so that they can
influence our dinning and cooking ex-
periences. At the center of this vision is
Amit Zoran and Ayelet Optional Sella the creation of a new design space that
encompass all aspects of gastronomy —
visualizing the way we can manipulate
food digitally.
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Their Digital Gastronomy Process
worked by analysing local foods and
extracting and segmenting basic ele-
ments such as texture, color, and flavor.
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DINNERCON RECIPE BOOK
Excerpts from Recipe Book and Foraging Guide
Ahac, Grace, Jennifer, Huiying, Michelle, Pom
MORE PROJECTS
P-184 Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 P-185
My goal for this simulation was to be
ECOSYSTEM SIMULATION
able to abstractly demonstrate inter-
dependence in an ecosystem. It isn’t
meant to be an accurate model of any
real ecosystem, but rather replicate that
Marc Huet specific property of ecosystems in an
easily observable environment. This
simulation uses 3 types of actors, and
unless all 3 are present the patterns by
which they interact will quickly col-
lapse.
P-186 Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 P-187
PROJECT // Palm Reading // gener-
PALM READING
ating visual art in Unity from the action
potential measured from a palm tree
on Koh Lon island using the Plant Spik-
er Box.
Jessica Anderson and Sebastian Monroy
BIO // Sebastian + Jessica make digital
art together at their studio called Into
Outof in Atlanta [[ online presence
forthcoming ]]
Sebastian has an MS in Computer
Graphics and makes generative art and
interactive art in Unity. Check out his
work @smokelore
Jessica has an MS in Digital Media,
helps direct the Spelman College Inno-
vation Lab, and tries to keep it real. She
claims to be a thinker + maker + design-
er + lover. That means she’s head-first
in concept art, fabricating installation
stuff like domes and projection sur-
faces, designing interactions that are
meaningful, and loving with her whole
heart. Check out Jessica’s work jessicol-
ogy.com
/////////////////////////////////
https://twitter.com/DrBeef_/sta-
tus/965796672943964167
https://electronics.stackexchange.com/
questions/85342/
detect-electrical-signals-from-plants
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We’re also using a paper by Jorg These are some of the results, with the
Fromm & Silke Lautner plant’s electrical data determining the
“Electrical signals and their physiolog- colors on the first video and color along
ical significance in plants” (2006) to with more attributes on the second as
learn about plant bioelectricity. well as lighting.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/ /////////////////////////////////
abs/10.1111/j.1365-3040.2006.01614.x
And the best part is sharing our pro-
///////////////////////////////// cess, wandering, and inquiry with the
creative, intelligent, open-minded fel-
We test the hardware at home. This low DiNasaurs
gives you an idea of what the measure-
ments look like on screen. The output //////////////// THE FUTURE //////////////////
is an audio file.
We want to complete the same exper-
Spiker box prep on site iment with a potted palm that lives on
our terrace in Midtown Atlanta to com-
Waterproofed and ready for monsoon pare how a city palm and a jungle palm
(in a ziploc kind of way). Here, the might differ or resemble one another
ground wire is pinned into the trunk when their electrical activity is com-
and the sensor wire is wrapped around pared using the same parameters.
a frond that is lower on the tree. The
board is zip-tied to the trunk. We got a We want to print these Palm Readings
good, pretty clean readings from lower, and show them off.
middle, and higher fronds.
We tried recording from the board into We’d like to use the art prints as a target
a field recorder with an audio cable. for an augmented reality component
That data was way too noisy. We tried that shows the animating 3 dimension-
recording with the app using my An- al aspect of the piece. Stay tuned. We’ll
droid phone — not quite readable. be kicking off the urban Palm Reading
Finally, we used the USB to record right soon!
into the laptop. This gave the cleanest
results. /////////////////////////////////
Because the recording is a wav file, Se- ~ Greenlee DM-510A True RMS Profes-
bastian parsed the data before we had sional Plant Digital Multimeter
values that we could use. ~ DTECH 10 Feet USB 2.0 to RS232
DB9 Serial Port Adapter Cable with
Tasneem got a shot of us in the act! FTDI (10′ wired connection for DMM
to PC display — maybe a longer one?
After moving out to the SY Diva Anda- wireless?) ~ 4mm Ag/AgCl electrode
man workspace, we were inspired by discs ~ Spectra 360 Electrode Gel
the movement of the waves in and out,
leaving saturated traces, and iterated //////////////////////////////////////////////
through a few visual styles. LET’S TALK! JESSICAXANDER-
SON@GMAIL.COM
/////////////////////////////////
P-190 Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 P-191
P-192 Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 P-193
At Dinacon 2018, Scott (Seamus) Kildall
DINASYNTH QUARTET
prototyped a new project called Di-
naSynth Quartet, which is a live au-
dio-synth performance between a
plant, the soil, the air and the water in
Seamus Killdall nature. This quadrophonic melange
emits a synthetic soundscape that in-
teracts with the buzz of cicadas, the
croaks of frogs and the songs of the
birds. By endowing hidden data in the
natural environment with digital “voic-
es,” the installation invites viewers into
the jungle to experience digital artwork
that almost always exists in the built
environment.
P-194 Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 P-195
can spatialize the sound by walking
around the outdoor installation space
P-196 Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 P-197
POM’S PERFORMANCE
Eco Artist Pom
P-198 Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 P-199
Photo by Umeed Mistry
P-200 Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 P-201
As part of a National Academies of Sci-
P-202 Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 P-203
P-204 Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 P-205
Have you ever been on the shore and seen the water start to glow, seemingly magi-
GLOWING DINAFLAGELLATE
cally? This effect is often caused by dinoflagellates, tiny protists that sometimes glow
blue-green when agitated by the tide, an oar, or a human body. Learn how to make
your own with simple crochet and some electronics! This tutorial will show you how
to make a dinoflagellate that glows and fades when shaken, but you can always leave
Kitty Quitmeyer and Andy Quitmeyer out the electronics if you’d just like to make the shape of a dinoflagellate.
