The Spaces in Between

Date
2014
Authors
Ceccato, Rudy
Supervisor
Watkins, Clinton
Marks, Stefan
Item type
Exegesis
Degree name
Master of Creative Technologies
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Auckland University of Technology
Abstract

This exegesis reports the approach and describes the various aspects involved in the realization of a project submitted for the Master of Creative Technologies at Auckland University of Technology.

The project focuses on the moiré phenomenon. The moiré effect is a naturally occurring phenomenon and has been known to many cultures for hundreds of years. Despite of this, most people nowadays still do not know what the phenomenon is, even though they experience it on a regular basis in everyday life. They encounter its many manifestations, but dismiss and ignore them.

The main intention of the project is the creation of a toolset in the form of a software application for aiding towards a better understanding of the moiré phenomenon. The aim is to make such application available to the general public and in doing so to increase the focus on this particular phenomenon. This will help the user of the application to better understand and appreciate the moiré effect, through a process of discovery via visual and aural stimulation. Literature regarding this phenomenon has therefore been researched and studied and steps has been taken for the recreation of this effect in a controlled environment, through both an empirical and theoretical approach.

Visual and aural manifestations of the moiré phenomenon have been considered and used in the creation of the application. The moiré phenomenon is essentially a manifestation of the interaction of positive and negatives. This have lead the research into the study of the eastern philosophy of the Yin and Yang and through this path into the study of certain design techniques that deals with opposites and that requires some degree of sustain meditative visual and aural concentration. Although of a practical nature, the research have considered various aesthetic approaches to the use of the moiré effect in art.

The initial part of the paper deals with the more technical aspects of the project, with brief explanations of the moiré effect and of monaural beats. This part can be skipped and the reader can return to it on a later stage. This paper assumes a basic level of algebra. Conclusions about the state of the project and its necessary improvements are drawn at the end of the paper.

Description
Keywords
Moiré patterns , Moiré effect , Web application , Processing , Op art , Phenomenological approach , Notan , Binaural beats
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