LookingOutwards-02 – Page 5 – [OLD FALL 2019] 15-104 • Introduction to Computing for Creative Practice

Emma N-M LO-02

Colors from a Bright Wing. Design + Code by Dr. Woohoo

Colors from a Jacket with Fur. Design + Code by Dr. Woohoo

Colors from a Gulabi Gang. Design + Code by Dr. Woohoo

Colors from a Lucious Flower. Design + Code by Dr. Woohoo

Generative Knitting Design Tools by Dr. Woohoo (2016)

Dr. Woohoo created a generative work where it captured color palettes and turned them into patterns and applied it to a knitted design, such as sneakers. I enjoy the fun color palettes that are created and the patterns the come about from those colors. The patterns are typically wavy lines intersecting to create an interesting visual. I think it is really cool how the pattern that is created gets interpreted another way when it is knitted into a shoe. You can see the colors are the same, but the knitted pattern is not clearly the same as the generative pattern. The color palettes are captured through colors in the world, and then an algorithm is used to generate a pattern from those colors to knit onto a design. I think Dr. Woohoo’s artistic sensibilities comes from knowing how to create interesting color palettes and know when he has an eye-catching pattern.

Carly Sacco – Looking Outwards – 02

A generated baroque architecture example of Celestino Soddu.

Celestino Soddu is known for being an architect who uses generative art to create forms and designs for architecture. One of his notable projects from 2011, is using algorithms to replicate and create new geometries that mimic the designs of Baroque Architecture to imagine new dynamic structures. I think this is a very interesting way to use generative art to take a precedent and recreate the same ideas but re-imagine them with the use of modern technology.

Celestino Soddu using generative methods to create Baroque style architecture.

Soddu used an algorithm matrix based on 21 that generates seemingly perfect architecture, but is rarely repeatable. The algorithm adapts to achieve unpredictable orders. This is very representative of his work due to the fact that Soddu tries to have his generative forms still represent the styles known to baroque. Although he is digitally creating a new design, the product can still be associated to baroque architecture which is his ultimate goal.

Generative art that represents styles of Baroque Architecure.

Aaron Lee-Looking Outwards-02

“theatroacoustic” system. Courtesy LMN Architects

Creator’s name: LMN Architects

Title of the work: Ceiling of a new concert hall at the Voxman School of Music

Year of creation: 2016

Link: https://lmnarchitects.com/project/university-of-iowa-voxman-music-building

Construction sequence. Courtesy LMN Architects

Today, architects use scripting or programming to achieve complex yet fascinating geometry by computers which straightly leads to digital fabrication for mockups. The curves of these new shapes are not only proven to be the new aesthetic but also logical to be built in reality.

LMN Architects in Seattle designed the ceiling of a new concert hall at the Voxman School of Music using generative design and construction. Sophisticated algorithms in scripts were necessary in order to perform seamlessly an acoustic reflector, a distributor of light and air and most importantly aesthetically pleasing. Parameters / variables were first defined and generative algorithm calculated the best degree of curves, number of openings of the 946 unique, folded-aluminum composite modules while none are alike.

The further advantage of designing in scripts is that the design can be easily transcribed to fabrication language. In this case, any changes made to parameters could be produced into physical mock up to simulate acoustic level. Iterations of this process proved that the final product was the best option.

Mihika Bansal-Looking Outwards-02

One of the things that I am passionate about is climate change. So seeing artists that focus on these prevalent issues as the focus of their work is inspiring for me. An artist that I am particularly interested in is Mitchell Whitelaw. He has multiple pieces in which the recent climate crisis is his inspiration.

One piece that I find to be particularly interesting is his climate coasters. These coasters take data from the ANU climate change institute, and will change based on location and time in order to create a new coaster that represents that new data. The app also uses data that ranges from 1991 to 2017, which shows how much it has changed and grown. This project is also an interesting example of data visualization, another field that I am really interested in pursuing.

Mitchell was the primary artist of this work and it was completed in May of 2018.

Link to work: https://gravitron.com.au/climatecoaster/

Climate change coasters created by the ANU School of Art and Design.

Kristine Kim – Looking Outward-02

there exists this place Tarbell, the artist of “Happy Place,” solely uses computer programs and algorithms to generate his own unique graphic designs. I was instantly drawn into his pieces because of the beautiful textures and the rapid movement he captures just with computer coding. The lines and shear layers that breaks the boundaries of the form of a color is really interesting and compelling that makes me want to just stare at it for a long period of time. Looking into the piece and especially the center of the design, it provides an illusion of it spinning and moving. The color palette also helps the design to portray the smooth and blurry effect this piece provides. For this piece, J.Tarbell used the technique of connected random nodes with preferences to nodes closer. This piece was different then his other works because he claims that he manipulates his works by finely crafting the semantics of each program, but “Happy Place” was open to surprising discoveries. J.Tarbell claims that all code is dead and unnecessary unless it is executed within the computer so he distributes the source of his code in modifiable forms.

friend network

http://complexification.net/gallery/machines/happyPlace/index.php

Minjae Jeong-LO-02

While searching through the list of generative artists, I went through the works by Tom Beddard and found his work “Tree Net” the most fascinating.

http://sub.blue/treenet

One thing that I really like about this art is that it reminded me of our cells when we enlarge them enough to look with our bare eyes. When we think of generative art as reproducing the patterns we find in nature, I think this project is a very inspiring work that it shows such details. I do not still understand how difficult creating art with coding, but I my goal from this class is to learn how to reproduce what I want as close as possible.