P-206 Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 P-207
P-208 Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 P-209
360 DEGREE CAMERA TRAP DEVELOPMENT
Daniëlle Hoogendijk
Recommended elements for creating, wrap and lots and lots of rainbow wires
testing and enlightening the (scientific) and such
world with this camera trap: - A waste plastic bottle to build a
- An awesomely weird creative stylish, waterproof(ish) case for the Ar-
atmosphere, stuffed with wonderful duino
people (Digital Naturalism Conferences - A bamboo pole with a sharp end
and PIF camps are ideal) to place the device in the field
- An over-hacked (read: pretty - Some befriended rats or other
much broken) 360 degree camera (in creatures without Scopophobia, and/
this case a Ricoh Theta S.) including a or some kind of robot packed with heat
waterproof housing sensors
- A Stig to repair/ re-hack the cam- - Any kind of bait, including down-
era sized fairground attractions and music
- All the scientist, artists and (field) - A secret jungle lair with a ham-
biologists within range to brainmon- mock to watch all the action in situ
soon and work with - A smartphone or computer or
- A wide variety of sensors to boo- something to watch and process all the
by-trap a part of Mother nature (ask action
kindly first). For example: - Chat and collaborate with be-
havioural and computational neurosci-
o PIR entists (a Jonathan in specific) and oth-
o Sound ers that are interested in exploring the
o Ultrasonic potential of this awesome device
o Laser tripwire - A Tristan to write a section about
o Tilt the camera trap for the Huffington Post
o Ball switch for promotion purposes
- And finally, the same Andy again
- An Arduino or something com- to make an awesome book about the
parable for the sensors to talk to the Digital Naturalism Conference under
camera, including a battery a ‘Creative Commons Share-Alike At-
- Libraries for us to talk to the Ar- tribution’, which facilitates the infor-
duino and sensors mation about this camera and all other
- Soldering iron, hot glue, shrink- proceedings to spread across the globe.
P-210 Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 P-211
PROCEDURAL NATURALIST DRAWINGS
Jennifer Jacobs
Step 1: Observation
I spent time walking around the island
looking for forms to draw. I particular-
ly focused on trying to find organisms
or objects that would be compatible
with some form of procedural creation.
As a programmer and a visual artist, I’m fascinated by Complexity, fractal patterns, or sym-
ways to integrate different forms of drawing. I arrived metry are all possible to represent rel-
on the island with paper, pencils, a computer, and a 2 atively easy with code, so I looked for
axis drawing plotter. I used these tools to create a series organisms with similar properties.
of procedural naturalist drawings: drawings that were Step 2: Code
produced through a combination of computer-generat- After settling on an organism to draw
ed effects and manual illustration. I stayed on the island for the day, I then used Processing to
for 5 days. After getting settled the first day, my goal was write a simple program that produced
to create one new drawing per day. My process consist- forms that represented some aspect
ed of four basic steps. of that organism. Because coding is a
somewhat anti-social activity, I tried to
keep these coding sessions short- no
more than a couple hours at most.
Step 4: Plotting
I experimented with different pencils
P-212 Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 P-213
to work anywhere on the island.By the darkening corners of the plotted draw-
and a 2-axis plotter to quickly generate end of my stay, I completed 4 drawings. ing before placing the drawing under
physical drawings of the procedural the plotter a second time and plotting
forms I created in Processing. I love Drawing 1: Sea foam and waves a second series of lines (blue) upon the
the plotter for its speed and ease of use, My first drawing was an abstract com- original. I then shaded and reinforced
and also for the fact that you can use a position that was largely inspired by some lines manually, producing the
wide range of different drawing media the waves and foam on the shore of the finished result.
with it. It works well with pens, pencils, island.
and even can be modified to support Drawing 2: Fern
paint brushes- all tools that one can Since this was the first drawing of the Plants are often extremely algorithmic.
also use by hand. Using the plotter is series, it was the most experimental. I Inspired by the numerous ferns on the
also often a social activity. It’s high- started with a program that repeated island, I wrote a program in Processing
ly visible without being disruptive or and scaled a single stroke drawn with that repeated a simple leaf shape along
noisy, and people tend to come by and the tablet. I drew with this program a hand drawn line, and mirrored it on
ask about it, or watch it while it works. I with wavy- undulating strokes, then the reverse. I modified the program so
really like this quality. plotted a series of these drawings with a that it scaled the leaf shape so that they
rough charcoal stick. grew larger towards the center of the
Step 5: Manual Drawing line, and smaller towards the end. This
Once the drawings had been plotted, I spend some time with a 6B pencil way, I could quickly draw a variety of
I used a variety of different pencils to
manually finish them- adding in shad-
ing and different texture effects. While
it would have been possible to add
some of these effects with the plotter,
the process of manually drawing on
top of the plotted drawings gave them
a different quality. Unlike coding and
plotting, which requires a linear-plan-
ning intensive process, drawing by
hand enables me to work intuitively
and serendipitously. I can quickly try
something out, and if I like it, continue
in that direction. Each stroke informs
the next. In addition, coding or the
plotting required access to electricity,
whereas manual drawing enabled me
P-214 Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 P-215
different fern fronds. Rather than plot
multiple ferns, I decided I liked the
simplicity of a single frond. I plotted it
with a light pencil and shaded the back
of it by hand to create a contrast against
the white paper.
Drawing 4: Butterfly
By the final day, I had gotten slightly
behind. The shading on the palm and
lichen piece took longer than expect-
ed and I had to prepare a presentation
for the evening. Therefore I decided to
rely on a simple but effective technique
for the last drawing: bilateral symme-
try. I wrote a program that mirrored
P-216 Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 P-217
I spent my time on the island filming
DINACLOCK
time-lapse photos of Chalong Bay. In
total I filmed 6 days of photos. From
that I took the best sequences to cre-
ate “Dinaclock” – a simple web page
A time-correct view of Chalong Bay showing an image from Chalong Bay
Josh Michaels - joshjet.net that matches the current time where
you are. Simply open the web page and
you’ll get a refresher on the experience.
P-218 Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 P-219
P-220 Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 P-221
SONIC LACE
Raune Frankjaer
P-222 Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 P-223
ANTS FABRIC
Margaret Minsky
P-224 Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 P-225
TRANSLATING NATURE INTO ART
Mari Crook
Results:
As expected the signal could be picked
up better with the stronger signal and With this setup it was possible to send
the more sensitive receiver. It was pos- sensor-data measured at the top of the
sible to receive the signal from ~1m tree to the stem close to ground. When
away from the sender on the same the receiving electrode was too close
branch. The signal did not travel across to ground it was not possible to receive
branches. the signal anymore. (as deflected to
ground?)
Third experiment: The signal passed 5 branchings and
Setup: covered a distance of around 5,40 me-
– sender with higher voltage: approx. ters.
17V input and ~100 V pp output
– using circular electrodes around the
branches for transmitter and receiver
electrode.
P-234 Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 P-235
COSTUMING TAN
A private Network for trees and humans
Mika Satomi
P-240 Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 P-241
Part One she can’t explain why the sensation is
P-242 Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 P-243
result but a non-result was perplexing argument. Not shut up. Perhaps she thing is slow, deliberate, meditative.
