By Alexandra Goldberg and Lian Benasuly
“Soft Tectonics” is an interactive and walkable exhibition that was available for viewing this past winter in the Glassbox Gallery located in the Art Department. Photo by JM Escalante
Beyond the shoreline of the Pacific Ocean, Ph.D. candidate Yin Yu has brought the deep sea to UC Santa Barbara through the Media Arts and Technology (MAT) Program’s latest exhibition, “Soft Tectonics.”
The exhibition, displayed in December, was part of MAT’s “Start of the Year Media Arts Design Engineering and Science” (SYMADES), a series of showcases, exhibitions, and performances that allow graduate students to present their research projects.
In SYMADES, Yu physically modeled interactive robots based on coastal organisms, which were displayed at the Art Department’s Glassbox Gallery for public viewing this past fall.
“My projects are an exploration with softer material and wearable technology, integrating artificial intelligence, music and audio signal processing to show the public,” said Yu, UCSB MAT student and researcher.
SYMADES has provided MAT’s graduate students with an avenue to display their intersecting research projects, combining computer science with audio and visual art.
This year, roughly 25 students are showcasing 18 projects, according to Marko Peljhan, Chair of the MAT program and an Art and Interdisciplinary Studies professor. The majority of these projects will be showcased in the spring.
MAT student Yin Yu’s projects “SoftVoss” left, and “OctoAnemone,” right, exhibited in UCSB’s Glassbox Gallery. Photo by JM Escalante.
When Yu’s “Soft Tectonics” was shown on UCSB’s campus, visitors explored her 3-D printed sculptures, “OctoAnemone” and “SoftVoss,” that are sound-activated and made of flexible materials, such as silicon and vinyl.
Her creative vision focuses on human perception of robots. “OctoAnemone” is a sea anemone sculpture that flows to pumped air, emulating a real sea anemone on the ocean floor.
Yu says robots aren’t just rigid movements and moving metal parts. Her goal with her SYMADES projects is to imitate life through realistic movements.
“When we control this robot, it changes shape and color together, a response which is actually perceived as a human,” Yu said. “So, it’s an interesting dialogue about the future of robot communication with humans.”
Visitors on opening day at MAT Ph.D. student Yin Yu’s exhibition at UC Santa Barbara. Photo by JM Escalante.
Yu’s exhibition attracted over 50 visitors on opening day alone. After spending two to three months working on the intricacies of design and function, the payoff was tangible for her. And the deadline-driven work and detail that goes into such an exhibition creates a sense of bonding for the graduate students and their professors, says program chair Peljhan.
“The night before, you think this is never going to happen because there’s so many moving parts,” said Peljhan. “And then in the morning, the show is up. And it’s a reason to celebrate.”
Yu even designed a wearable robot that actively vibrated to sounds. She incorporated her prior knowledge of architecture to create a wearable art piece that employs biomimicry. The piece, which was displayed on a mannequin, changed shape and color based on sounds that Yu recorded, processed, and controlled.
Inspired by how birds use their feathers to communicate, Yu also integrated music to conceptualize how humans respond to sound.
Before the pandemic, she would go out into nature to record sounds that she could incorporate into her work. But for these two projects, Yu was forced to create sounds in her home.
“I recorded some sounds at home as water bubbles and then I used a computer to process the sounds and then control the robot,” Yu said.
For Yu and other MAT students, the SYMADES showcase offers hands-on opportunities to create, innovate and publicly display their works – to a broader audience than just UCSB students.
“The research we’re doing in Media Arts and Technology is transformative,” said MAT chair Peljhan. “Our students have come up with this program with a deep understanding of several fields, so that they can continue their work both in academia, as well as in the industry.”
According to Peljhan, 98% of job offers his students have received occurred before or immediately after graduating from the MAT program. Students have entered the work force with large employers such as Apple, Adobe and Snapchat since the first exhibition in 2008.
As an active participant in MAT’s SYMADES, Yu is confident the project’s impact reaches far beyond the walls of the Glassbox Gallery.
“This work really made me proud because to me, it was just a sculpture. But people will see this as an inspiration for applications of a better humanity and better research,” Yu said. “I see the impact and I see inspiration in my work. Not just for the same generation, but for the next generation.”
Alexandra Goldberg is a second-year communication major at UC Santa Barbara. Lian Benasuly is a third-year communication major at UC Santa Barbara. They wrote this piece for their Writing Program class, Digital Journalism.