Take Control went through many struggles and frustrations before becoming its final form. The initial idea was to create a program controlled by a series of sliding controls than at the click of a button would generate a geometric pattern that would then be drawn by a plotter.
I had all these aspirations about finding fun paper and weird ink for a fountain pen to really play into the physical aspect of this project. Unfortunately I did not have the exerineces or resources to be able to write code that worked directly between Processing and our Axi-draw Plotter.
So, I decided to pivot. I instead focused on creating code that generated an interesting spiral and had enough variables that could be manipulated in a fun way. I continued with the plan to create a small switchboard of sliders for the viewer to manipulate and wired up a breadboard full of freshly purchased hardware. I planned to project the project on the wall of our little student gallery and wrapped my swicthboard like a little present so you wouldn't have to dodge wires to play with the display.
It honestly turned out better than I could have hoped when I realized half way through the semester that I had to start over. It was a wild ride.
A small collection of process images.