And then she feels her heart beating to say the least. Just a little low on iron should do more. She breathes slowly. It’s arduous count-
faster than it should be beating. Her from my last period. Something, some- ing all the solitary corals—there are so
breath is deep and rapid at the same thing like that. It is barely five o clock. A E enters the room with a clanging of many. The students’ frog kicks are too
time, as if she can’t get enough air. But breeze blows in and a rodent scampers bags and various attachments. Her frequent, they are going too fast—al-
her breath moves in and out, her heart across her roof. The cicadas are qui- motorbike helmet falls off her arm and most out of her sight now. No matter,
beats, and she can see. eting down to a low, tired, scratching, rolls toward L. E’s eyes go wide and she they are safe and experienced. She
only needing to cool themselves down feigns anger. “My god, what are you finishes her survey and meets them at
“I’m okay,” she says. a little in this breezy landscape. doing here?” the end of the third transect at 50 min-
utes into their dive. Together they reel
“My god, what is wrong with you?” E “We will look at water as the subject. “What do you mean?” L says. up the transects, spiders assuming the
yells, her Russian accent really coming Mammals and insects are interesting, thread of their web back into their ab-
out now. “Do you want me to call an but they will only earn their place in “I thought you’d take the day off.” domens. She directs one of the students
ambulance?” this book to the extent that they can ex- to take the transect bag and hook it to
plain the behavior, the signs and sym- “Oh I’m fine. Got a good night’s sleep.” her kit. The three of them look at each
“No, no,” L says. “I just stood up too bols of water.” other in the eyes and L makes the hand
fast I think. Something a little off with E tuts and shakes her head reprovingly. signal for “let’s ascend”—a thumbs up.
my circulation lately, maybe my blood She puts the book down and falls **
pressure.” asleep. She sleeps 12 hours. At 5 am a Two hours later they’re diving again. She doesn’t think about that strange
gecko lands on the wall of her bunga- It’s been determined L will be divemas- sensation. She’s thinking about the data
Maybe I’m fucking pregnant. Fucking low just outside her head and calls out, ter for two of the more experienced she gathered and about what conclu-
pregnant, that’s a funny phrase. loud and clear, “unh unh, unh unh, unh students and E will take the newbies. sions she might begin to draw. Slowly,
unh,” and she jolts awake, thinking the That way, the experienced students can slowly, she swims up, not even needing
“My god, go home,” E says. “Take the gecko is in her bed, that someone put cover some of the more routine data to think about moving her feet, just
day off.” it in her bed to wake her up, but there’s gathering and L can be free to focus willing herself up. And then, at three
no one in her house, not even a gecko. on her pet research project, which tests meters from the surface, once again, it
“But new students are coming, I have to whether smaller solitary corals are less hits.
orient them.” She can’t believe she slept 12 hours. resistant to bleaching than larger soli- **
Maybe I am fucking pregnant. tary corals. The pressure is more intense this time,
“Honey, you need to take some time the movements of the water like a
off.” Suddenly she feels tough and lichen- E’s group lays out the transects while L thousand little flies distracting her at-
** ous, tucked away inside herself from and her interns hang back and look at tention. The light hits and she feels the
A couple hours later L is in her house, whatever might be happening outside. coral. She breathes out and sinks closer heat of the sunrays on her body. The
in her bed, inside the mosquito net. ** in to some branching coral, the home rays form a cone, which twists around
Her headache has faded and she feels On her motorbike drive to work, a of twenty or so baby, white and yellow her, and she is an unwilling dancer,
fine. The storm has passed away, leav- rabid dog lunges at her, causing her to butterfly fish, who dart in and out like moving her limbs oddly, floating six
ing behind thin, shifting, planes of swerve sharply. After driving off a safe bees. She wishes she were doing a fish inches above an empty stage.
air. She’s reading a dense, poetic book distance, she stops and looks back at it. survey so that these lovely, tiny fish
about water and how to interpret it. It lies in the middle of the road, sun- could be counted. If only their presence And then she is elsewhere. Her face is
She’s enjoying the language, but can’t ning. could be felt, could matter in the world. naked—no regulator. She feels sand
process much meaning from it. She But probably they don’t care either way, in her nose and on her lips. She sput-
puts the book down and looks at her She gets to the lab before E and spends probably that doesn’t matter to them. ters, rubs her nose with her index and
nightstand. Two pregnancy tests rest a quiet morning drinking coffee and thumb, sticks out her tongue. Opens
there, staring up at her with two blank looking over the data. The coral bleach- Now it’s time to go and she motions her eyes. She’s on the beach. Or a
eyes. No results. ing is getting worse and what to do, the students to go ahead of her. With beach, rather. She doesn’t recognize the
what to do about that. 50% bleached the lab’s underwater camera they take a topography of this beach, with its thick
How is this possible? already and it’s only the beginning of picture of the transect measuring tape forest, its meters of white sand. All the
the hot season. At some point in her every 50 cm. Back at the lab they will beaches on her island are short, with
Pregnancy was unlikely, as she and her meager little life, she’d decided that the need to go through every one of these sparse, low vegetation and pieces of
various partners on the island always best thing she could do was have this 300 pictures and identify the coral just trash strewn about. This beach is pris-
used condoms, but you never knew. So field station and report the data. Tell to the left of the transect. She removes tine. A breeze tumbles down the white
she could understand a positive result the authorities. Alert people in pow- her underwater slate from her BCD sand, unobstructed by a single other
and she could understand a negative er. Bolster the science, strengthen the pocket and begins counting. Every- person. She is alone.
P-244 Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 P-245
ROBOT LANGUAGE MUSIC VIDEO
Albert and Mary (Dezmediah)
with help from Maggie Kane, Tasneem Khan, Mark Li-
fana, and Andy Quitmeyer
Make a kickass music video, with only the tools at hand; this was
the challenge Mary and Albert set for themselves while on Koh
Lon at Dinacon.
