Looking Outwards 02: Generative Art

Design has different mediums and some even unable to be seen by the human eye, but by using code, Joshua Davis used music to create art. He is a designer with a MoMa class on designing with sound, called Painting with Sound, and each piece is done differently or reacted to differently. Specifically, The Lament Configuration (2015) is a sporadic example of his computational design. The video is a frantic collage of abstract shapes and their relationships with the music. Incorporating an acoustic aspect to the art gave it transitions and dynamic of each shape a purpose. The smoothness of and the matching of the beat to the piece gave it a coherent flow when watching the video. Not only does the viewer see and hear the beats but the way the shapes are moving touches the viewer.

If coded the animation was reacting to something specific about the music. There could’ve been a variable that changed everything the music changed. When the beat was louder, or more intense the shape grew larger. In addition, the shape was constantly spinning. The spinning component can be a variable that changes the coordinates of the shape and the enlargement can be a variable that is affected by sound. The red color of the background stayed constant but the shape affected by the music is changing perspectives, which changed how light affects the shape. Maybe this is possible when the shapes react a certain size of coordinate the color changes, using an if else condition.

Joshua Davis has a different piece for every song he analyzes, but not only changing colors or shapes but the format of his piece. From the way the shapes are organized to how they move, each piece he has emits a different emotion, the same way music channels different emotions in everyone.

https://joshuadavis.com/MoMA-Classes-Painting-with-Sound