LookingOutwards-02 – Page 3 – [OLD FALL 2019] 15-104 • Introduction to Computing for Creative Practice

Charmaine Qiu – Looking Outwards – 02

Nervous System is founded by Jesse Louis-Rosenberg and Jessica Rosenkrantz. Together, the team creates designs that combines technology with art. They utilize computer simulations based on patterns in nature to generate art, jewelry, and fashion designs. The designs were further made into reality by digital fabrication.

One of their recent projects is named Porifera done in 2018. It is a jewelry collection inspired by deep sea creatures, and the artwork is created with 3D printed ceramic material. Looking at the process and final printed products, I really admire the amount of hard work that the creators contributed towards this project. I was amazed by the amount of detail that the computer was able to generate. The pattern and movement throughout the form of the jewelry is very natural and refined, which made me wonder about the future market on digitally created and 3D printed designs.

Here is the link to learn more about this project:

https://n-e-r-v-o-u-s.com/projects/sets/porifera/

Katrina Hu – Looking Outwards – 02

Growing Objects

Laplacian Zoetrope, 3D-printed using ABS plastic

The exhibition “Growing Objects,” designed by Jessica Rosencrantz in 2014, replicates natural growth processes using simulations and 3D printed sculptures. The piece is very effective at replicating the structural patterns in nature. I admire the complexity and accuracy of the work.

The algorithm used to generate these works of art are made by using scientific theories and models of natural pattern formation. It is very successful in allowing viewers to visualize the complex growth processes that occur in nature. The project also aims to encourage viewers to think about new ways that design and growth can influence the environment in the future.

Julia Nishizaki – Looking Outwards – 02

A piece from Marius Watz’s KBG series, this particular image depicts the music of Radka Toneff

Marius Watz (http://mariuswatz.com/) is a Norwegian artist based in New York and Oslo, who works through generative software processes. He has a wide variety of works, some of which deal in data visualization, and others which result in physical, 3D printed pieces. Watz is known for his vibrant colors and geometric forms.

The works that I chose to write about are a part of Marius Watz’s KBG series. This series was created for the Kongsberg Jazz Festival in 2010, an international jazz festival held annually in Kongsberg, Norway. I found this series particularly interesting, as Watz selected five classic and contemporary jazz tracks, by Radka Toneff, Atomic, Sonny Rollins, Håkon Kornstad and Røyksopp, and created five visual interpretations of the music. According to his website, he used Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) analysis of the sound as his data input.

I particularly admire this project because of Marius Watz’s use of color and dynamic motion to capture the fun, vibrant, and wide ranging tones and feelings of jazz. Even though these images were mainly used on posters and documentation that wasn’t moving, the geometric and dynamic nature of the forms still draw you in and engage you in a similar way to how music would, giving the audience a sense of what to expect at this festival.

Watz’s work as visuals for the Kongsberg Jazz Festival, invitation for commission and all print design by Anders Bergesen / Superultraplus

Min Ji Kim Kim – Looking Outwards – 02

Quantum Fluctuations video visualizing the different events of proton collision.

Quantum Fluctuations is a generative art piece created by digital artist Markos Kay in 2016. Working together with scientists at the CERN research institute in Geneva, Kay took the hard to understand quantum world, and used art and technology to visually display proton collision. Utilizing particle simulations from the laboratory, Kay was able to virtually paint the different stages involved in this complicated process.

Visual representation of Hadron Decay, the last stage of proton collision.

I was attracted to this art piece because of the chaotic, complex yet beautiful combination of motion, colors and sound. These different components come together to create a synergistic effect, really reflecting and mirroring the intricate process of proton collision. I really admire how Kay was able to use generative art to visualize what otherwise is not detectable to the human eye, and do so in a very aesthetically pleasing way. Looking at this artwork made me feel like I was inside the proton collision itself.

Ghalya Alsanea – Looking Outward-02

Animal Imagination by LIA

artwork consisting of 50 unique iteration

Animal Imagination, created in 2018, is a collection of 50 unique artworks created by software artist LIA. Find her work here.

Taking references from nature and animals, the works present different geometric and abstract shapes, generative patterns and colors, which evolve uniquely in each of the two-minute digital paintings. From sea, to forest and animal references, each variation connects its coded base with an organic aesthetic, providing a sense of harmony between the digital and the natural.