In the future, we will live in “smart plants and trees could communicate
environments”. A smart environment with each other. Upon arriving to the
is filled with smart objects, objects that island, I decided to d see what else
can presumably react or show some might inspire me in this strange para-
sign of thinking. I have always been dise.
frustrated by this classification or trend,
as it is redefining the word smart. Does I didn’t rule out the idea of a networked
it also imply that some objects are stu- project though, and had brought sev-
pid? Have we previously lived in a stu- eral different bluetooth development
pid environment? Etc… I am currently boards just in case.
developing a learning platform for In-
ternet of Things at my company Tekni- It started with the Mimosa plant. I
kio, so I should add that these concepts had never seen one before and I was
are extremely top of mind. instantly fascinated by the way these
plants that automatically closes its
My original proposal for Dinacon was leaves. How does it decide when to
to create an environment in which the close its leaves? Furthermore, is this a
P-248 Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 P-249
Insect - by Mari Crook
smart plant, or an emotional plant, or fabrics pile and folded it up into a her-
a robot plant? I decided the former- ringbone origami shape, that could
this plant is smarter than other plants contract and expand and glued it to a
that can’t control their leaves and just base of woven palm leaves. I then at-
sit there like nothing happened when tached a servo motor to the base to
touched. What intrigued me most was pull on the rip-stop, the idea being that
that it felt like communication. And so, the servo would move the ripstop to
I started to look for other elements of open and close the shape in response
non-human natural behavior in this to the intensity of the incoming signal.
environment that felt like commu- The first signal I used was that of waves
nication. I started by exploring how rising and falling. Although this is quite
to express this system of harnessing literal, it also communicates to us the
naturally smart things for our own coming of a storm and other environ-
digitally built “smart” environment. I mental information. I used a float sen-
decided to build a prototype of a natu- sor that Yannick uses on the Diva and
ral to digital communication system in a micro:bit microcontroller to capture
which a sensor would collect data from the data. Below is the first version of
the mimosa or other “naturally smart this system that was built at Dinacon:
thing”. This data would be transmitted
via bluetooth to a human-made device A bit rough, but worked for a proof of
that activates in response to incoming concept! I would love to build a family
communication signals. Somewhat like of these objects and place them around
this diagram: the island. Looking forward to next
time!
I found some neat rip-stop in the scrap
The general idea can be thought of would dispense tasty liquid if they
as a “rodent arcade game”, where ani- made the right choice. To start with, the
mals can approach a machine and get device plays the game “only respond
treats, or time running on a wheel, in when I play a certain sound or flash a
exchange for participating in a simple certain light” (programmed using an
game. The key is that their choices in Arduino), then progresses into more
the game can tell us about how well complicated games if the animal is do-
each animal can distinguish different ing well.
sound frequencies (like a hearing test),
or how well they can remember the or- I was also curious as to whether wild
der of different lights and sounds (like a animals might be interested in run-
memory game). ning on a pet-store running wheel as a
reward, i.e. would they even find do-
To do this I assembled a device com- mesticated toys fun? I spent some time
bining some inexpensive off-the-shelf trying to follow up on this fascinating
components, in the table below, that paper which demonstrated that wild
could be battery powered to be used mice, frogs and other animals would
outside on the island. spend time on a running wheel placed
outside “for fun”, even though they
Island rodents respond to the stimuli could run anywhere they liked. I tried
by either sticking their nose across a to capture some island creatures in the
beam-break, or by licking a tube which act at night using IR camera traps and a
P-252 Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 P-253
wheel baited with peanut butter.
P-254 Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 P-255
SINGAPORE FOODSCAPES MULTI SPECTRAL IMAGE TESTS
Michelle Tan Marko Pelhan
Marko Pelhan used his time at dinacon to test out multi spectral
Created for Foodscape Collective, commissioned by Huiying; as photography techniques of different environments. He is still
part of a public letter about urban farming and agri-diversity in processing the raw data from these files.
Singapore
P-256 Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 P-257
A KAYAKING (MIS)ADVENTURE
Michelle Tan
(feat Dani and Shreyasi)
P-258 Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 P-259
DRAWING FROM TINBERGEN
Margaret Minsky
P-262 Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 P-263
HACKING A CAMERA TO HACK THE JUNGLE
Brian Huang
Installation
The installation is simple.
Insert the SD card from your camera
into your computer. You may need a
USB adapter for this.
Download the .ZIP file for the camera
that matches your model. Unzip (open
/ un-compress) the file and move the
contents to the SD card for your cam-
era.
Re-insert the SD card back into your
camera.
The CHDK firmware will be invisible to
normal use. To activate the CHDK fea-
tures, go through the following steps:
P-266 Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 P-267
tery pack) to GND, and finally connect type of this setup. The Redboard Ardu-
the GATE pin to pin 1 on the custom ino in this photo is only used for power.
USB trigger cable.
Test Results
Here is a quick mock-up of what we put The results are a little mixed, but here
together using a breadboard to connect are a few random pictures that our
the wires to the sound detector board. A camera trap picked up. We didn’t pick
soft clap is enough to trigger the sound up any ‘natural’ wildlife in our testing,
detector and the camera. There is an but we did get a few interesting candid
extra resistor that can be modified on photos:
the board to increase the sensitivity,
but we were afraid that it might still Going Further
not be sensitive enough to detect small CHDK is an amazing tool to custom-
animals. ize and control your point-and-shoot
Canon camera. The CHDK community
Detecting Motion has a lot of great resources and tutori-
Another common sensor used in many als around scripting and accessing the
projects is the PIR (Passive Infrared) other features of your camera.
motion sensor. You can find this sensor
in many places including commercial The one drawback we found was main-
security monitors and motion activated taining power to the camera during
lights. long periods of time. On the bottom of
the battery compartment is usually a
PIR Motion Detector – photo credit: small rubber gasket. This is to be used
SparkFun Electronics with a direct AC adapters to allow you
to connect the camera to external pow-
This sensor has only three pins: power, er. These look like a empty plastic bat-
sensor signal, and ground. The sen- tery housing with a cable or connector.
sor signal is an ‘ACTIVE-LOW’ signal
which means that when a motion is Using something like this could allow
detected, the signal will go from 5V you to setup a camera trap to last indef-
to 0V. This is the opposite of how the initely.
sound detector board worked. To use
this sensor, we have to flip the wiring a We hope this inspires you to dust off
bit. Here is our wiring sketch: your old Canon point-and-shoot cam-
era or pick up an older model at the
Again, no need for a microconotroller local thrift store. Happy hacking.
with this setup. One thing to note here
is that the PIR sensor that I have uses a
slightly unconventional color scheme.
Red – 5V, White – GND, and Black –
Signal.
