Experiencing Systems at the Art MuseumPaul Fishwick, University of Texas at Dallas

Distinguished University Chair, Arts, Technology, and Emerging Communication (ATEC)

Professor, Computer Science

C R E A T I V E --- A U T O M A T A . C O M

A T E C

@ UTD

The System as a Quest for

Transdisciplinary

Unification Concept of “general system” emerged in 1950s

Norbert Wiener: Science and control and

communication in animal + machine

[Cybernetics]

Ludwig von Bertalanffy: “A set of elements

standing in interrelations” [General Systems

Theory]

Jay Forrester: System Dynamics (method

informing policy making) – from engineering to

social.

Kenneth Boulding [General Systems Theory]

Importance of System in

Computer Science &

Engineering

Systems Thinking Needs

ModelingModeling Data

Data structures, Data bases, entity-relationships, schemas

Modeling Information

Semantic Networks, XML, Topic Maps

Modeling Geometry

1D, 2D, 3D meshes and Scale models

Modeling Process/Dynamics/Behavior: Modeling & Simulation

Technology

Science Engineering

Mathematics

Culture

Arts

My Story

Simulation Digest

Modelingforeveryone.com

Modeling and Simulation

(M&S)Analog Computing:

Modeling & Simulation began with tally sticks and bones (Lebombo Bone: a baboon fibula): 44,200 years old. Modeling: lunar phase?

Antikythera Mechanism: 100 to 205 BCE. Modeling: celestial motion of 5 known planets, sun, moon (w/ phase)

Digital Computing:

ENIAC: 1946. Modeling: Army ballistics, hydrogen bomb (Metropolis)

1950s to present: Discrete-Event, Continuous-Time/Space, Agent-Based. Modeling: everything, complex systems

Society for Modeling & Simulation International (SCSI), ACM SIGSIM, IEEE TCSIM, Multiple Conferences

Everyone should know

M&S because…Its relevance in society to solve the world’s most

complex and pressing problems

Its current role in systems thinking, which spans

multiple disciplines

Its potential role in framing computer science as

a systems discipline

Our Strategy

Experience M&S in the Art

Museum

DMA

Established in 1903

Located in the Arts District, downtown Dallas,

Texas

Over 24,000 works of art in the collection

Number of visitors per year (~ 1 million)

Promotes learning and creativity (Center for

Creative Connections)

Why?

To promote STEAM: Science, Technology,

Engineering, Art, and Mathematics

To increase numbers of people who can think

across disciplinary boundaries: systems thinking

& science

To broaden diversity of M&S population: consider

demographics from the DMA visitor surveys

To strengthen the STEM bridges from other UTD

Schools to ATEC

Inca Tunic (1476-1534)

M&S Related Questions:

1 How was the tunic woven?

2 How would the tunic be woven today?

3 Can a program reproduce the pattern?

4 How was the red fabric dyed?

5 What are the population dynamics of the llama?

6 Can the motifs be used to encode information?

7 What were the behaviors of the tunic wearer?

8 How was the exhibit installed in the museum?

9 What workflow process can visualize all DMA tunics?

10 What is a global timeline for tunics across major museums?

Simulated Tunic. . . . Code excerpt . . . .

void drawTunic(int val) {

num_reds = max-val;

num_bw = val;

if (val > max/2) {

/* Left columns */

column++;

for (int i=0;i<num_reds;i++)

redMotif(i);

for (int i=0;i<num_bw;i++)

if (i%2 == 0)

blackMotif(i,num_reds);

else

whiteMotif(i,num_reds);

val--;

drawTunic(val);

num_reds = max-val-1;

num_bw = val;

Let’s Make System Models

Narrative Model

An Inca woman would first shear the alpaca

when the coat is full. The wool would be

cleaned and spun into yarn. Then using

either a backstrap or vertical loom, she

weaves the yarn into a fine checkered

tunic.

Concept Model

weavin

g

spinning

Concept Map Map Media Links

State Transition Model

Shearing Spinning Weaving

Functional Model

ShearBreed Spin Weavetunicyarnwool

shorn

alpaca

alpaca

Workflow Modeling for Tunics @ DMA

Quipu/Khipu (1476-1534)

Max/Msp Quipu Simulation

Lamp (Designer: Isamu Noguchi): 1945

Miniature: Cup Shaped

Automaton (1315)

From Keir Collection

of Islamic Art

Page from:

The Book of Knowledge

of Ingenious Mechanical

Devices, al Jazari

Conceptual Model

“…Lid s is lifted with valve m closed, and the wine

is poured into opening s until it fills dome e…”

“…Then the wine flows through valve m onto the

vanes of the water wheel. Its axle rotates together

with the duck. The wine is sucked down into the

end y of the channel, and comes out of the

other end, displacing the air in the goblet which

is expelled through pipe x into ball n…”

From: The Book of Knowledge of

Ingenious Mechanical Devices, Ibn al-Razzaz

al-Jazari translated and annotated by D. R.

Hill, Chartered Engineer, Reidel Pub, 1974, p. 98.

Another al Jazari mechanism:

The Castle Clock Model

al Jazari Castle Clock

(1206)

Fox in the Snow

Gustave Courbet, 1860

Conceptual Model

Gustave Courbet’s "Fox in the Snow"

depicts the animal mauling its prey, the

rodent’s blood spilling onto the blanket

of snow. The brutality of this image is

intensified by the brilliance and

directness of Courbet’s brushstroke.

The artist deftly wields brush and

palette knife, differentiating the

softness of the animal’s fur and the

crispness of the frozen ground. This

painting is a quintessential example of

Courbet’s realism; he refused to depict

traditional subjects of mythology or

history and was instead intensely

fascinated with subjects of everyday

life.

Lotka-Volterra Dynamics

ModelsWolfram Systems Modeler Max/Msp

Eating Each Other: An Endless Cycle

Prototype #1 (2015 ATEC Art Fair)

Credits: David Vega & Michael Howell

Final Exhibit

Credits: David Vega & Michael Howell

Brass Clock, 17th Century

Max/Msp

Analog Clock

Model

Composition with Large Blue Plane, Red, Black,

Yellow, and Gray, Piet Mondrian, 1921.

P Day 2015 Martin Krzywinski

Piet Programming

Language

Hello World

Program

Libraries also contain

cultural artifacts re: M&S

click to retrieve interactive codices

Codex Madrid: Leonardo da Vinci

1490 – 1505

Figure 1: Da Vinci’s original cam hammer design (left) and wooden model (right).

.

Figure 2. Da Vinci’s cam hammer in pseudocode.

.

Figure 3. Flowchart model corresponding to Figure 1.

.

STEM in the Art Museum

STEM

M&S

What we

covered

(mostly)

Acknowledgments

Bonnie Pitman, Former Director of DMA &

Distinguished Scholar in Residence, UT Dallas

Rob Stein, Deputy Director, DMA

Kimberly Jones, The Ellen and Harry S. Parker III

Assistant Curator of the Arts of the Americas,

DMA

Shyam Oberoi, Director of Technology & Digital

Media, DMA

Carlos Arroyo, Senior Software Developer, DMA

What do I (think) I said?

M&S in the Art MuseumStart with a cultural space

Explore M&S and Systems Thinking from within

Result…..

S T E A M