Author: M

l.o. 5: 3D art

louie zong is a los angeles-based multidisciplinary artist working primary in freelance animation and instrumentation in jazz, pop, and blues. he uses blender, a free and open-source 3D creation software, to make music videos that feature lively, fun, and sculptural animations that are synced to the waveforms of their corresponding audio clips. (watch: quack!, elephant memories)

louie’s background is in 2D story art and illustration for children’s cartoons, and the color and textural style of his 3D work maintains those visual anchoring. because blender is meant to encompass the entirety of the 3D animation pipeline, I assume that he first models figures and then motivates them in a video editing format.

l.o. 4: sound art

l.o. 04
m. tayao
lab section E

‘the witness-machine complex’ examines how technological interventions in sound can and do mediate our ability to communicate with one another in tangible spaces. the case study of this project is the Nuremberg trials in 1945-1946, where then-newly developed electronic audio technology was used to enable live translation during court proceedings. the translation machines used red and yellow flashing lights to change the speed or repeat audio that was then fed into the headphones of the prosecutors and witnesses. often, these interventions would add confusion and stagnated time to the trials, pauses that were then cut from recordings of the proceedings.

in this exhibition, computational sound artists abu ham dam collected seven of these moments of confusion and re-enacts them using machines that mimic the technology of the translators used in 1945. he uses these staged moments to highlight how the relationship between testimony and the technologies that confer them disseminates and distorts how truth and justice operates in global contexts.

project 04: string art

for this project, I was inspired by the work of weaver and sculptor Ruth Asawa, who gained international recognition in the art world for her looped-wire sculptures and hanging mobiles. the most challenging part of this project was creating self-contained forms that intersected multiple times.

string art ruth asawa
/*  atayao
    lab section E
    project 04: string art
*/ 

// incrementing variables
var connectX = 150;    // starting x for all connecting lines
var connectY1a = 75;    // top of shape A
var connectY1b = 125;    // bottom of shape A
var connectY2a = 160;    // top of shape B
var connectY2b = 190;    // bottom of shape B
var connectY3a = 250;    // top of shape C
var connectY3b = 350;    // bottom of shape C
var xa = 200;    // y-point of top share
var xb = 50;    // y-point of middle shape
var xc = 120;    // y-point of bottom shape
var dx1a;    // change in x for top half of top shape
var dx1b;    // change in x for bottom half of top shape
var dx2a;    // change in x for top half of middle shape
var dx2b;    // change in x for bottom half of middle shape
var dx3a;    // change in x for top half of bottom shape

// number of lines that connect two anchors
var numLines = 15;

function setup() {
    createCanvas(300, 400);
    background(0);
    stroke(255);

    // ANCHOR LINES

    stroke(100);
    line(width/2, 0, width/2, 350);    // center line

    stroke(255);
    strokeWeight(1.5);
    // shape A
    line(100, 100, 200, 100);    // anchor 1A (horizontal)
    line(150, 75, 150, 125);    // anchor 1B (vertical)
    line(100, 100, 150, 75);    // anchor 2 (top-left diagonal)
    line(150, 125, 200, 100);    // anchor 3 (bottom-right diagonal)
    // shape B
    line(50, 175, 250, 175);    // anchor 4A (horizontal)
    line(150, 160, 150, 190);    // anchor 4B (vertical)
    line(50, 175, 150, 160);    // anchor 5 (top-left diagonal)
    line(150, 190, 250, 175);    // anchor 6 (bottom-right diagonal)
    // shape C
    line(120, 300, 180, 300);    // anchor 7A (horizontal)
    line(150, 250, 150, 350);    // anchor 7B (vertical)
    line(120, 300, 150, 350);    // anchor 8 (bottom-left diagonal)
    line(150, 250, 180, 300);    // anchor 9 (top-right diagonal)

