Category: LookingOutwards-06

Matt Deslauriers has created computational art that randomizes a “seed” based on where the user clicks, and an art piece render in real time from that seed/origin. To do this, he has combined code from Node.js and HTML. I admire the surprise element of his piece; although you know the seed will be placed every time you click, the color and form of the art that emerges change every time so you feel pleasantly surprised. To do so, the code randomizes the colors and forms that emerge from that middle seed. In his blog post, he addresses how his rendering algorithm is based on an old approach for a project called Generative Impressionism, where the particles are reset to random positions and rendered as line segments moving towards a direction. I think his artistic sense shined in his use of color. He sourced 200 of the most popular color palettes from ColourLovers.com API. Though he didn’t come up with the color schemes himself, I think it was wise for him to source the most popular color palettes because they gave a cohesive and appealing approach to color. His artistic sensibilities also manifested in the constancy of the piece. He was able to find a delicate balance between randomness and constancy that allowed the viewers to feel delighted without confusing or completely shocking the viewer. 

A project that I find to be interesting in terms of its randomness emphasizes how easy it is for the artist to get a random result when he takes the main bulk of the creation of the piece out of his hands. The piece I specifically am going to talk about it Walead Beshty’s FedEx Sculptures series.

The artist creates a glass box that is the exact dimensions of a FedEx box and ships it to the site at which there is going to be an exhibit. The amount that the box has shifted and broken is random and based on the way the box is handled in its shipping. The amount of breakage is also dependent on the time and space through which the box travels which helps reduce the degree of randomness to an extent. While there is no concrete algorithm the artist follows, he has a distinct process he has conducted for the past many years.

He works on these projects by himself and has been creating these sculptures since 2005.

Link to work: https://mesh-magazine.tumblr.com/post/104686699736/shihlun-walead-beshtys-fedex-sculptures

This work made by Bogdan Soban really called out to me because I love how the texture is laid out across the screen. There are different levels of detail within each corner of the image. It is very abstract, and having computation to be responsible for an image like this makes it very intriguing.

This was created by the use of Random images to generate a visual way to create a whole new image. There are three different images that can be generated by what the application is itself, or imported from somewhere else to get something similar. The picture is formed from RGB color components of “points stored in the internal matrix” of the program. Once that is done, the program reads all of them at the same time and draws the fourth picture according to Bogdan. For the algorithm, I don’t know much about how a piece like this was created. Bogdan mentioned, “Calculation of the criterion for the color mixing is the core of the programming algorithm”. So I’m guessing the randomness would be for each point the algorithm or the randomness determines which pixel would be used on the new image or would be merged with another color. There is a large area to make the mixing algorithm more and more complex in order to get more interesting results. So the more contrasts the original pictures have, the complex your compiled picture is going to be.

I found a random art generator online called random-art.org. When one types in a name, the generator will give you a randomly-drawn image. This program is written by Andrej Bauer, who completed his degree at CMU and is currently teaching at a university in Slovenia. This random art generator is coded using a pseudo-random number generator, which determines the color of each pixel. Because it is based on a pseudo-random number generator, one will always get the same image if he or she types in the same word.

On the website, the creator notes that the program is primarily written in OCaml, but has java script embedded on the web version, and may download a python version if desired.

I find it very interesting that one can use computer to code random images and entertain people!

Helen Frankenthaler was one of the most prominent American artists in the twentieth century, her style being Abstract Expressionism. The painting of hers I am analyzing is called Mountains and Sea, which is her most famous painting, created in 1952.

With the creation of Mountains and Sea, Frankenthaler ushered in a new breakthrough in regards to American abstraction. She used a soak-stain technique, which requires the artist to thin out their paint using turpentine or kerosene, which allows the medium to seep through the canvas’ unprimed weaves.

I found this painting interesting because of the technique Frankenthaler used in order to achieve this look. While Jackson Polluck’s paintings, and a lot of other abstract artists depend on their own motion in order to create fluidity in their work, Frankenthaler used the paint to design such an organic feeling.

I am able to see Frankenthaler’s artistic sensibilities manifest through this technique where we see her trying to think differently than other abstract artists at the time while at the same time, still drawing inspiration from them. It is easy to see that she is truly trying to make her work her own.

I suppose there was no algorithm used in order to create this painting. The randomness of the paint and where it moves itself makes me believe there is no specific system and there is no way to fully control/predict what the painting was going to look like at the end.