Blue Rabbit Iteration #2

 John Grieco

The idea I have been working with is very personal to me and directly relates to my current interests in computer programming. I decided not to focus on a specific object but an alternative way of making ones object or idea 3d printable in the future. The alternative way to design 3d models that I have been exploring is through the use of a programming language called Javascript and an application called OpenJSCad. By the end of the quarter I hope to contribute to the open source community a number of shapes and objects submitted to the OpenJsCAD github examples page.

The idea of using Javascript to move from idea, text, image and then 3d printed object is a complicated one that contains many versions of text’s, ideas and images within itself. Not only will I have to explain this idea to my professors and classmates through text in the form of the very iteration you are currently reading I will also have to do the same to my computer in a completely different coded language. By using Javascript code in the form of text I am able to explain to my computer the simple object I wish to create. This form of 3d design differs from what most of my classmates are doing in that I am communicating with my computer by using mainly text and they are communicating mainly through dragging and clicking. The dragging and clicking technique is possible because someone programed a user-friendly interface so designers could create without having to write strenuous code, this allows for faster and more efficient design.

3d modeling software does allow for faster design but by using it are you potentially giving up ownership of the designs you create? “If you’re not able to open and replace the batteries in your iPod or replace the fuel-sender switch on your Chevy truck, you don’t really own it,” Mr. Jalopy argues. “The terms of ownership are still dictated by the company that assembled it and glued the iPod shut so that you couldn’t get into it.”(Jalopy, NPR.org) The argument presented by Mr. Jalopy applies not just to hardware like your iPod but to software as well. This illusion that you have the freedom to create anything you want with the use of their software only masks the real objective that you only have this freedom as long as they allow you to have it. While TinkerCAD is a great tool for design as is an iPod for playing music, the user often doesn’t know what is going on inside the machine or behind the UI (User Interface) of a web application or software package. This quote inspired me to take ownership of my designs and embrace the DIY mentality of the open source community through programming.

Now having been briefly introduced what is going on behind the software, I couldn’t help but wonder what I was missing out on by learning how to navigate the user interface and not actually having any knowledge of what was going on under the hood. This is why I feel the idea of 3d design by way of a programming language is important and is a part of the larger discussion within the ‘Maker’ community about ownership and the value in being able to build something from the ground up. I think that we are often too reliant on things we do not understand. This practice is dangerous because it puts the power of who can create in the hands of those that understand the technology. At any point the owners of the software could take their software away or require you to purchase it, then where would you be? By learning how to build something from the ground up, through programming, you are empowering yourself as a user.

Not only does using something you don’t understand put you at the mercy of the creator, it also has the potential to make you lazy and compliant. “To most, computers are a means to an end, not something you want to learn about. A doctor isn’t interested in how an EKG machine works; he just wants to use it and read the results. A structural engineer doesn’t concern himself with how his calculator works; he just wants to use it to calculate loads.”(Smith, PCMag.com) Programing may be a dying art. There is little motivation to learn how to program something when someone has already made an application that can do what you wished to accomplish. With spell check and auto correct on every computer and smartphone what motivation do we have to learn to spell words correctly? I don’t want to use computers as just a means to an end. I want to understand how shapes are generated and keep the dying art of programming alive within Making Meaning Matter.

The lack of documentation about 3d design by way of programming just enforces my concerns about the power software developers have over your creativity. The only group of people I found interested in using OpenJSCad and Javascript as a 3d design tool were the 226 members of their Google + community. But looking at the parent question to my idea, the importance of being able to create something from the ground up is a thought best described by author Douglass Rushkoff. “When human beings acquired language, we learned not just how to listen but how to speak. When we gained literacy, we learned not just how to read but how to write. And as we move into an increasingly digital reality, we must learn not just how to use programs but how to make them.”(Douglass 7)

In Program or Be Programmed: Ten Commands for a Digital Age, Douglass Rushkoff argues that now more than ever it’s time to learn to program: “Understanding programming — either as a real programmer or even, as I’m suggesting, as more of a critical thinker — is the only way to truly know what’s going on in a digital environment, and to make willful choices about the roles we play.” He suggests that you take control of your fate in a world of growing technology or it will take control of you. “It’s really that simple: Program, or be programmed. Choose the former, and you gain access to the control panel of civilization. Choose the latter, and it could be the last real choice you get to make.”(Douglass 8) I don’t want to be controlled; I want access the control panel of my future.

Through researching the value of computer programming, the idea of creating something tangible by way of a programming language made me realize that in the current stages of my development the object that I end up creating is irrelevant. The skills that I learn along the way are the most important and meaningful aspect of my ‘making’ experience. Programming is a tool that more and more artists will be using and it should be looked at as another medium for design. “Programming is no longer an exclusive domain of a particular discipline. The time has come for art and design to embrace programming and make it its own.”(Amiri 2011)

Citations:

“Are You Sure You Own Your Stuff? : NPR.” N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2014.

“Programming: A Dying Art? | Tim Smith | PCMag.com.” N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2014.

Rushkoff, Douglas. Program or Be Programmed: Ten Commands for a Digital Age. New York: OR Books, 2010. Print.

Amiri, F. (2011), Programming as Design: The Role of Programming in Interactive Media Curriculum in Art and Design. International Journal of Art & Design Education, 30: 200–210. doi: 10.1111/j.1476-8070.2011.01680.x