For this Looking Outwards, I looked to Eunice Choe’s week 6 post on Matt Deslauriers‘s randomly generated line work called Color Wander (2016). This artwork generates a new composition of lines randomly with every click, expressing unique patterns and color palettes.
I agree with Eunice that this work is very pleasing since the growing abstractions are not overwhelming or large to the point of them being uncomfortable. However, I would add that he way he used Simplex noise to make the objects move is arguably the most pleasing part of this work. There is something so wonderful about the way that you never know what line or color will appear next, what direction or form it will take, or at what speed it complete those two actions at. It is as if someone is painting on your computer screen and it is simply mesmerizing to watch.
For this week’s assignment, I have decided to look at Xindi Lyu’s Week 7 Looking Outwards Project and Lee Krasner’s painting. I decided to review this entry because I really enjoyed that week’s promo of randomness as well as the way that Xindi interpreted this assignment. For me, I still chose to continue with something relating to technology and did not consider stepping out of that field into fine arts. I enjoyed how she describes the simplest elements of strokes and slashes to create something random and yet still beautiful. In addition, the story behind the painting attracted me to reinterpret the visual language of the strokes and look at the painting differently than how it looks upon first glance. (I’m also a huge Jackson Pollock fan). As a whole, I appreciated the choice to step out of conventional choices for projects and this post inspired me to branch out with future subject matters for Looking Outwards.
I loved the piece that Anthony posted; Hush‘s interactive sound-art installation invites onlookers to rotate prism pieces of a board that refracts and changes color— and therefore sound.
My favorite statement from Anthony’s post is that the project ” allows for a calm duality in light projection and soundscape.” The elegance for this duality is exactly what makes the project so astoundingly sublime— and generates such a calm, multi-sensorial experience.
close up of board pieces
The pieces are elementary, and simple in a way that makes the piece inviting to touch and understand. What generates as a result, is something that feels seemingly complex, but aesthetically correct (and therefore simple). This duality is something that speaks to me as well, as someone who aims to create experiences that draw from inherently complex processes, this immediate and simple harmony is something I hope to achieve in my work in the future.
//Jenny Hu
//Section E
//jjh1@andrew.cmu.edu
//Project 09
var underlyingImage;
var coffeeImage;
function preload() {
var myImageURL = "https://i.imgur.com/raTslIA.jpg";
var myCoffeeURL = "https://i.imgur.com/6kkGXgx.png";
coffeeImage = loadImage(myCoffeeURL);
underlyingImage = loadImage(myImageURL);
}
function setup() {
createCanvas(400, 600);
background(255);
underlyingImage.loadPixels();
frameRate(10);
}
function draw() {
//variables needed for drawing the pixels over and over again
var xa = random(width);
var ya = random(height);
var xb = random(width);
var yb = random(height);
var xc = random(width);
var yc = random(height);
var ixa = constrain(floor(xa), 0, width-1);
var iya = constrain(floor(ya), 0, height-1);
var ixb = constrain(floor(xb), 0, width-1);
var iyb = constrain(floor(yb), 0, height-1);
var ixc = constrain(floor(xc), 0, width-1);
var iyc = constrain(floor(yc), 0, height-1);
var theColorAtLocationXaYa = underlyingImage.get(ixa, iya);
var theColorAtLocationXbYb = underlyingImage.get(ixb, iyb);
var theColorAtLocationXcYc = underlyingImage.get(ixc, iyc);
//open ellipses
noFill();
stroke(theColorAtLocationXaYa);
strokeWeight(1);
ellipse(xa, ya, 15, 15);
//big rectangle
fill (theColorAtLocationXbYb);
noStroke();
rect(xb, yb, 10, 10);
//small rectangle
fill (theColorAtLocationXcYc);
noStroke();
rect(xc, yc, 5, 5);
}
//call the coffee image when you click
function mousePressed() {
image(coffeeImage, mouseX-75, mouseY-75, 150, 150);
}
I loved the textural quality individual shapes gave to this project— like in the brief, it was nice to see this transforming effect happen as I generated the pixels across the canvas.
My image is of my friend, Adella, who is pictured here opening a bottle of La Colombe. Rightfully so, I thought it would be interesting and fun to add a La Colombe image as the user clicks around. Doing so, makes the image feel even more artificial/generated, and even ad-like. In some ways, it contextualizes the image.
adella in the original photoresulting image screenshotbeginning screenshot, with a few mouse presses
This week, I have decided to review Jenny Hu’s Week 7 Looking Outwards on Giorgia Lupi and Kaki King’s project titled ‘Bruises: The Data We Don’t See‘ (2017). I decided to review project because last week, I reviewed a few projects by Lupi and really enjoyed how she is able to humanise data and convey it in a visceral way. I really enjoyed Jenny’s note about how the creators of this project tied in the sensorial and emotional experience of documenting Kaki’s child’s journey with the ITP condition, as it makes the user feel a lot more connected and be able to empathise with the patient. Further, something I admired about this project was how Lupi and King began the project by hand documenting symptoms and moods by hand via charts and interviews, but were able to piece the information together in a fluid timeline that was sensitive to the context at hand via digital animation. Something else that I found especially visceral about this project was the motif chosen– the white flowers and hand written annotations created a delicate quality, that allowed for the symbols exploration to supplement with a truthful transcription of the pockets of pain and pleasures of the journey. Finally, I love how the animation of the piece (how the petals, text and symbol embellishments fade onto the screen) fills in a ghostly shell, and helps viewers to understand that the child’s journey is every changing and not static, filled with both highs and lows, thus conveying an important piece of the emotional journey while also allowing for artistic direction to occur.