P-268 Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 P-269
TECHNICAL ENVIRONMENTS
Erik Zepka
P-270 Proceedings of the First Digital Naturalism Conference Koh Lon, Thailand, 2561 P-271
STEAM EDUCATION + PLAY
Raja Schaar, MAAE, IDSA
Assistant Professor, Product Design, Drexel University
STEAM education, PLAY, and Environmental Art: De-
signing a Field-based Curriculum
My goal was to use Koh Lon as a testbed to prototype
projects that combine Play (as a curriculum approach),
LittleBits, and Environmental Art for a site-based En-
vironmental Science after school program. Specifically,
I sought out to develop project examples that could be
categorized as either Environmental Art, Biomimicry,
A visit from students from BCIS Phuket ware to create art inspired by nature.
or Citizen Science.
gave me a chance to give a LittleBits
workshop to demonstrate how the elec- The spirit of my DinaCon project was
tronics STEAM kit worked. LittleBits really about letting play, exploration,
is a magnetic, color-coded, electronic, and inspiration drive what I made.
hardware system that allows users to While on the island, I had the chance
quickly prototype sensor driven elec- to explore and play with some of the
tronic circuits without the need for indigenous creatures, and I developed
soldering or coding. https://youtu.be/ a special bond with the hermit crabs
kXQx-aK-0lU who kept me company on my frequent
night walks along the beach. One of
I experimented with some projects their behaviors that caught my atten-
that included a cloud connected wave tion was their reaction to light. https://
counter that made use of the trans- youtu.be/nix-8QqOOks
mitter and receiver bits, as well as the
Cloud bit. But this proved challenging So with that in mind, on my final day
given the limited access to Wi-Fi. But at DinaCon I decided to use the lit-
had the internet cooperated my inten- tleBits to create a biomimetic hermit
tion was to combine wave frequency crab robot that slowly crawled along,
with data from the tide calendar, tem- and can either stop and retreat into
perature, weather reports and boat traf- his shell when light is detected or runs
fic to see if wave activity was an a better away from the light. I used a servo
indicator of human activity or natural motor and pipe cleaners to imitate the
influences. the crawling motion of the claws while
using a DC motor to actually drive the
I even had a chance to collaborate on ransom motion along the ground a
another participants Coconut Synthe- plane. When the light sensor detected
sizer by hooking the audio Bits needed light the servo would swing back pull-
to broadcast sound and adjust the vol- ing the pipecleaner claws back into a
ume. https://youtu.be/VBeaPSPcqO4 syringe tube that behaves as a shell and
And while LittleBits could have been stopping the motor. Or in the example
used for the synthesizer hardware as here, the DC motors change direction,
well, as a proof of concept, this was the servo motor swing speeds up, and
demonstration of LittleBits as Environ- the crab runs away. http://www.you-
mental Art—where natural materials tube.com/watch?v=E7Znx8utAno
are used in conjunction with the hard-
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Scott Kildall: Hi! Would each of you please I’ve ever done before.
Tasneem: I’m Tasneem Khan and am a Andy: Dinacon is a six week conference
researcher and am exploring the idea of that Tasneem and I are running with the
using place-based learning with different help of lots of other amazing wonderful
At the conclusion of my time at Dinacon, I interviewed learner groups to understand how im- people. It’s primarily targeted originally
the two organizers: Tasneem Khan and Andy Quitmey- mersive experiences in ecosystems might towards interaction designers, artists, and
er. This was a special time and I was grateful for the affect responses. field biologist but we’re open to anyone
opportunity to get their thoughts before I left. who’s interested in any of these commin-
Scott: And how did you two meet each gling ideas.
Full interview at https://kildall.com/category/dinacon/ other?
Tasneem: I’d say that Dinacon is the com-
Andy: Tasneem sent me a random email ing together of people, which is a confer-
that said something like “hi, I’m a friend ence in the most literal sense. We decided
of a friend who said I should check out to do it because of a common ideology
your work and I’m going to be in Singa- towards how people should work regard-
pore soon”, which is where I was living. less of their areas of expertise. We believe
And a few weeks later we had lunch. My people can work in a better environment
reaction was “holy crap you’re awesome to collaborate in a specific space and ap-
and driven, let’s run a giant conference ply their expertise to both the field and to
together”. And Tasneem was game for it. real life.
Tasneem: We literally discussed that just Andy: Yes, it also emerged from a com-
a half an hour into our lunch. I loved the mon disappointment in how conferences
idea of running it and mixing both our are often run with a rigid structure where
styles. I’ve worked with running pro- many people care more about what they
grams for large groups of people in weird can put on their C.V. than the actual con-
remote places and Andy has done a lot of ference itself. So, we wanted to undo the
exploring and teaching with the concept things that are not so great about confer-
of “digital naturalism.” ences and open up the structure and give
people time. It’s important to have both
Scott: So you jumped into doing this con- freedom and time to relax and soak in
ference but both had a pretty compli- both the natural context and the impact
mentary background in running confer- of all these amazing people around you.
ences and organizing people. So it wasn’t
that you came without inexperience just Scott: Great. And where are we right now?
not of working with one another. What is the conference venue for Dina-
con?
Tasneem: Not really. I have had experi-
ence with learning groups, curating res- Tasneem: We’ve chosen a tropical island
idencies and collaborative expeditions, — Koh Lon — which is a small Island off
but not conferences of this scale. the Southeastern side of Phuket in Thai-
land. The reason we specifically chose this
Andy: Yeah, this is new for both of us. I’ve site, as opposed to any other of the hun-
organized expeditions and workshops but dred islands you have around here is the
https://kildall.com/interview-with-tasneem-khan-and-andy-quitmeyer/ never anything on this scale. This is easi- proximity to Phuket. This was our first
ly eight to ten times bigger than anything conference of this scale and we had a hun-
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dred and thirty people expected from all just try to increase the chances that these don’t have money through institutional and just learn, but we felt that they need-
over the world, most of whom we hadn’t things might lead someone, for example, backing to spend on a conference. ed to be making and doing something
met before. So from a logistics and safety to make a cool hermit crab project. that other people can learn from as well.
point of view this made a lot of sense, it’s a We still had a couple of basic forms. An- Therefore, one of the main things we
ten minute boat ride away from a big city, Tasneem: With my practice in general drew’s great social media network and were looking at in applications, was their
hospitals, airports, anything, one might and this attempt to push interdisciplin- ability to reach out to people made a big own project ideas and intent.
need provisions and so forth. ary work across subjects and across spac- difference.
es. I view it like Andy said but also as way Scott: So that brings up the three rules of
Andy: But we’re still quite on our own. to think through the experience and ask Andy: In order for people to get here, we Dinacon…Dinacon pronounced like a di-
questions – like, what are the kinds of first had just a super simple initial appli- nosaur right?
