A method for experiencing systems thinking within the cultural setting of the Art Museum (e.g., Dallas Museum of Art)

1. Experiencing
Systems at the
Art Museum
Paul 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

2. A T E C
@ UTD

3. The System as a Quest for
Transdisciplinary
UnificationConcept 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]

4. Importance of System in
Computer Science &
Engineering

5. Systems Thinking Needs
Modeling
Modeling 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

6. Technology
Science Engineering
Mathematics
Culture
Arts
My Story

7. Simulation Digest
Modelingforeveryone.com

8. 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

9. 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

10. Our Strategy
Experience M&S in the Art
Museum

11. 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)

12. 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

13. 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 museu

14. 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;

15. Let’s Make System Models

16. 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.

17. Concept Model
weavin
g
spinning
Concept Map Map Media Links

18. State Transition Model
Shearing Spinning Weaving

19. Functional Model
ShearBreed Spin Weave
tunicyarnwool
shorn
alpaca
alpaca

20. Workflow Modeling for Tunics @ DMA

21. Quipu/Khipu (1476-1534)

22. Max/Msp Quipu Simulation

23. Lamp (Designer: Isamu Noguchi): 1945

24. Miniature: Cup Shaped
Automaton (1315)
From Keir Collection
of Islamic Art
Page from:
The Book of Knowledge
of Ingenious Mechanical
Devices, al Jazari

25. 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 togethe
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

26. Another al Jazari mechanism:
The Castle Clock Model

27. al Jazari Castle Clock
(1206)

29. Fox in the Snow
Gustave Courbet, 1860

30. 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.

31. Lotka-Volterra Dynamics
Models
Wolfram Systems Modeler Max/Msp

32. Eating Each Other: An Endless Cycle
Prototype #1 (2015 ATEC Art Fair)
Credits: David Vega & Michael Howell

33. Final Exhibit
Credits: David Vega & Michael Howell

34. Brass Clock, 17th Century

35. Max/Msp
Analog Clock
Model

36. Composition with Large Blue Plane, Red, Black,
Yellow, and Gray, Piet Mondrian, 1921.

37. P Day 2015 Martin Krzywinski

38. Piet Programming
Language
Hello World
Program

39. Libraries also contain
cultural artifacts re: M&S
click to retrieve interactive codices

40. 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.
.

41. STEM in the Art Museum
STEM
M&S
What we
covered
(mostly)

42. 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

43. What do I (think) I said?
M&S in the Art Museum
Start with a cultural space
Explore M&S and Systems Thinking from within
Result…..
S T E A M