Major project

A p5.js artwork for our class, and your biggest challenge yet.

Your major project is an interactive p5 artwork for an interactive media art exhibition. Here’s the scenario: gallery attendees are able to walk around and observe the various works (including yours) at their leisure. If they wish, they can pause at your sketch and interact with it, but they will receive no additional guidance/instruction on what to do. Your goal is to provide an engaging and coherent viewer experience of roughly three minutes, but the exact nature of that experience is up to you.

Each year we have a different major project theme. This year’s theme is:

Organic Rebellion

Your work must reflect the major project theme in a meaningful way. It’s up to you to decide how the theme is incorporated into your work and we expect every student to have a unique concept for their major project. You will explain how you want viewers to perceive the theme in your artist statement.

While your interpretation of the theme is ultimately up to you, your tutors are your best resource for discussing and refining your specific take. Make sure you attend the labs and take time to discuss with your tutors about this!

Outline

• Due: 28 October 2024, 9:00 pm
• Assignment template: available on GitLab (link)
• Specification: keep reading 🙂
• Weighting: 40%
• Submission: submit your assignment through Gitlab (full instructions below)
• Policies: no late submissions accepted; this is an individual assessment
• Rubric: Please see the relevant assessment task on the class summary for your course:
  • COMP1720
  • COMP6720

Requirements

Your major project must:

• relate to the theme in a meaningful way
• be interactive: the viewer should be able to interact with the artwork using either the keyboard, mouse, microphone, camera, or some combination of those input devices
• be engaging and coherent: use what you know about drawing and interaction in p5 to make your submission an artwork that grabs the viewer’s attention and demands exploration for roughly three minutes
• use interaction to enhance experience: this means that interacting with your work reveals aspects that are not available without interaction, and that deeper interaction leads to more engaging experiences
• be a p5.js sketch that takes the whole browser window and works smoothly at the test URL.
• use fractions of width and height for drawing and interaction
• include a thumbnail.png file (a static image of your submission)
• include the code in the usual sketch.js file
• include an artist statement (max 300 words) describing your artwork (see below)
• include a references.md file with at least two external references and any self references (see box below)
  • these can be from classmates, artworks, books, online sources, any reference is fine as long as there are two (or more) of them.
• include a recent developments file if you are a COMP6720 student

Because this assignment is allowing you include external assets which you may have made yourself, we need you to be clear about this and include entries in your references.md file for all assets that you use, including ones that you have made yourself (make sure you state that you are the source for assets created by you). This is so that there is no confusion when it comes time to mark on whether the asset was sourced externally, or if you have created it yourself.

And a few must nots:

• must not include image files unless you have created them yourself (e.g., with a camera or digital art software), or they come from unsplash.com
• must not include sound files unless you have created them yourself (e.g., with the record function on your phone), or they come from freesound.org
• must not be a game: the specification is for an interactive artwork, not an “art-themed game”. If your artwork involves a “score” or a concept of winning or losing, you may actually be making a game.
• must include references for any image or sound files that you include (even if you created them yourself).

And one can do:

• can include an instructions.md file to provide any instructions that you want us to see when viewing your artwork.

The artist statement

Your submission must include a short (max 300 words) artist statement. This is a short document, written in the first person, which answers the questions:

• How would you like viewers to perceive the major project theme in your work?
• How does interaction enhance the viewer’s experience?

The artist statement is your chance to explain how interaction enhances the viewer’s experience of the theme in your submission—don’t assume that we can guess.

You won’t receive a separate mark for the artist statement. It is considered as part of your whole submission. The artist statement is used to help evaluate your ability to design and construct an interactive artwork in line with the major project specification.

The recent developments file (COMP6720 only)

If you are a student enrolled in COMP6720, then as an additional task you must explain how your artwork reflects recent developments in Art and Interaction Computing in your comp6720-recent-developments.md file (max 200 words).

If you enrolled in COMP1720, you don’t have to do anything with this file.

The instructions file

Your submission includes an instructions.md file. This file is
optional and is for you to add any instructions that you want us to see when viewing your artwork.

Some example instructions might be:

• This artwork requires a webcam.
• Use the arrow keys to control the evolution of the universe in the artwork.
• Press “r” to restart the artwork at any time.

We generally expect the instructions file to be a list of short instructions. You might use this file to explain a complex interaction or to tell us about hidden sections in case we miss them.

In general, viewers should be able to figure out how to interact with your artwork without this file. However, for the purpose of marking and ensuring that we see all aspects of your submission then this file can be filled out as you see fit.

Submission process

1. fork the major project template repository from the GitLab server

2. clone¹ & work on your fork of the major project template repo, regularly committing & pushing your changes to the GitLab server

3. at the submission deadline, the latest commit² pushed to the GitLab server (not on your local machine!) will count as your submission

One thing to note is that there are some “checks” which the GitLab server runs to help you out. So if you get a pipeline failed email, then have a look at the FAQ.

Submission checklist

1. my project satisfies the requirements

2. my completed project has been pushed to the main branch of my fork on the GitLab server, and all the required files (including any assets) have made it to the server

3. my references.md file includes at least two external references, as well as references for external files that I have created, and everything not mentioned in there is my own work

4. (if I am a COMP6720 student) I have completed the recent developments file.

5. my sketch works when viewed in Chrome/Chromium at the test URL (https://comp1720.cecs.anu.edu.au/uXXXXXXX/comp1720-2024-major-project/, with uXXXXXXX replaced with your UID)

FAQ

Here’s some frequently asked questions. Remember that there is lots of information about the major project in lectures and labs from week 9 onwards. Read it all!

Can I write more than the word limit?

No. If either your artistic statement or recent developments statement are more than 10% over the word limit, you will start to lose marks.

Can I get feedback on how my major project is going?

The lab sessions from week 9 onwards are all about your major project. You could also ask a question on the COMP1720 forum using the major-project tag.

Can I use stuff from previous assignments?

You won’t get marks for it, and if it isn’t referenced it is a breach of academic integrity.

Will my major project be public?

Yes—as we’ve said all along, the major project will in an online exhibition using the test server URL, so your work will be visible to the public.

If you want to opt out of the exhibition—just message us on the forum. I hope that you won’t opt out, because exhibiting your work is a crucial part of being an artist, and is also pretty fun. Make something that you’re proud of and show it off.

My sketch works on my machine, but when I use the test URL it can’t find the assets?

As it says in the assets/README.md file in the template repo:

This folder is where you should put any assets (e.g. image files, audio files) which you use in your sketch. Make sure you commit the asset file in git (otherwise it won’t get pushed to the server, so it won’t work at the test URL)

The reason for this is that the CI job which copies your files to the test URL server (by default) uses this command:

cp -r assets *.html *.js $DEST_DIR

If you’re familiar with the cp (copy) command you can see that it copies three things:

1. assets: the whole assets folder
2. *.html: any file with a .html file extension in the top-level of the project
3. *.js: any file with a .js file extension in the top-level of the project

If you’ve got files somewhere else, then they won’t get copied to the test URL server, and so your sketch won’t work.

At this point, you’ve got two options:

1. move your files (e.g. any assets not in the assets folder) so that they do get copied by the script (you’ll have to update the paths in your sketch as well)
2. modify the script so that it copies the files that currently “misses”

Both options are fine—although if you’re not familiar with the command line and cp command then you might find the first option easier.

Finally, if you’re going to modify the .gitlab-ci.yml file then have a look at the FAQ.