I admire the coherence of each piece, from the colors, to the shapes used, to the movement of the graphics. Even though it is random, it does not feel that way. Each piece is harmonious as it stands. I think this is what shows the artist’s artistic sensibilities, because of her clear knowledge of color theory and proportions. I also admire that even though it is animated art, when you take a still image, it is beautiful on its own as well.

If I had to guess how the algorithm that generated the pieces worked, I would think possibly each piece was inspired by an image of a natural element (i.e. sky or wind). Using those colors(i.e. blues), the primitive shapes in each image (i.e. ellipse and eye shapes), and how it would naturally move (whether that be in concentric movements, linear, radial, etc.) From that information, she can create this coherent art. That would be my best guess.

Here are some examples of the pieces, find more here.

Xu Xu – Looking Outwards – 02

Matthias Dörfelt (MOKA) is a German artist that’s currently working in Los Angeles. Through the use of software products and robotics, he manages to create drawings, prints, animations, videos, and interactive installation. He strongly believes that computation is able to create expressive and playful artworks, therefore he favors special surprises over control during his creation processes. The following artwork is named “Ant Thought, too”, which is a series of computer generated drawings made from a custom computer program. This series of composition was first drawn with a pen plotter, then Dörfelt used acrylic paint to overlay colors on top, and then added the final black ink details in the foreground with pen plotter. Through these interesting techniques, Dörfelt was able to create intriguing, abstract artworks that appear to be interesting and thoughtful. By injecting human-like traits such as flaws, weirdness and naivety, he strives to explore the possibilities of machines.

lrchu – looking outwards – 02

Zaha Hadid was an Iraqi-British architect and also the first woman to receive the Pritzker Prize, one of the highest honors as an architect. Hadid is known for her masterful manipulation of curves and parametricism in her almost other-worldly designs. The Guardian of London even referred to Hadid as the “queen of the curve… who liberated architectural geometry, giving it a whole new expressive identity.”

The Al Wakrah Stadium, designed by Zaha Hadid and Patrik Schumacher for the 2022 FIFA world cup, features an openable roof and cooled seating for all-year soccer play. The form of the building is derived from an abstraction of traditional boats, dhows, which can be found in Al Wakrah’s ports. The stadium not only applies a unique and beautiful form, but also modern solutions to conventional stadium issues like temperature regulation.

Xiaoyu Kang – Looking Outwards – 02

Marcin Ignac create a design project at the Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design in 2011. The project is called “Sea Transport Network,” in which Ignac took inspiration from traditional route of sea transport and created a bunch of light path that he stated to be traceable based on a real GPS coordinate system .
To generate a piece of art from the sea transport network, Ignac used a series of sea transport data and transformed them into visualization. In the visualization Ignac marked out the important trading cities in a relatively brighter spot and used strand of light to connect those spots. And for the final result, he used computational technology to create a series of videos that shows the flow of transport around the earth. After he hides the earth, all that is left is a sphere that is formed by light spots and stands that simulates the sea transport network.

Sarah Kang – Looking Outwards – 02

“Unnumbered Sparks” by Janet Echelman x Aaron Koblin, March 2014 in downtown Vancouver, Canada

Unnumbered Sparks was an interactive installation project created through the collaboration generative artist Aaron Koblin and sculptor, Janet Echelman. This giant, floating canvas was installed in downtown Vancouver, Canada in March of 2014, generating through the real-time data sent through visitors’ mobile devices. I was first interested in this project by its striking visual quality, but then even more amazed by the rendering aspect of this artwork, as visitors directly painted magnified beams of colored light with just small movements on their phones. This project was entirely manifested on a giant, Google Chrome window and programmed using Go, a language that manages the visitor interactions and outputs the visuals to the light projectors. WebGL is a web technology that enables real-time graphics processing; with the WebSockets connection, when users make contact with their phones, the location data is transmitted to the server, allowing instant interaction with the giant canvas projections.

The Making of Unnumbered Sparks, from YouTube.

Aaron Koblin’s focus on data-based interactive digital art partnered with Janet Echelman’s beautiful, flowing sculptures creates a visual experience that users can directly experience and become a part of.

Austin Garcia – Looking Outwards – 02 – Section C

David Bollinger generative art piece D20160112A

Original maze developed with simple forms

This simple piece of art is created as a maze and features several basic graphical elements all in isometric view. A maze is generated by randomizing different vertical connections such as stairs and ladders. This interests me because of my work in game design and this is a simple yet effective example of randomly generated maze design. The algorithm that created this not only generated a complex maze, but also pieced together the different vertical movement elements to generate a unique visual complexity out of simple elements.