Tasneem: Yes. The great part about it is people we want to bring in? What are the cation form, which we sent around. Any-
that the island a has population of only a kinds of people we hope to attract? What one could apply. It asked people what Andy: I think it depends where you come
couple of hundred people. You have ac- is the work that we have no idea about that they might want to do here and to share from I think technically since its the dig-
cess to pristine forest on one hand and the can surprise and illuminate each other. an idea of what they would spend there ital naturalism conference, that you’d be
ocean on the other. In terms of selecting time doing. dinna-con
a location beyond practicality, one of the Do this, while curating how can the as-
things we really wanted was to give people pects of place influence people’s work and We also wanted to convey the under- Scott: that sounds like a British person
access to a cross-section of environments interactions standing that a project might change in saying dinner.
and Koh Lon gives us that — everything the next six months between when you
from the ocean to the forest and a range What we make available to participants think of your idea and then when it gets Andy: Yeah exactly.
of connecting systems in between. can change the way they work, the way closer coming here and then of course
they think, who they interact with and once you’re on the island, everyone’s Tasneem: Which is another thing by the
Andy: The main facilities of our confer- what they produce in that space. ideas blow up or somehow transform. way, so we have been have a subculture of
ence are a big main tropical jungle house, ‘dinna-con’ that has emerged for people
that’s the central area, let us call it the We have intentionally not put in too much We had some different criteria because who like to cook, forage, eat and experi-
headquarters. In front of that is a large work into programming activities every one thing about having an extended kind ment with food.
campground, a grassy field that’s also sur- day because we want that to be organic of conference like this is that it makes cer-
rounded by jungle and a beach-front, as and flow from the participants and from tain time slots a bit trickier. So like if ev- [laughter]
well as little cabins that people can rent the place but what we have put a lot of ef- erybody wants to come the first of July or
out at a pretty subsidized rate. fort into thinking about what to make ac- something like that, it was a bit harder for Andy: But at least from an American per-
cessible and the experiences to create for us to choose some people. Then we asked spective of a kid who likes dinosaurs, it’s
We also have the Diva Andaman, which is people in order to trigger and drive that people to open their dates be flexible and totally Dinacon.
a glorious ship that we were able to use enthusiasm and inspiration to work with move around because we tried to fit in as
with the generosity of Yannick Mazy, the each other and with the place. many people as possible. Scott: OK. So what are the three rules of
owner of Diva Marine. So, people can Dinacon?
work on the beach, they can work out at Scott: So then, how did you select these Tasneem: We tried to ensure that we had
sea, they can go voyage off into the for- people? Was there an application process? no more than forty people on a single day. Tasneem: First, you have to make some-
est and just soak in everything and real- How did you pull through that process So one of the big criteria was just practi- thing, so it puts emphasis on the creation
ly rapidly test whatever kinds of devices and how did you promote these diverse cality and logistics. If people were willing and your own thought process in the con-
or art projects or things that they want to networks? to move around, they could be most often text of our location. Then, you have to
do that involve nature and just test it right be slotted in. document it because we’re all for mak-
away with the natural resources there. Andy: We had lots of forms for people to ing things available or accessible and not
fill out. [laughter] Andy: Given our extremely minimal ap- storing them away on your shelf or in a
Scott: Wow. And then with all these sites plication process, if the applicants showed journal. So you have to share what you
of activities, what’s the role of chance en- Scott: It was not bad at all. that they were genuinely interested in do in whichever format you like and fi-
counters? What’s the intention here about Dinacon, that was something I think we nally take the time to engage with, review
how people might be interacting? Tasneem: We were trying to steer away evaluated more positively than whatever and provide feedback on somebody else’s
from the overly bureaucratic approach to their project was. We looked at how in- work. So those are the 3 rules. To make,
Andy: I see my role as a conference or- conferences and all the ways people need terested did this person seem about the document and review.
ganizer to heighten serendipity, and so I to prove themselves – like you’d only be place, about the people and about the
just try to mix together loads of interest- allowed to enter the conference if you kind of tools they work with. Andy: They’re still based off this idea of
ing factors: nature, the people, the places, had a certain paper to present. Also, we how our academic conferences work but
the devices they might be able to use and wanted to be cognizant that many people Tasneem: Many people wanted to come in a kind of inverted model. Instead of
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writing a paper and then get it pre-re- really enact behaviors. If you think about ries. However, if you look at the sphere of of thousands of people will not have heard
viewed by a bunch of busy people who animals, they can take input from the en- field equipment that can actually survive of place based learning, I’m wondering if
tend to not have time to give anything but vironment, they can sense things and they and do the work that the people serving, you could talk a little bit about what that
a quick glimpse and be like “oh, well they can also react to the environment, they probing and studying nature or the envi- really is.
didn’t cite blah blah-blah.” can move, they can create light, they can ronment need with them, it’s so limiting
make sounds, they can do all these kinds and that’s because the people who devel- Tasneem: Place-based learning is a big
So instead inverting that and proposing of actions that contribute back to the en- op the technology are very rarely actually subject, but I will talk about it in the con-
“Hey, you’re still going to be productive vironment. embedded in the space where the tech- text of Dinacon. Let’s return to one of the
here.” I think people tend to be more pro- nology has to be used. initial questions of why eight weeks and
ductive here than a lot of other confer- You can get these behavior cycles and how did we designed this? A lot of the way
ences, and you’re still going to get valued networks of things interacting with each So I guess what Andy’s PhD was about in that I think learning happens comes from
feedback from people in the rest of your other and then you have computer tech- many ways, the idea that it stemmed from that act of allowing time in a space in a
community. Another thing we’re talking nology which is kind of the first technolo- was this need to go out there and build particular place. If you go back to the or-
about is a real key factor of Dinacon is tak- gy we have that can also do this: it can take in context and without it having to cost a igins of art, science or philosophy it all
ing people from very different fields and in inputs from its sensors, it can buzz, it fortune. stems from extended observation of sys-
showing them that their work can be val- can beep, it can turn on LEDs, so it can tems that then led to inquiry, thought and
ued by and meaningful to people across communicate back. What I’m really fasci- Scott: Directly related to this is the idea expression. The subsequent subject divi-
these invisible borders we set up. nated by is how we can use this interactive you two mentioned to me last week called sions are just based on the ways of think-
digital technology to join into these net- “place-based learning”. So maybe you ing and the methods we then choose.