    // INCREMENTS
    dx1a = (100-xa)/numLines;
    dx1b = (200-100)/numLines;
    dx2a = (250-50)/numLines;
    dx2b = (50-250)/numLines;
    dx3a = (180-120)/numLines;
    dx3b = (120-180)/numLines;
}

function draw () {
    stroke(200);    // color of connecting lines

    // TOP SHAPE
    // top half
    for (var i = 0; i <= numLines; i++) {
        line(connectX, connectY1a, xa, 100);
        xa += dx1a;
    }
    // bottom half
    xa = xa + dx1b
    for (var i = 0; i <= numLines; i++) {
        line(connectX, connectY1b, xa, 100);
        xa += dx1b;
    }

    // MIDDLE SHAPE
    // top half
    for (var i = 0; i <= numLines; i++) {
        line(connectX, connectY2a, xb, 175);
        xb += dx2a;
    }
    // bottom half
    for (var i = 0; i <= numLines; i++) {
        line(connectX, connectY2b, xb + dx2b, 175);
        xb += dx2b;
    }

    // BOTTOM SHAPE
    // top half
    for (var i = 0; i <=numLines; i++) {
        line(connectX, connectY3a, xc, 300);
        xc += dx3a;
    }
    // bottom half
    xc  = xc + dx3b;
    for (var i = 0; i <= numLines; i++) {
        line(connectX, connectY3b, xc, 300);
        xc += dx3b;
    }
    noLoop();
}

project 02: variable faces

m’s project 2
/* atayao
    lab section E
    project 2
*/

// random reassignment (RR)
var eyeSize = 20;
var eyeDistance = 0.20;
var faceWidth = 115;
var faceHeight = 105;

// pick a card, any card (PAC)
var mouth = 0;
var skin = 0;

// variables from canvas dimensions
var x = 320;
var y = 240;

function setup() {
    createCanvas(640, 480);
}

function draw() {
    background(255);
    strokeWeight(2.5);
    /* if-else statements test for the current value of 
    PAC variables to fill in skin color, mouth, & any facial marks.*/

    // SKIN COLORS
    if (skin == 0) {
        // bright blue skin
        fill(33, 118, 255);
        ellipse(width/2, height/2, faceWidth, faceHeight);
    } else if (skin == 1) {
        // pink skin
        fill(255, 79, 170);
        ellipse(width/2, height/2, faceWidth, faceHeight);
    } else if (skin == 2) {
        // green skin
        fill(136, 212, 38);
        ellipse(width/2, height/2, faceWidth, faceHeight);
    } else if (skin == 3) {
        // orange skin
        fill(255, 117, 43);
        ellipse(width/2, height/2, faceWidth, faceHeight);
    } else if (skin == 4) {
        // turquoise skin
        fill(2, 206, 217);
        ellipse(width/2, height/2, faceWidth, faceHeight);
    } else {
        // yellow skin
        fill(255, 228, 56);
        ellipse(width/2, height/2, faceWidth, faceHeight);
    }   

    // MOUTH SHAPES
    if (mouth == 0) {
        // open mouth
        fill(0);
        circle(width/2, (height/2 + (faceHeight/3)), faceWidth/6); 
    } else if (mouth == 1) {
    // neutral mouth
        line((x - faceWidth/5), (y + faceHeight/4), (x + faceWidth/5), (y + faceHeight/4));
    } else if (mouth == 2) {
    // smiling mouth
        fill(255);
        triangle((x - faceWidth/5), (y + faceHeight/4), (x + faceWidth/5), (y + faceHeight/4), x, (y + faceHeight/3));
    } else {
    // dot mouth
        fill(0);
        circle(width/2, (height/2 + (faceHeight/3)), faceWidth/25); 
    }

    // EYES
    var eyeLX = width / 2 - faceWidth * eyeDistance;    // x-coordinate for left eye
    var eyeRX = width / 2 + faceWidth * eyeDistance;    // x-coordinate for right eye
    fill(255);
    ellipse(eyeLX, height / 2, eyeSize, eyeSize);    // left eye
    ellipse(eyeRX, height / 2, eyeSize, eyeSize);    // right eye
    fill(0);
    ellipse(eyeLX, height/2, eyeSize/2, eyeSize/2);    // left pupil
    ellipse(eyeRX, height/2, eyeSize/2, eyeSize/2);    // right pupil
    fill(0);
}

function mousePressed() {
    /* when the mouse is clicked, variables are reassigned to random values within
    specified ranges. */

