Assignments
Read: Bitter Pill by Rachel Aviv, The New Yorker (Apr, 2019)
Write a short description of something you do that is absurd
- Absurd, definition based on our context: doing a in order to achieve b, which never works but I believe it will.
- Possible Absurdities: Eating, sports fandom, changing passwords over and over again, laundry, groceries/takeout
- What I wrote:
In our Collective Play class, absurdity is defined as a person using a method/behavior, a, in full belief that it will accomplish a purpose, b, for that person. Method a never works in achieving b but the person repeats the cycle in unwavering belief anyway.
Through studying Abbott and Costello in class as well as reading about Lauren Delano and the cycle of pharmaceutical tragedy she managed to escape, our class saw both the comedic and tragic sides of absurdity.
Comedically, I tend to buy groceries in order to save money and prevent myself from ordering takeout too much. I typically wait to go grocery shopping until my fridge is very empty. I need the visual barrenness to motivate me to take a rolling bag, go to Wegmans, and stock up. I walk through each section of the whole store, trying to plan meals in advance on the fly. I have a nice full bag, I check out, I walk back to my dorm, get back to my room, and unpack the groceries, maybe clean up the kitchen if my chore inertia carries me to that. Once my fridge is fully stocked, I take a seat. I have a LaCroix I just purchased. Then, I order something to pick-up on UberEats because I’m too tired from grocery shopping to cook.
Will I do this every time I shop for groceries? Who’s to say…
Code: Build your Noisemaker
- Create a p5 sketch that allows you to trigger 3-5 different sound files using at least 3 different kinds of input (keyboard, mouse, mic, camera).
- my p5 sketch: https://editor.p5js.org/ryrotella/sketches/2XXFXS-rw
- Put it on glitch.com by writing your own web server. Comment each line of code in server.js in your own words.and post a link above. Start by remixing the Express App example from class.
- My glitch: https://glitch.com/~plain-clear-peripheral
- Find someone to have a conversation with.
- Use your noisemaker to respond to the question: How are you?
- Have the other person translate your responses into words.
- Respond to the question at least 5 times. Keep responding until you are satisfied with the translation.
- Don’t think of your response in words and then translate into noisemaker. Really try to just speak using the noisemaker directly.
- You may want to tweak your sounds based on your play-test.
Ryan Rotella 
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