Tasneem: Here, your work can be re- works of natural interactions and create can talk about that in the context of this
viewed by anybody who is from a com- these dynamic systems between creatures question, how have you seen that working Much about ‘learning from place and in
pletely different field of practice, place and computers and see what happens. in the jungle or on the boat has affected context’ is about giving yourself the op-
and perspective. This is a bit in contrast to the way a lot of people’s work from their proposals to the portunity to do that if you give yourself
technology gets used with looking at na- actuality? the time to explore. One of our main
Andy: An artist can review a field biologist ture and a lot of sciences. goals has been that, to provide people
paper, who can review someone’s robot Andy: Oh it’s a lovely mutation that we time embedded in a particular place be-
design. And that’s where it has much more of just have been witnessing. Two main things fore going so far as to learning about it, to
a pure utilitarian use. There’s a bunch of that I see a lot at Dinacon that makes me push them to ask the questions, to spend
I think that will truly test how effective things happening in nature. We want to happy is intergenerational knowledge extended duration of time observing and
your work is in terms of – have people be- extract all of this data and then do some- transfer within Dinacon, you have peo- then asking questions and then moving
ing able to understand and relate to your thing with it. ple coming and going from Koh Lon. The forward to the next step of whether it’s
work. Have people been able to apply it or older guard will demonstrate, for exam- experimenting, creating or learning from.
at least generate ideas that deal with you Such as find out where the oil is, see how ple, how to open a coconut. The new peo-
and your work? That forces an interdisci- we can get the honeybees to pollinate our ple learn from the elders at Dinacon and Place-based learning is basically that: how
plinary approach to push people to step field better, something like that but instead so knowledge is transferred but then also do we learn the things that we otherwise
outside their comfort zone and express — well, that’s why it’s digital naturalism, there is a parallel mutation of practices compartmentalize in the subject of biol-
themselves in new formats rather just it’s not digital science, it’s not digital field that we see where someone wants to make ogy, engineering, sociology or whatever
a written paper. There’s nothing wrong biology because it’s going back to the nat- this thing and then someone else might the subject you might choose to look at
with the paper, but we are asking how can uralistic roots of field biology that’s more contribute something sideways, like “oh physics or robotics or chemistry. How
we communicate that in different ways. concerned with learning about creatures here’s this kind of stuff that I do with you will remove those barriers and illu-
and systems for the sake of learning about these weird leaves or these type of cork- minate the context of the place you’re
Scott: Excellent. So then, can you talk them and experiencing them in visceral screw devices” and then the first person living in. What can one extract from a
briefly about the term Digital Naturalism? interesting ways and doing this more out says “huh, I’m going to incorporate that space and you’ll notice that it’s actually a
Is it one that you made up? I didn’t find of a love and appreciation for nature. That into my design” and then suddenly you huge mesh of interconnection of all these
that defined on Wikipedia. can also be quite useful, can be quite en- have these writhing, wriggling bamboo different subjects. I can’t start answering
lightening to people but its basis is more creatures that are different than either of questions about the water or the ocean
Andy: Digital Naturalism was the subject in love then utility. the original people were even thinking without addressing the chemistry of the
of my PhD. Research. So in essence, I just about the beginning. water, the composition of the water, the
made it up. What I was looking to do was Tasneem: I just wanted to add to that of- physics of what happens when you go to 1
taking all of this digital technology that ten scientists or biologists are out there Scott: Tasneem, I’m wondering if you meter below the surface of the water, the
we have available which is really fascinat- working in the field and you have all this can tell me a little bit more? I hadn’t re- biology of what actually lives in one single
ing for looking at nature because it’s the amazing equipment and technology that ally heard of place-based learning which drop of water and so on.
first new medium that we have that can exists that works really well in laborato- means in my wide readership, hundreds
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So I would say in a sentence — well I don’t areas for making. What do you have avail- working with each other, chatting, cook- work with this model of immersing some-
want to be defining place-based learning able? ing, living, sharing tons of cool ideas and one in a new environment and the whole
because it’s already defined by many ex- that’s kind of what I expected. I was a lit- idea of trans-locality and what people
perts — but to me, place-based learning Andy: In terms of the facilities we have a tle bit primed for that from experiences learn from a new place, you have to ac-
is to be able to learn in context without whole suite of interactive electronics, pro- of other places that had kind of similar knowledge that fact that the body and all
subject barriers, so more of the emphasis totyping stuff, zillions of different types of models that we built off of like PIFCamp your senses together need time to absorb,
is on the method of learning rather than a sensors, actuators, motors, breadboards, in Slovenia or the Signal Fire Arts Resi- assimilate and then respond in a new en-
linear process. So even though this is not soldering irons, different things that you dency. vironment.
a class it’s a group of people who are yet would see in an interactive electronics
to explore their own subjects and inter- labs, a whole crap ton of Arduinos, the So we’ve kind of seen this model in action For example, for someone who has nev-
ests all feeding off and learning from the various different flavors and shapes and a bit before but what I was not as much er been to Asia before, they suddenly
common systems they are situated at. sizes and powers and things like that. prepared for is how well it would work find themselves staying in the jungle and
and the caliber of the people and how riding on a boat… with new sounds, new
All the people and projects at Dinacon We also have mold-making equipment many just brought it when they got there. smells, a new time zone and new flavors.
have gone through a process of metamor- for doing casting and natural forms, we You’re surrounded by all sorts of people
phosis — they came in with an idea (which have biological workbenches with mi- Tasneem: People come in for one or two and so much information being thrown
is why we didn’t put too many constraints croscopes, vials, tubes, insect aspirators. weeks, they arrive with such great ener- at every part of your body that you need
on how they have to make their propos- We have a whole textile zone, so we have gy and they’re willing to give all seven to give yourself time to take in, to reflect.
al) then the place and people in it affected sewing machines, buckles, zippers, fab- or fourteen days – everything they have So in terms of an expectation, I wish that
that idea. rics. We have yarn crafting stuff like yarn, which is a great vibe— because we all feed everyone had stayed for a minimum of
plastic yarn, needle, a loom. off each other’s energy. seven days.
