A skirt made of mirrors, an animated strip of Super Mario, and a digital representation of the Fibonacci sequence were among the ways students in Professor of Visual Arts Joe Scanlan’s Haptic Lab reimagined 19th century visual media devices in 2024. 

Offered to students through the Lewis Center for the Arts, the Haptic Lab is a hands-on studio course in which students investigate and critique analog and digital technologies while also taking inspiration from that tech to create something new. For two class periods this fall, Scanlan’s students visited Princeton University Library’s Special Collections to learn about pre-film devices. 

“The optical devices on display for the class session included a phenakistoscope, praxinoscope, zoetrope, and thaumatrope,” said Molly Dotson, Graphic Arts Librarian. These objects were capable of creating animated images or persistence of vision effects before the advent of motion pictures.  

“Such devices are important to understanding histories of art, science, and popular culture. They sit at intersections between optics and representations of movement, and between education and popular entertainment.”

In the first class meeting in Special Collections, Scanlan’s students were introduced to the devices and discussed the mechanics of persistence of vision and stroboscopic effect. The class looked at media in the devices to consider what kinds of imagery they could animate and who might have been using the devices in the 1800s. 

Students were then tasked with taking inspiration from the devices to create something of their own. It could be a replica of a disc or reel that could be used in the existing devices, a reimagining of the devices as a different type of media, or even a digital representation that conveys a similar sense of vision. 

“The pre-cinematic and optical devices are a perfect fit for a making class that looks at analog/digital processes,” Scanlan said. “It was important to my thinking that the students not only be able to investigate these devices but also make ‘new’ content for them.”

Alessandra Faccone, a Civil and Environmental Engineering student, interpreted the prompt through a dowel and string sculpture. She flanked a thick wooden rod with strings attached to a series of images on a strip of paper, which, when wound and dropped from the top of the sculpture, create a moving image. 

“I saw the prompt as a challenge to see if I could come up with something similar to these devices,” Faccone said. “This one seemed the most feasible to create with the knowledge I already have.” 

Scanlan noted that Faccone’s idea presented an alternative take on the persistence of vision. “The pre-film devices have a limited field of view that aids in the perception of image continuity,” Scanlan said. “In Alessandra’s, viewers almost need to be hypnotized to get that same effect.” 

Lauren Dreier, a PhD candidate in the School of Architecture, envisioned the prompt through the lens of fashion. Inspired by the praxinoscope, she created a skirt made of mirrored panels, which, in contrast to showing viewers a very specific image, would reflect the world back at them. 

“The praxinoscope felt kind of closed off, so I wanted to invert that idea,” Dreier said. “What would it be like to be at the center of the object and have people look at you?”

Dreier noted that trying to adapt an angular design reminiscent of the praxinoscope for the human body was a challenge. “When you put this geometric thing on the human body it gets complicated,” she said, adding that she has plans to address it by incorporating pieces of wood to help the garb flow away from the body wearing it. 

A pair of students took their project from the physical realm into the digital world by creating a display of the Fibonnaci sequence. 

Connor Chen, a senior studying Economics and Kevin Son, a senior majoring in Mathematics, took the course because it seemed like an opportunity to blend principles of design with engineering. 

“We were particularly impressed by the fact that the Library holds devices from so long ago,” Chen said. “Being able to have direct access to them was amazing.” 

Their presentation animated the Fibonacci sequence in the binary system. They converted the first 146 numbers in the sequence into binary and assigned them a color value of either black (1) or white (0). Then, while each number flickers across the screen (represented as a black or white tile), a tone would play, which correlates with a sound on a keyboard.

“The music, it’s a little manic,” Scanlan said. “It definitely sounded modern, but it also  felt like music from a horror movie.”

Son said, “Our core motivation was to create a visual display of a mathematical phenomenon, and our original idea was inspired by the “Barcode Warhol” flipbook that we saw in the Firestone collection.”

Though the class’s visits to Special Collections were just one part of the larger curriculum, this project in particular showcased the way the analog-digital divide can manifest across fields. 

“The meta challenge, so to speak, is finding ways to better collaborate with similar ambitions across campus,” Scanlan said. 

“Research and learning can take many forms, so these kinds of creative or otherwise transformative course assignments reinforce Special Collections as a place for exploration and experimentation, for seeking inspiration, and satisfying curiosity,” Dotson said. “Ideally, a Special Collections experience yields a connection with the past as well as new ways of thinking about ourselves in our own time.”