September 2017 – Page 19 – [OLD FALL 2017] 15-104 • Introduction to Computing for Creative Practice

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Persona in Fields

Persona in Fields by Sherban Epure is a series of inkjet prints that fuses mathematical rules, fine art and technological capabilities to produce visual metaphors. It is a part of his collection of computer-executed, mathematically-based work. The fascinating aspect of this particular work (P211_181_neg of the series), is that it is an aesthetically-pleasing piece of work comprised of mathematical components that were computationally programmed. And because it was computationally programmed, it allows for alterations in the various stages of the work without any of the other stages being affected. This cannot be achieved in conventional paintings, where once a layer of paint and/or detail has been placed on the canvas it would be impossible to alter that ‘stage’, and the final stage of the work is displayed. Without a more specific description from the artist it is hard to gather what mathematical theories and what form of computational manipulations were incorporated to produce this artwork, but the general nuance of the creation process is described as aforementioned. Epure also has a series of hand-executed work based on mathematics in which he attempts to convey that incorporating computational aspects in the production of art does not diminish the value and/or interest of the work.

Link | http://sherban-epure.com/Meta-Phorms-A/Computer_executed_mathematically_based_work/Pages/Persona_in_Fields_2001-2003.html

Work | Sherban Epure, 2001-2003

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The first in Antoine Magnien’s series of melting wax figures for Amnesty International.

When searching the web for 3D art, I came across the online portfolio for Antoine Magnien, and found it filled with beautiful examples of CGI art. His personal projects as well as advertisement work were on display. My favorite series of his that I found would be the series he did for Amnesty International in 2013. It is an untitled series of figures seemingly constructed from melting wax. The images portrayed are haunting and gorgeous, and the use of material like that is awe inspiring. It looks like these could be photographs of real sculptures, but they aren’t.

Are they pulling the noose down, or stringing it up?

Here is the small portfolio.

Here is his website, but it’s all in French.

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Dream House, a project made in 2015 by Sara Ludy, is a 3D depiction of a space that the artist dreamt about. It was inspired by this lucid dream in which she felt that she awoke in some strange place. She was able to remember many of the details about the space and created it in digital form. I admire the artist’s work because it involves using space as vessels for the spiritual and psychological. Ludy is able to create the forms she wants without having to involve physical space. Ludy creates these in algorithms and is then able to put them into google where she can find similar images. She then edits and combines the pieces together. Ludy’s artistic sensibilities that are inclined toward experimenting with architecture are seen in her Dream House.

link

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https://www.instagram.com/extraweg/

Posted by The Content Zone on Saturday, September 9, 2017

Here is a link to a video that continuously amazes me. It’s some sort of exercise in computational animation and the physics associated with realistic movement. It deals with smearing animation, bulging, puckering, and stretched texture. There’s something wildly unsettling about this video (probably the eyes), but I love it and I have no idea how people made this happen. Partially, animation has always astounded me because EVERYTHING has to be created from scratch.

Imagine the person who had to program the marmalade man spreading himself all over a piece of toast? What goes through their mind?

Josh

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I’ve really enjoyed the small 3d-modeled pieces created by Agatha Yu as part of a year-long, “make something everyday” project (the particular piece pictured is “Crystal Shore,” from February 21, 2017). They’re mostly modeled and animated in Blender. The pieces are usually low-poly or made of smooth, simple forms, which work well with the soft color palettes the creator normally uses. I think these aspects, as well as the subject matter, combine to create a specific, calming mood that really drew me into each of the pieces. I also appreciate how the style of the work is not necessarily aiming for photorealism or some other theme normally associated with computer-generated graphics, but is rather branching out in a style of its own.

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Creator: Jing Zhang

Title of Work: Ford Fiesta

Year of Creation: 2016

Link to Project Work: http://www.mazakii.com/Ford-Fiesta

Link to Artist Bio: http://www.mazakii.com/About-Contact

Ford Fiesta is a commissioned illustration created by London-based Chinese designer, Jing Zhang. To develop this work, Zhang used 3/D rendering programs in Adobe Illustrator, modifying two-dimensional vector images (such as rounded rectangles) and putting them into isometric perspective. To animate the work, Zhang used keyframes in Adobe AfterEffects. Through loop-based algorithms, Adobe Illustrator creates vector-based elements that can be modified perspective-wise through the x, y, and z-axes.

As a designer focused on communications, Jing Zhang’s entire body of work serves as an influence in my work. I’m fascinated in what factors contribute to the believability and messages of two-dimensional images, as well as how concepts can be delivered and nuanced. The Ford Fiesta illustration is an example of this — Zhang emphasizes the car by shrinking the proportions of the architecture and using contrasting colors, which leads to our engagement with the images present in the animation.

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Created by Aldo Martínez Calzadilla, this is a 3D generated portrait of an Aghori. I found this work on the same page as the Ebola Virus example, and was completely amazed at the level of detail and accuracy this portrait has.

Calzadilla specializes in 3D models, spending meticulous time modelling and sculpting people and backgrounds, using programs such as Maya, ZBrush, and Mari. This particular piece of work was made in two weeks, and is his most recent work aside from his professional portfolio. The artist’s love for detail work is seen in his close attention to accurate anatomy and texture, which is a common trait for all of his work.

I admire literally everything about his work. It is so utterly realistic and beautiful, and at first glance you wouldn’t be able to tell it was computer generated. Every little aspect of the piece, from shadows to individual hairs, is so well thought-out and placed. This really demonstrates technology’s current abilities to render something so realistic, and with artists like Calzadilla, it can only get better.

The bare model of the figure

The final product

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As I was reading the prompt and scanning Youtube and Vimeo for Sound Art projects that interested me, I came upon this one, titled Beat Slicer by Amanda Ghassaei. I chose this one because it was simple and minimal, on a level where I would understand and not be too overwhelmed with a lot going on.

The Beat Slicer is an arduino-powered music controller. Each button manipulates the playback of the song programmed. And although, in the controller is a lot of physical computing aspects I am yet to understand, I can imagine that each button is programmed in its own way to produce its own unique manipulation of the song.

Amanda Ghassaei uses the same controller for other projects, and has published an instruction guide here: http://www.instructables.com/id/Sugarcube-MIDI-Controller/

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This image is from the same site as the Ebola rendering example. It is by Tiago Alexandrino who creates architectural visualisations for private clients. Taking just five or six days, he created this scene using 3ds Max and V-Ray.

I appreciate this for it’s application. Many 3D graphics are impressive, creating hyperrealistic portraits or adding depth to video game or movie characters. But, I think this work represents our potential with using virtual reality in our everyday lives. Imagine this: instead of showing still images, one could create an entire building design for Google Cardboard and allow clients to step into their ideas before it’s ever built. This concept of presenting the future could work in policy-making as well– we could build ideal or unfavorable scenarios and show those as an additional way to persuade others. Showing the future would serve as powerful fodder to instill motivation and action amongst people.

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My Looking Outward for this week is Guitar Sound by Ronald Jenkees.

Guitar Sound

(I had an issue embedding the YouTube video)

Ronald Jenkees is an electronic music composer who has been making music since 2007. He has 5 albums; this song is from the second one (from 2009). Ronald Jenkees uses a combination of his own playing on synthesizers with generated tracks to create a characteristic personal sound. Although his method is not deeply algorithmic, the combination of conventional playing and electronic methods creates an effect different from both conventional songs and typical electronic music.