404.Zero

An artistic duo from St. Petersburg, Russia, 404.Zero create A/V performances that use custom-built synthesizers and generative graphics. Their work is performed live, and being generative in nature have the ability to mutate, grow, and react in realtime in the environment that they are performing in.

It’s of no surprise then that much of their visual work, while being 100% digitally generated, has an organic quality to it. Transforming textures and shapes elicit waves and other natural phenomenon. These visuals work in tandem with generative audio that drones. Utilizing tonal shifts and adjusting the parameters of their set-up they are exploring the liminal space that lies between states by creating a constant (and sometimes looping) flow.

I looked into the Fractal Forums for inspiration for Generative Art. Mathematical patterns always seemed so beautiful to me especially in bigger scales. The way they enable me to imagine myself in the patterns was mesmerizing.

How such complicated shapes are created from lines of command texts amazes me. If I try imagine a human working on this kind of project, by painting or other kind of laborious means, I wouldn’t admire the work, not the artist’s grit, but the work. I would probably not be able to empathize with the artist, and think, “Wow, that is amazing, but why does that matter or what’s the value of that art that is so static?’ But knowing that this is generated by computer and can be manipulated to different scales and shapes makes it so much more versatile than just a painting to me.

About the way it was created, as it is mentioned in the name of the forum, I believe it used the fractal number pattern to generate the patterns, how from a number, infinite related numbers branch out as long as the pattern continues. What is interesting here is that this art contains more than one repeating pattern. The quicker spiral and slower spiral, and another pattern on the edges of the spirals.

The artist’s username is “Caleidoscope” and the post was created on 2017.

One artist I’m inspired by is Joan Truckenbrod. Their work is really simplistic and is mostly line drawings that usually has no color. I really enjoy it because it seems like something that would be created in illustrator and may be duplicated in photoshop but it’s just algorithmic lines and im very intrigued by their work. I also like that it doesn’t seem complicated at all but the bridge or foundation of the art could be really complex. The output is beautiful but I wouldn’t really know how to replicate something like that and I find it inspiring.

idea space – a cyclic universe by karsten schmidt

This generative artwork is a timelapse animation where digital artist Karsten Schmist created a ongoing visualization project of space where steadily increasing number of moving particles are attractive by slow moving, invisible gravitational force centres. The imaginary cylindrical space act as a four dimensional canvas where the moving particles will leave permanent traces in time as well as in space. The paradoxical set up created ironical results that even with the increase of particles approaching to infinite, there is no increase in computational cost.

From the image, one can see the the particles have larger movements when they are far away from the gravitational centres. On the other hands, near gravitational centres, the density of particles is significantly higher than far away places. This symbolizes the shift of the university.

Italian woodworker Uli Kirchler shapes kinetic castles out of knobbly tree pieces, which are known as “very hidden castles.” Now based in Oregon, Kirchler uses local wood pieces that have an interesting shape, which ultimately dictates the form and placement of the castles within the wood. The castles, which in starting position resemble an ancient European streetscape, cave into the carved piece of wood after a gentle stroke of the hand. 

I admire this piece for its structurally ability to both form a hilly skyline and easily retake the shape of its original wooden formwork. It shares characteristics with general computing practice in how quickly and deceivingly easy a given task is accomplished. Assuming that Kirchler based the positioning of the telescopic castles on the soundest areas of the wood piece, the rhythm of the piece contains an organic quality, giving it a naturalized type of algorithm.

Title: Nervous System for New Balance Data-Driven Midsoles
Date of Creation: 2015

Peoples running forms are often none two alike. For this reason, there are hundreds of shoe brands and types designed for specific running styles. New Balance asked nervous System to develop a shoe that had personalized sole designs that were auto-generated from an algorithm by pressure point data. In terms of data collection, points of pressure and impact strikes would be taken into account. The overall design of the shoe generates into an organic design that represents natural structures. Nervous System approaches designs that look like cell structures, plant leaves, or spider webs to evenly distribute the impact of the runner. What I enjoy about this project is how Nervous System develops structures that are both visually pleasing and extremely effective to the specific user. It’s interesting to see how New Balance saw an opportunity to build custom shoes just like other sports have for gear. By partnering with a company like Nervous System, they were able to develop a shoe that’s inclusive of all running forms based on a generative algorithm.

Art That Makes Itself Symposium 2015 | Frieder Nake

Frieder Nake is a mathematician and computer artist. He is also the founding father of digital computer art. He raised a question of “Do calculating machines like drawing?” and he tried to solve it by experimenting with digital artwork. A computer is a tool equally as useful as a brush and paints which turn the open infinite process into a determined finite process.

http://dada.compart-bremen.de/item/artwork/1208

This is one of his famous artwork “Walk-Through Raster” done in 1972 was particularly interesting to me. He color-plotted squares in yellow, orange and blue with different grid dimensions. The variations of depth and density are shown through the layering of the grids. It is a full series of art compositions. To me, it is similar to how computer screen works. Zooming in to the resolution of the display, all we can see are color squares. A lot his work was also based on political points which takes the merely aesthetic compositions to the next level.

Karl Sims, a second generation generative artist, explores the concept of art production via algorithms and repeated patterns. One of Sims’ projects that stood out to me was “Liquid Selves.” Sims used software and animations to morph an animation that depicts a soul leaving our physical bodies. The movement that Sims incorporates sets a tone as well as displays the skilled algorithmic patterns that Sims utilizes. The description states that “particle systems were used to disassemble and reconstruct various images” while “artificial evolution and interpolation of 3D parametric shapes allowed the creation of unusual surface transformations.” (Sims, 1992). I admired this particular work of Sims because it is a fractal-like creation that invites audience members to further analyze each component of the animation. While it stirs a sense of discomfort with all the “abnormal” animations, the artwork also suggests a beauty and uniqueness of the work itself and establishes a soothing tone to better reflect the society we live in.

The eCloud Sculpture is an interactive installation project that is located at the San Jose International Airport and created in 2010. Whenever I travel I usually go to this airport and these endless line of tiles have always intrigued my eye while walking down the long hallway.

This sculpture is made up of hundreds of polycarbonate tiles hung from a tensile structure that respond to the real-time weather data from all over the world by changing from transparent to opaque. The tiles reflect the current weather as when it is raining the eCloud looks like it is dropping while when it is cloudy the display feels slow and lazy. This installation created by artist Aaron Koblin, designer Nik Hafermaas, and NASA visual strategist Dan Good is inspired by the behavior and volume of an idealized cloud and produced by UEBERSEE which is an artist production platform specializing in converging digital media with spatial experiences

https://vimeo.com/320461873

Fluctus by LIA

LIA is an Australian artist whose primary working material is code.

The piece, “Fluctus” especially appeals to my aesthetic sense. I like the fluidity and vision behind it. The funny part about it for me is, is that it reminds me of the painful times where i’ve had to deal with computers crashing or some of my own coding projects not working as it should.

While it evokes some negative memories, it is absolutely cool to look at.

As far as how it works, it looks like the “artboard” is probably not redrawing at all like you would for a smooth, singular animation. Instead, the algorithm just leaves behind what it draws as it goes and keeps drawing on top. This creates a smooth, repeated pattern that gives it a 3d “noodle” look. There also seems to be some “mirroring” going on where the drawer starts splitting in certain areas. It certainly adds to the complex but simple nature of the artwork.

Another interesting thing as I was watching this is that the way the drawer moves makes it look like it was a “performance”. The movement looks like its choreographed in a way that makes it look purposefully artistic rather than the random generation of computer.