RISD
Digital + Media
iPhone Visual Art Application
Introduction
The iPhone is full of useful applications that do a wide range of things… They all do things… They all serve a purpose: books, business, education, entertainment, finance, music, navigation… etc. Where is the category for ART? My proposal is for an application that is generative and purely visual. Taking advantage of the tilt sensor, I would like the compositions that randomly generate to get some parameters from the tilt sensor and perhaps a blow into the microphone. The goal is to make an application that is purely decorative, formal and completely useless to the categories that have been established by Apple.
Mockups of the application
The original idea was to have an organic viney object that slowly grew on the screen. If a person blows in to the microphone the vine will start to sway and grow a bit faster.
Making the application
Throughout the semester I have learned that there is not one finite way to create an iPhone application. My first experience with programming was with xCode and a basic tutorial in Cocoa. The experience was difficult and prompted me to look for another solution to build an application. I then came across
PhoneGap which looked promising.
PhoneGap promises an easier development and cross platform compatibility. I, however, needed a way to create a purely visual rendering on the fly. In early April, openFrameworks (ofx) released a version of their build that specifically runs on an iPhone.
OpenFrameworks is very promising. One of the problems I am running in to is finding add-ons that compile and run on the iPhone SDK.
Proposed Distribution
I would like to distribute this application as a limited edition (100) artist multiple. How will I complete this goal? A digital artist multiple… but how? I can’t do this with Apple’s App store. The plan is to purchase an Apple Developer iPhone account ($299) and use their “ad-hoc” distribution method to allow people to purchase the application on a web site and I will personally e-mail them the application and register their device. The “ad-hoc” distribution method is meant for developers to distribute an app in-house in a company without submitting it to Apple and also allows for an app to be distributed for beta testing to 100 people. I’ll use the “ad-hoc” method to distribute my artist multiple. Apple has already set up a very nice system for me to ensure that only 100 people have my application at once. People are not allowed to “share” the app or sell it to another person without my direct knowledge.
So how far will this go? I hope to publicize it as an alternative distribution method for artists who don’t fit in to Apple’s app store. Maybe I will get blacklisted by Apple like other developers who try interpret Apple’s policies liberally… However all good things come in black… a black dress, a little black book and hopefully my name added to a blacklist.
Inspiration
Todd Vanderlin: http://toddvanderlin.com/2009/04/scary-vines/
open frameworks applications
Meshmerizer for iPhone: http://memo.tv/meshmerizer_for_iphone
iPhone application built with openFrameworks
The Yes Men:
http://theyesmen.org/
Adida’s Urban Art Guide for Berlin:
http://www.britannica.com/blogs/2009/04/adidas-urban-art-guide-for-iphone-loves-berlins-gritty-alleys/
For All Seasons (iPhone):
http://www.creativeapplications.net/2008/11/26/for-all-seasons-iphone/
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