Cart 360 - Tangible Medias and Physical Computing

In search for interesting materials.

Thursday September 24, 2009

Our assignment this week was to find interesting materials for our circuits. I found quite a few. However, my favorite one was Graphite.

Graphite is a well-know mineral that's readily avalaible in every pencil. It's cheap, and it's an important material for every artist. The fun part is: it's conductive. In theory, this means that a layer of graphite on paper can be used to conduct current and make circuits. This could allow people to draw circuits intuitively.

In practice, graphite is too resistant to be used as the main wire of a circuit. Nonetheless, I made some tests and I was still able to light a small dot on a blue LED using a drawing on paper as the resistor. I was also able to receive a significant enough input on my Arduino's analog pin.

As an artist, this feels like a unique way to make a link between physical art and electronic art.

	In search for interesting materials. Thursday September 24, 2009 Our assignment this week was to find interesting materials for our circuits. I found quite a few. However, my favorite one was Graphite. Graphite is a well-know mineral that's readily avalaible in every pencil. It's cheap, and it's an important material for every artist. The fun part is: it's conductive. In theory, this means that a layer of graphite on paper can be used to conduct current and make circuits. This could allow people to draw circuits intuitively. In practice, graphite is too resistant to be used as the main wire of a circuit. Nonetheless, I made some tests and I was still able to light a small dot on a blue LED using a drawing on paper as the resistor. I was also able to receive a significant enough input on my Arduino's analog pin. As an artist, this feels like a unique way to make a link between physical art and electronic art.