Initial data visualisation work that was translated digitallyKey of symbols used throughout the video
I was looking through Looking Outwards and Jason’s Looking Outwards 07 caught my eye because of the simple little grid. The grid that caught my eyeScreenshot of possible simulations of my life
This project by Nathan Yau simulates causes of death and related mortality rates. I agree with the assessment that the simplicity of conveying complex data is very successful in this project, and that interaction is balanced nicely with customization or individualization. It’s a little strange to think about though, because it compares the individualization to a general population of other simulated individualizations. My first reaction to seeing this chart was how low the mortality rate is for majority of a person’s lifespan, compared to what I assumed it would be; at 70 years old, the Asian female population has only a 9% mortality rate, which is shocking considering all of the negative stats and information that we retain from media. Similarly, Nathan Yau’s othervisualizations on life and death are equally as intriguing, although I think this project is the easiest to understand.
Reconstructed living human lung tissue on a microfluidic device.
A voxel represents a value on a regular grid in three-dimensional space. Given that understanding, I am fascinated by how this unit can be used to create sculptural works of art. I agree that the most interesting part lies in the data focused physical visualization. I think that the artistic decisions in coordinating colours, as well as selecting a topic of data largely contributes to the beauty of each final piece.
Close-up of data physicalization of the human brain; visualizes bundles of axons.
On the technical side, the program repurposes a multimaterial voxel-printing method that is most often associated with scientific imaging. I find this to be an extremely innovative way to derive new artistic modes. As mentioned in the original review, MIT Media Lab is focusing on advancing 3D printing technology so no titles are given to the works. But, I hope the see this style of media make its way into the art world.
The Mori Building Digital Art Museum. Tokyo, Japan. Opened on June 21st, 2018. Mori Building in collaboration with digital art collective teamLab.
Katherine wrote her very first Looking Outward post about this museum, which claims to be the new era of museums. One that is digital, technical, and immersive. Truly, one large installation of art as opposed to what you might call a normal gallery.
The colors and light displays in particular are truly magical. Even the photos of the exhibit feel completely immersive and sensual. It makes me want to go and interact with it. The original Looking Outward post featured mostly quotes from the article about this piece, which stated that the piece is more an “experience” than it is a “medium”. This whole exhibit raises an interesting question- is this a museum? An installation? An experience? Some sort of playground? When the line gets blurred between passive exhibits and interaction, what does the art become? And is this a new wave of curating art into museums, so that they are more attractive to a public audience? Or is this a new segment of art altogether? I’m unsure, but I’d state definitely that this piece hangs closer to an interactive installation art piece than anything else.
Alexander Chen is a creative director at Google Creative Lab. He did various works including MTA.ME, which altered the NYC subway map to a string instrument, and invented “Les Paul Doodle” with his Google Team. He worked with different companies such as The Barbarian Group, Modernista, and Google, where he currently works in. As a both musician and a creative interaction designer, he does body of work that combine both music and coding. He says that seeing his children discover different instruments and playing around with melody inspires him to create coding that lets him see music in inspiring, new ways. One of his project called the “Pianophase” is a visualization that demonstrates Steve Reich’s 1967 piece Piano Phase into lines with different colors and patterns. He made two pianists repeat the the same note in different speed; one musical pattern draws faster than the other one. I really admire his work because as of lover of both coding and music, he figured out a way to make a harmony between the two. Also, the way he tries to show invisible thing, music, into a visual form is a very fresh idea. He presented most of his work and their descriptions in his main portfolio website. His website is generally very easy to interact because of the simplicity and the visuals that are easily accessible. I learned that simplicity in presenting works can help the audience understand the projects much better.
The above is a video of Mario Klingemann’s speech at the 2015 Eyeo Festival where he presents his perspective on the topic of order in the world of art and computer science. Link: https://vimeo.com/channels/eyeo2015/133783443
Mario Klingemann is a German artist who is known for being one of the first who utilized the use of computer programming in the arts. His works and studies involve researching the connections between creativity, culture and perception through the perspectives of artificial intelligence and mechanical learning. One quote that resonates with his views of the influence of computer programming with art is the quote “If arithmetic, mensuration and weighing be taken away from art, that which remains will be little indeed” from Plato.
In his speech at the 2015 Eyeo Festival of 2015, he discusses about his approaches towards the concept of “order” from the perspectives of a programmer and from that of an artist. A work from him that he discussed during his speech that I was particularly interested in is his work with the image collections of the British Library Labs. In this work, Klingemann classified 1 million images from the British Library Lab and utilized machines learning techniques to define different index for each image. Then, with the new order that he created, he created an artwork (shown partially below) with the information. Knowing how difficult it is think of methods to even run through simple layers of array (from the assignment we just did that involves locating the brightest pixel of the image) I admire this project so much for his skills of being able to sort through such a gigantic array of information!
Mario Klingemann, British Library Labs, 2015
In his presentation, Klingemann uses various images combined with graphic diagrams that help audiences better understand and visualize that information that he is communicating. As a student of communication design I am actually studying how to ease the process of transfer of information between different forms(people to people, things to people…etc.) His method of coordinately visual graphical information through data maps with his presentation really made the data-grasping task of mine as an audience a lot smoother and this is what I am trying to learn from in design too.
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