Golan Levin and Collaborators

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Archive for the 'reference' Category



Installing Arduino with Firmata for MaxMSP and Processing in OSX

Firmata is a library which allows environments like Processing and MaxMSP/Jitter to communicate with the Arduino microcontroller over USB. More specifically, Firmata allows these environments to treat the tethered Arduino as a transparent interface board for communicating with sensors and actuators. This means that students learning MaxMSP or Processing can execute a reasonable subset of […]


A Brief Note on Infrared Filters: 87 vs 87C

Many computer vision projects require a camera which blocks visible light and exclusively sees infrared light. Unless you have money to spend on optical glass units, such filters generally take the form of a thin sliver of black gelatine or polyester sheet, inserted between your camera’s sensor chip and your lens. Representative products include the […]


Image Tampering, Retouching, and Synthetic Beauty: A Curricular Unit

Image Retouching: A Critical Approach for Media Arts Educators I developed the following course unit on image tampering, retouching and manipulation for my Introduction to the Electronic Media Studio (EMS1) class at Carnegie Mellon. The semester course is intended for first-year students with little or no computer experience, and serves the purpose of introducing students […]


New Media Artworks: Prequels to Everyday Life

As an occasional emissary for new-media arts, I increasingly find myself pointing out how some of today’s most commonplace and widely-appreciated technologies were initially conceived and prototyped, years ago, by new-media artists. In some instances, we can pick out the unmistakable signature of a single person’s original artistic idea, released into the world decades ahead […]


Pedagogic Resources on Chinese Painting Villages

Below are some resources about the “Chinese Painting Village” phenomenon, such as Dafen or Wushipu in Shenzhen, which employ about 10,000 artists and produce more than 60% of the world’s oil paintings. The information below may be ‘of interest’ to arts educators and/or students, particularly those studying painting. I am grateful to Clement Valla for […]