“Perhaps you come from a technical background and are unsatisfied with how dry technology can be. Or perhaps you recognize the power of technology and want to learn. Poetic computation not only has a purpose but also caries meaning in its process. Just like words to a poet, if words are used correctly, they transmit so much more than information.”
Taeyoon Choi: What’s your name?
Sebastián Morales Prado: My name is Sebastián Morales Prado and along with Tiri Kananuruk, we are TAs for the Hardware class by CW&T at SFPC Fall 2018.
I was born in Mexico, I also grew up there until I moved to Chicago to study Mechanical Engineering. After doing a few of internships, I realized that the world had a very constrained definition of an engineer and what they can do. After graduating and working as a full time engineer, I realized that I wanted to redefine what being an engineer meant for myself.
I moved to SF to do an artist in residency at Autodesk Pier 9 in 2015, the same program other SFPC teachers like Che-Wei, Taylor and Morehshin did in the past. There I wanted to break a little loose of definitions and explore art as an engineer.
At Pier 9, I met Johan da Silveira and Pierre Emm, and since have been working with them developing tatoué, the first robotic tattoo machine. We have collaborated with talented artists across many disciplines, form visual artists like Shantell Martin, to tattoo artists like Xoïl.
Pier 9 made me realized that I wanted to continue working on this side of engineering. Which later lead me to NYC, in particular to the Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP) at NYU. Today, besides being a TA at SFPC, I am a New Media Artist in Residence at the Mana Contemporary.
T: How did you discover SFPC?
S: Very soon after starting ITP, I met Micheal Simpson and became friends with him. We started talking about robots, it turned out that he had been working a lot with pen plotters while being a student at SFPC. In it’s most simplified way, a tattoo robot is sort of a pen plotter, so that kept the conversation going for hours. I also became good friends with Yeseul Song. I believe SFPC has been huge influence in their work and I always felt interested in taking a closer look.
T: Any funny anecdote?
S: During our SFPC Teachers retreat at the Strange Foundation, I got to know everyone a lot better. I met Nabil Hassein, Critical Theory T.A. and the work he is doing to help prevent the construction new jails.
I also found out that during the mornings he transforms into a batman… and I decided to join him.
T: Is there any interesting observation you made?
S: At SFPC, the students in the cohort take all the classes together. This has an interesting effect because students discover areas in which they are strong and areas in which others are stronger. They were teaching each other and sharing skills, they knew who to help and who to ask.
T: How your experience as a TA?
S: I really enjoyed when students built weekly art projects with Logic Gates with analog circuits. From a technical standpoint, analog gates are really valuable to understand. Once you get them, you start seeing electricity almost in a tangible form, logic gates also help you to start to imagining how a computer work. Most Hardware and Physical Computing classes out there tend to jump straight into Arduino, then start teaching electronics though a very focused lens… it all seems quite magical and obscure for the person learning.
I was super excited to find out Taylor was going to dedicate a couple of classes to analog circuits. By the time students started building the first logic circuits with transistors, I could see how they were integration the information, how they were making sense of the electrical concepts and turning it into their knowledge.
If you had a chance to go to the Fall 2018 Student Showcase this past weekend, you probably spotted many of their weekly art. It is incredible to see how students started materializing data sheets, symbols and schematics — filling in the blanks in the abstract.
There is also a high degree of legibility in the works. Taylor was very vocal about drawing diagrams before building anything and students really took advantage of this.
They started drawing schematics and diagrams, but these were unlike any I had seem before, magnificent drawings that show the process of internalization. This legibility also transferred to some of the actual circuits where you clearly read what was happening.
Finally, thinking about my TA experience, we were really fortunate to work for CW&T as teachers. There was so much unexpected learning form my part, seeing them teach, seeing them create a place where people can learn and then transmitting all this knowledge loaded with energy and excitement.
There is so much to learn about them besides how good they are at teaching; I find them incredibly inspiring. The way they organize, the way they keep a balance between professional and family life. How their practice extends thought all aspects of their lifestyle. If you ever feel like everything in the world is crazy, find a chance to interact with CW&T, they will restore some sense in you.
Q: What are you working on now?
I have been working on Symbiosis.live, it is an estuary website where digital organisms join single cell organisms to develop a symbiotic relationship.
It started by taking a closer look at internet bot, observing their behavior and how they move through the internet. Visiting servers and websites, even if they were never invited. They started looking less and less like scripts or software and more and more like very primitive organisms, communicating, responding to stimuli, living.
I started questioning if they could be living organisms, perhaps not by a strict definition, but definitions tend to be too exclusive this days. So if they were actually alive, what would happen if they could be connected to their organic equivalent? Single cell organisms are among the first living organisms to exist in organic life; Internet bot are among the first organisms to exist in the internet.
Symbiosis.live is a group of servers connected to a bioreactor. As bots visit the server, parameters in the bioreactor change, some types of bots release oxygen in the bioreactor while others bring food, some turn the light on while others add fresh water. In response, cells in the bioreactor start adjusting parameters in the servers, making them more or less attractive to particular bots. In all, they start establishing feedback mechanisms to create an ecosystem. Perhaps one day even evolving together, sparking a new branch of biology.
Ah! and when the livestream is running, humans can see a livestream of both the bots in the server and a microscope camera of the cells. https://symbiosis.live
T: What do you want to be doing 5 years from now?
S: I would like to have a more self sustained, self sufficient art practice. This would involve teaching and a lot of creating, and hopefully less of picking up client work. I doubt there is a formula, perhaps more like an algorithm that has to constantly respond to feedback.
There is a quote I like, I heard it form Tom Sachs but I don’t know if it was him, it goes something like: “The reward for good work is more work”. That’s part of what I mean by having a more sustained practice. I want to be able to have a crazy idea, make it, then have a crazier idea and have the resources to make it. Then have a even crazier idea… and so on.
Of course there are other more personal things that I would like to happen before 5 years but I’ll keep those off the internet.
T: Any advice for people who are considering applying to 10 weeks program?
S: Thinking if SFPC is a right place for you is hard to tell, but if you made it this far reading the interview, there is a good chance that it is.
Perhaps you come from a technical background and are unsatisfied with how dry technology can be. Or perhaps you come from a non technical background but recognize the power of technology and want to learn how to use some of it.
I think SFPC is a great way to gain access to a creative world. 10 weeks is a super short time. You probably have been thinking about doing something like SFPC for more than 10 weeks. If you take 10 weeks to learn, you can decide if you want to continue this route, or perhaps go in another direction. Regardless, in the process you will meet amazing people, change many of your perspectives and learn a lot.
T: What is poetic computation, for you?
S: For me, it is computation with meaning. From a engineering standpoint, good computation always has purpose. Poetic computation not only has a purpose but also caries/reveals meaning in the process. Computation can be a tool and a medium, just like words to a poet, they can be used to transmit information, but if words are used correctly, they transmit so much more.
Interview and landing photograph by Taeyoon Choi
Spring 2019 Immersive
- Ten-Weeks Session: March 11th — May. 17th, 2019
- Location: SFPC, 155 Bank street, West Village, NYC
- Application open until November 17th, 2018
Code Societies Winter 2019
- Three-Week Session, January 7th — January 26th, 2019
- Location: SFPC, 155 Bank street, West Village, NYC
- 6:30pm — 9:30pm, Evening Classes
- Apply now! competitive rolling admissions.