Chelsea Fan-Looking-Outward-02

LIA is an Austrian artist who combines drawing and painting with digital images and algorithms. She uses code to translate a concept into a “machine” that produces performances, software installations, sculptures, projections, and other multimedia productions live.

I admire that LIA mixes the traditional “art” of painting and drawing with a new and innovative style through code. Her artwork has a sense of fluidity and continuation in its movement. I really like that her software art is abstract and isn’t meant to resemble or picture a tangible object. It is really inspiring to see a form of art that you normally wouldn’t see in a museum or anywhere out on the streets. My favorite part is that there’s no tangible “finishing” point in her artwork. It is not as if she has draw a cat and is finished, but rather when she herself feels satisfied with the machine’s interpretation of her code.

The only critique I have is that there is a lot of inconsistency in the appreciation of abstract artwork. The beauty and worth in abstract artwork is difficult to measure compared to representational artwork.

An Untitled Experiment by LIA from January 8, 2017

Another Untitled Experiment by LIA from June 5, 2018

Videos of LIA artwork can be found at this link: https://vimeo.com/liasomething/videos

Alice Cai LookingOutwards 02

Holger Lippman is a generative artist with a traditional visual art background. He was inspired by the motive to make art the same way that music was made. However, he wanted to stick with his painting roots but compares his creations to compositions and harmonies. ow, he paints with generative code.

corrosive landscape II

Corrosive Landscape II is a project by Holger Lippmann. It is a continuation of his project Corrosive Landscape. The generative work is based on landscape photography in Berlin. He used code to read color maps and image structures and the algorithm generated endless ellipses that overlap with each other to create horizontal patterns. The ellipses vary in opacity, thus creating a fading gradient around every central ellipse. The gradient also allows for color blending even though each shape is essentially its own color (no mixing gradients). I really like this work because from afar it doesn’t look like coded art and takes on an impressionist or abstract style. but up close you can see the ellipses and the more digital aspect of it. The colors in each piece are gorgeous and create a beautiful color palette. Although pieces are all very abstract, the ellipses and horizontal lines create the essence of a landscape.

Monica Chang – Looking Outwards – 02

Maxim Zhestov is a media artist who concentrates on film, installation and computational design to stretch the boundaries of visual language. He is famous for his digitally-rendered gallery designs which produce choreographed and calculated movements of elements and shapes using physics and computers.

Computations is an experimental art film which explores our computers from the ‘black boxes’ of our laptops and the devices created in our world. This piece of artwork concentrates on line, form, color and motion. Zhestov envisions a movement of small, computed organisms encompassing the environment while shapeshifting in perfect synchronization causing a beautiful dance across the digital gallery.

What really captured me was how realistic it looked at first; it was unbelievable. My knowledge of how this type of work is created is very limited as I am just introducing myself to the process of how art films like this could possibly come into creation. There is so much research and study that goes into projects like this which is very admirable.

Computations

https://zhestkov.studio/Computations-Art-film-2019

Lanna Lang-Looking Outwards-02

Casey Reas’ “KNBC” / Dec. 2015

This project is a continuous, generative collage created through an audio and visual distortion of television signals that are looped continuously as the data is extracted, amplified, and composed into a new stream. This installation combined coding, art, and sound into a unified piece of work. What I find interesting about this work is his unique artistic expression with a visual experience that builds upon conceptual art, experimental animation, and generative software technology.

I cannot think of a way to make this project better than it already is. It’s full of chaos yet is somehow still kind of uniform by the symmetry of the visual distortion of the television broadcast signals. The audio played with the visual fits beautifully with the portrayed imagery by immersing the viewers with a haunting and eerie feel.

Reas wants to depict through his work that writing code is a versatile way of thinking of design, and not just another tool. Reas not only could use software, but he created his own called Processing, in hopes to inspire others, including his students at UCLA, to use code not only for STEM but also for visual arts. This project was inspired by his previous work that also focused on distorted, television-static imagery, such as “Tox Screen”, “Ultraconcentrated”, “100% Gray Coverage”, and others.

Video recording of the audio and visuals for Casey Reas’ “KNBC”.