The place has helped refine the question
and define the methodology that they Tasneem: Lots of art and craft stuff. So I Andy: I think maybe one thing I didn’t ex- Andy: Yeah I think I think that’s about the
then use. We’ve seen that with so many mean anything you might need from bits pect as much, not a good or bad way but average stay of a person here is six days,
people. Jennifer, for instance, came to do of copper strips to glue of every kind and I kind of the life cycle of a person here at the longest stay I think has been about
work on this project with food, eating, tapes. Dinacon where the first like a day or two, twenty days. You’re around that.
foraging and documenting herself eating they’re kind of in a daze and they just
things that she’s collected but she ended Andy: Sharp cutting knifes and hand tools show up and are confused or just stoking Scott: It’s been incredible.
up discovering so much – like finer as- and power tools like drills. little mini pro- things in their brain, or maybe swollen
pects of how to make salt and she then jectors, robotic arms that have different with all kinds of crazy stuff. Tasneem: You and Vanessa and I think a
spent her time collecting seawater and heads on them, which can function as 3D few others…you can see the work, the out-
making different kinds of salt, which for printers or laser engravers. Tasneem: A sensory overload! comes, the collaboration and the interac-
her was a revelation. tion in general around people who stay
Tasneem: We have a vinyl cutter, a sticker Andy: Totally. So then they start jump- for long is different from the ones who
For instance, she explored how one can cutter. Since we’re on an island and elec- ing on it and then something switches just got a brief taste of it.
extract formic acid from a weaver ant and tricity is diesel generated and that’s not and then they’re starting interesting proj-
then use it in the right way to add flavor always reliable and it’s not very sustain- ects and they’re helping out with the next Andy: So our original rules we set up was
to a salad. So, her work was not something able, so we’ve set up solar panels as part round of dazed new people who are com- just something like minimum three days,
that I had given much thought to be- of our collaboration with Yannick. And we ing in. Then they realize “oh, I have to maximum three weeks and the three day
fore she came here but it was so reward- have electricity pretty much all the time, leave.” It’s always too early. minimum was in response to academic
ing to see how people’s learning process even in the storms. conferences, which often only last three
and then the practice and the output can Scott: How long do people stay here at Di- days.
transform. Scott: What were some of your expecta- nacon?
tions with this event and in which ways Scott: Can you describe like what might
It wasn’t anything we did, it was just what were the expectations met and what were Tasneem: One of the things that was in- happen in a single day in Dinacon.
she observed from the ants and from the some of the surprises both positively and tentional was to not have a structure that
ocean, what she learning from other sci- negatively? would define how this must run. So we left Andy: For a slice of a single day maybe
entists and practitioners, how she then it open to participants to choose how long people wake up, people kind of slowly
chose to apply it — that’s what place- Andy: It feels a little weird to say but it they would stay. I do however feel strong- getting up at different times. The kitchen
based learning is. kind of came out how I expected. We got ly about extended time — whenever I’ve might be busy with people cooking dif-
a bunch of weirdos together and we put run programs for students I notice that ferent leftovers, things like that, people
Scott: Wow. Excellent. Shifting gears them in a really amazing place and things nothing less than seven days is something kind of waking up, getting into the day,
here…can you tell me about the different started taking off and they really enjoy I want to engage with. Because when you someone’s busting out the soldering iron
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already and like you know carving into and coordination as Andy was saying, so
some bamboo, making a fun robot cater- if someone feels like sharing their work or
pillar and then maybe someone decides going out for a walk or setting up sensors
to take a kayak trip around the island and on plants, they usually put it out there and
so they lead people off. open it up for anyone else who is inter-
ested to come and join them, help them,
Meanwhile, other people are collecting learn from them or contribute to the work
people saliva to look at the crystallizations maybe with other devices and expertise.
of different hormones in them through- So it sort of creates potential for multiple
out the day and then you’ll have… parallel activities and you can plug into
anything that you’re interested or create
Tasneem: A lot of building happening, your own. The evenings because of the
people making things like robots and group dinner, tends to become an inter-
working on project boards to actually out- esting reflection, sharing of information,
door building and bamboo crafts. sharing of exciting things that happened
that day and every so often semiformal
Andy: Yeah and then usually people are presentations.
kind of snacking throughout the day, get-
ting some kind of lunch, again it’s still Scott: Can you talk about what are some
pretty informal. Towards the afternoon of the logistical challenges? It sounds cra-
there usually tends to be a spike in activ- zy to me and how do you maintain your
ity. We have an online forum chat room own energy and positivity?
where we’re keeping each other updated,
so maybe the kayak people say, “Hey, we Tasneem: Like you said this is our project.
found this weird creature, we’re going to Curating this experience and seeing it ac- “Given that the response and the participation in
you know bring it back to the microscope”
and then someone’s coordinating bring-
tually come to life is so exciting and the
fact that it’s all going so well, puts us in a the outcomes are so exciting, we are learning from
ing the microscope back from the ship
and people are kind of talking about dif-
high-energy state.
every step along the way, there’s no question of
ferent things that they’ve shared through-
out the day and then maybe food will
Andy: We just kind of roll with it all. Even
if I’m like crushing through hours on the
not doing it again and the only question would be
come in, people might organize a beauti- spreadsheet that’s just a monstrosity and where are we doing it again.”
ful sunset yoga, suddenly the giant flying figuring out what the hell’s going on, it’s
foxes — huge bats — come out and peo- still a pleasant experience because of how
ple gather around to see that, maybe we much joy and activity is going on around
go see someone do a presentation or an you and you know if things get too intense
art performance outdoors or indoors and I just go walk around in the forest, go take
then suddenly someone posts a message a swim, the nature kind of revives you.
that the water is glowing and they found
a bunch of bioluminescence and then ev- Tasneem: It helps you put things in per-
eryone runs out to the ocean to start ex- spective. It’s not so tragic if somebody
ploring and investigating what’s going on. misses a boat for instance, it’s all okay in
Why is it glowing and how do you make the larger scheme of events.
it glow? So there’s a lot of these serendipi-
tous moments that appear throughout. Scott: Andy was the one who saw me
when I came off the boat when I was like
Tasneem: And the whole programming of spaghetti noodles were flowing out of my
it is also intentionally informal, we have head. [laughter]
a couple of boards which everyone col-
lectively builds schedules on and general Tasneem: And that comes back to what
information about the day is put up. And you said of people arriving and how do
then there’s a online chat room which they that sort of metamorphosize and
functions as a board for announcements they learn to sit back and loosen up a bit.
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ANALYSIS
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How did you like the completely freeform format?
FEEDBACK ABOUT DINACON
Dinacon Participants and Committee
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What did you end up doing at Dinacon?
(Exit Survey)
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What was something unexpected about your time
at Dinacon? (Exit Survey)
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What about Dinacon was valuable for you? (Exit
Survey)
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GLOW
by Kathy Macleod
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ABOUT THE LOGO
The Digital Naturalism Logo is a stylized version of one of Eti-
enne Jules Marey’s diagrams of the wing movement behavior
of a bee. Marey developed novel techniques for simultaneously
extracting and sharing information from the animal world, and
helped give birth to the new medium of film. His tools (sensors,
triggers, and temporal photography) promoted strange new
ways of encountering the world.
www.dinacon.org