Downsampling Masterpieces
Album
The main ingredients for the workshop included electronics kits in envelopes and pixelated prints of masterpiece paintings, which were made beforehand using Public Domain images from the Rijksmuseum. / CC BY Sanna Marttila & Neea Laakso
The electronics kit included an ATtiny microcontroller, a small speaker, a button cell battery, a LED, a switch and couple of resistors. The microcontroller had a unique number on it - with this the owner of the kit could check which of the original music recordings was used to make the surprise melody contained by the chip. / CC BY Sanna Marttila & Neea Laakso
Soldering the electronics turned out to be a bit more complicated than planned due to health and safety regulations, not to speak of few broken soldering irons. But eventually nearly all of the circuits worked as expected. / CC BY Sanna Marttila & Neea Laakso
The schematic was also included in the electronics kit. / CC BY Sanna Marttila & Neea Laakso
Sometimes it was easier to look at the example card for soldering aid instead of the schematic… Here you can also see how the switch was made: when opening the card, the piece of yarn attached to a microswitch lever is pulled, triggering the melody. / CC BY Sanna Marttila & Neea Laakso
Selecting pixelated masterpiece prints. The prints were made beforehand because the workshop was short, but had we had more time, it would have been nice to let people make their own pixelated pictures. / CC BY Sanna Marttila & Neea Laakso
'Het melkmeisje' by Johannes Vermeer (ca. 1660) pixelated with Photoshop. Even if the resolution of the old masterpieces is reduced heavily, the atmosphere is retained surprisingly well due to the intricate variations in light and shadow in the original works. / Original image in Public Domain, provided by Rijksmuseum
Do you recognize this guy? Yes, it is Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn depicted by himself ca. 1628. I wonder what he would think of this version... / Original image in Public Domain, provided by Rijksmuseum
Cutting the pictures to a desired composition. / CC BY Sanna Marttila & Neea Laakso
Hi-quality German fabric tape and double-sided tape were also crucial ingredients in card-making. / CC BY Sanna Marttila & Neea Laakso
Sturdy cardboard provided the basic structure for the cards. / CC BY Sanna Marttila & Neea Laakso
The table looking like a proper workshop table. / CC BY Sanna Marttila & Neea Laakso
Helping hand from the neighbour - that is always nice! / CC BY Sanna Marttila & Neea Laakso
Few more tape pieces for securing and decorating the edges of the card. / CC BY Sanna Marttila & Neea Laakso
Placing the electronics into the compartment made of foam board. / CC BY Sanna Marttila & Neea Laakso
What would a DIY workshop be without hot glue? The electronics were attached to the card with this wonder substance. / CC BY Sanna Marttila & Neea Laakso
Happy card owner with 'Portrait of Girl Dressed in Blue' by Johannes Cornelisz. Verspronck (1641) from the Rijksmuseum. / CC BY Sanna Marttila & Neea Laakso
Hanging out with Vincent van Gogh from 1887 from the Rijksmuseum. In addition to being pixelated, Vincent has adopted a new look - is that cubism or glitch? / CC BY Sanna Marttila & Neea Laakso
And who is to be found inside? Good old Rembrandt from the Rijksmuseum. / CC BY Sanna Marttila & Neea Laakso
Another happy card owner. This time with 'Girl in a Large Hat' by Caesar Boëtius van Everdingen (ca. 1645 - ca. 1650), 'Merry Drinker' by Frans Hals (ca. 1628 -ca. 1630) and 'The Threatened Swan' by Jan Asselijn (ca. 1650). From the Rijksmuseum, of course. / CC BY Sanna Marttila & Neea Laakso
Some alternative card designs were also produced in the spirit of the Mozfest. / CC BY Sanna Marttila & Neea Laakso
Soldering continued even the next morning after the workshop, as the dedicated 'Redesign Your Cultural Heritage' session organizers finished the couple of circuits that were not finalized during the workshop due to running out of time. Teamwork for the win! / CC BY Sanna Marttila & Neea Laakso
