Sharell ITP Thesis Progress Update #2

Research and Findings Quick Summary

Most surprising
- Morning pages for easier writing
Most interesting
- Learning to weave on a loom
Most intriguing
- Current Systems exhibition at the MoMA
New inquiry spaces
- Ambient music and healing across cultures
- Physical and web-based audio instillations and exhibitions
- Modern musical instrument and player design
- Continued to refine my inquiry space diagram
  
  Updated inquiry space diagram for week progress update 2
This week I also looked up related NYU Departments to my areas of interest:
- https://tisch.nyu.edu/clive-davis-institute
- https://steinhardt.nyu.edu/degree/mm-music-technology
  - Scheduling time with a fellow student in this related program
- https://steinhardt.nyu.edu/programs/music-therapy

🧶 Fiber Art
- In experimenting with different fabrication techniques for the physical components of my potential projects, I created my first weaved piece using a mini loom. The most immediate usage I’m looking at for this is in creating a fabric timekeeper/ potential music player for the class Time and hoping to learn about incorporating electronics with my fiber art practice for anything I create.

🎵 Songwriting
- I recorded voice memos and wrote two songs for a songwriting workshop with the artist Laraaji through one of my favorite communities School of Song. I explored different songwriting and music-making techniques that differ from my other rock or folk songs and were very in line with my current exploration of more instrumental or meditative music.
  - https://open.spotify.com/track/1tXGwtoqAwW2tsYZE9B3Iu?si=efe7a54840ed41e6 - Laraaji
📷 Media Capture
- I spent time each day writing morning pages as a part of my going through the Artist’s Way as mentioned below as well as captured video and voice memos that I can use in future installations. I used many previously recorded assets for my physical music projects so far at ITP so want to continue and be intentional about my observation and collection.
👩🏾‍💻Software and Machine Learning
- For the class Time I expanded on a web audio project that incorporates ml5.js for body detection and an exploration in how a web-based thesis project could work, either as a musical instrument or as a way to play audio non-linearly on the web.
- Assignment 3: Hand Particle Drum Machine for the Web
  - It was also good practice to experiment documenting as I go which made the process of writing a blog much easier. I’m going to continue this approach for future explorations.

🍊 Museum of Food and Drink
- With my Biodesigning the Future of Food class we went to visit the Museum of Food and Drink which included multiple examples of interactive experiences related to what I’d like to explore for thesis including one that visualized brain waves of the people interacting to explore responses to flavor and also a “smell synthesizer” which was inspired by a music instrument synthesizer and was informative and engaging.

Nuts and Bolts by Roma Agrawal
- Goes into engineering basics helping with both historical context and technical understanding of topics like the spring or the wheel which have been helpful for physical design and fabrication
The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron
- Currently in week 3 of The Artist’s Way which I have tried many times to start but seem to be sticking with this time