Even after only one week, Fab Academy has been a really eye opening experience. My creative outlets are primarily based around printmaking techniques, and so taking part in this side of making has, at times, felt like learning a new language. I normally have a very direct, tangible, and hands-on relationship to the things that I am creating, like applying ink to paper. Lately, I have been using the laser cutter to engrave paper, which I incorporate into my prints by fusing it to a heavier stock by running it through the etching press here at AS220. I am a resident of AS220 and a keymember of the AS220 Industries, so I have constant access to all of the resources here. My main motivation to taking part in Fab Academy is to learn to utilize these tools and incorporate them further into my creative practice.
Before Fab Academy, I had no experience building websites by utilizing html (actually I am still just getting used to my new laptop) so the idea of coding was intimidating. It's been great to have a supportive group of colleagues here at AS220 who have guided me in taking it one step at a time. After installing Brackets, Git, and Gimp I began some html tutorials on Youtube and w3schools.com. My good friend and fellow AS220 Printshop Keymember also gave me the book HTML and CSS: Design and Build Websites by Jon Duckett. This book has been most helpful to me because the layout is visually very clear, creative, and well designed.
The process of creating this website has been centered around using Brackets, in which I have created pages, all linked to a style sheet, which defines the colors, fonts, spacing, and more. I write the content of each page in Brackets, which I like best because of the live preview function that allows me to see the changes I am making as I create and save. Once I have saved the file as a .html file in the AS220 student folder that was assigned to me, I use the Terminal to upload changes I have made to my website. I do this by identifying the folder I am creating the changes in, by typing cd AS220 in the Terminal. From here, I type 'git pull', which commands my computer to adopt the files on the server. Next, I type 'git add .' which prepares my files to be added to the server with the changes. Afterwards, I type 'git commit -m' followed by a message in quotations. Finally, 'git push' finalizes the changes I have made on the server.
I have also begun developing two ideas, one of which I will potentially pursue as my final project. The first idea that came to me was simply visual and entertaining, rather than useful. It is a contraption consisting of two laser-cut press-fit prisms that are made of different colored transluscent acrylic pieces. The inner prism will consist of three panels, cyan, yellow, and magenta in color. The outer prism will consist of four panels, cyan, yellow, magenta, and clear in color. These two prisms would be programmed to spin cocentrically around one another and at their center would be an LED light that would make the structure bright and illuminated. The combination of the different panels in front of each other would create the appearance of a number of different changing colors.
While the first idea is solely aesthetic in purpose, my other idea is more functional and practical. As an artist working on paper, I would like to construct a device that not only serves as a frame to my print, but also provides a backlighting for the work on display. This structure would be created on the CNC router and the circuit board would be made of copper shaped on the vinyl cutter. A series of LED lights or electroluminescent ink would then be able to provide a light source from the interior of the frame, giving it an inner light effect.
I am happy to say that I have already learned a lot simply in wrapping my head around html, although I realize that I am only at the tip of the iceberg. It is very gratifying to see the almost instant effects of writing codes, that only a week ago I did not understand. Thanks to everyone who has helped along this road.