mjanco – LookingOutwards09

For this week’s looking outwards I looked at Cora Hickoff’s post about Ian Cheng’s Droning Like a Ur. (https://courses.ideate.cmu.edu/15-104/f2017/2017/08/29/looking-outwards-draft/). This piece is a live simulation that exists continuously by continually generating changes and combinations in his simulations. In Cheng’s words, essentially these are “games that play themselves.” What Cora seemed to admire most about this piece was its ambiguity and the intrigue it evokes by being recognizable and yet still vague and mysteriously unresolved. One thing that could be added to this point, is how the medium serves that attractive quality of the piece. The mysterious use of sound and ambiguous shapes and beings, are well executed from a design standpoint, but this is also served by the medium itself: the digital, computed realm. For instance, if these same images were done as a 3D animated piece, there would be an entirely different viewing experience. The progression and changes of the imagery by the computer itself, endlessly evolving, are what give this world a life of its own. It makes the artist’s hand, or the visual proof of the work that was done by the artist, less recognizable, and therefore more mysterious. This piece gives a lot of control over to the computer. I also agree with Cora’s criticism about the sound being less distinguished, and pushing the ambiguity even further. Again, it would be nice to let the medium and the use of the computer enhance the mysteriousness of the piece.