    // RR
    eyeSize = random(18, 35);
    eyeDistance = random(0.20, 0.28);
    faceWidth = random(75, 150);
    faceHeight = random(100, 200);

    // PAC
    skin = int(random(0, 6)); 
    mouth = int(random(0, 4));
    cheeks = int(random(0, 6));
}

The most challenging and interesting part of this project for me was figuring out the maximum random variability possible to create interesting combinations while still making the overall images legible as faces.

l.o. 02: generative art

‘variations on a definition’ by poet and programmer allison parrish is a series of poems that were produced by breaking words down into numbers that correspond to their constituent sounds using a stats-based model of the english language. the program then automatically mixes and recombines these numbers to blur and corrupt the original phonetic features of the words used in the poems.

I admire how this project makes use of algorithmically-defined representation to highlight the malleability of language over space and time, especially in the context of the social internet and postmodern poetics. it’s a precise and elegant way to confuse language, which falls in line with parrish’s research on contemporary use of language at NYU.

project 1: self-portrait

m’s project 1
/*m. tayao
    atayao
    lab section E
*/

function setup() {
    createCanvas(500, 500);
    background(0);
}

function draw() {
// BACKGROUND CHANGE
if (mouseX > width/2) {
    background(145, 176, 255);    // light blue bg
    fill(208, 230, 112);    // "O"
    rect(width/2 - 50, height/2 - 200, 35, 55);
    rect(width/2 - 40, height/2 - 190, 25, 45);
    fill(145, 176, 255);
    rect(width/2 - 40, height/2 - 190, 15, 35);
    fill(208, 230, 112);    // "H"
    rect(width/2 - 5, height/2 - 200, 10, 55);
    rect(width/2 + 25, height/2 - 200, 10, 55);
    rect(width/2, height/2 - 175, 30, 10);
    rect(width/2 + 45, height/2 - 200, 10, 40);    // "!"
    rect(width/2 + 45, height/2 - 155, 10, 10);
} else {
    background(208, 230, 112);
    }
// SELF-PORTRAIT
noStroke();
fill(64, 48, 27);    // hair
ellipse(width/2 - 55, height/2 - 60, 75);
ellipse(width/2 + 25, height/2 - 50, 135);
rect(width/2 - 92.5, height/2 - 60, 184.75, 200);
fill(214, 161, 96);    // head
ellipse(width/2, height/2 + 15, 150, 165);
fill(89, 55, 12);    // eyebrows
ellipse(width/2 - 25, height/2 + 7, 25, 10);
ellipse(width/2 + 25, height/2 + 7, 25, 10);
fill(242, 236, 228);    // whites of eyes
ellipse(width/2 - 30, height/2 + 35, 45, 30);
ellipse(width/2 + 30, height/2 + 35, 45, 30);
fill(125, 81, 0);    // irises
ellipse(width/2 - 30, height/2 + 35, 20);
ellipse(width/2 + 30, height/2 + 35, 20);
fill(64, 44, 15);    // pupils
circle(width/2 - 30, height/2 + 35, 10);
circle(width/2 + 30, height/2 + 35, 10);
fill(181, 129, 65);    // nose
ellipse(width/2 - 5, height/2 + 70, 7);
ellipse(width/2 + 5, height/2 + 70, 7);
fill(237, 115, 90);    // cheeks
ellipse(width/2 - 45, height/2 + 65, 40, 20);
ellipse(width/2 + 45, height/2 + 65, 40, 20);
fill(191, 69, 131);    // mouth
ellipse(width/2, height/2 + 85, 20, 10);
fill(242, 236, 228);    // teef
ellipse(width/2, height/2 + 82, 13, 5);
}

l.o.: my inspiration

‘landscapes of love’ is a webzine culmination of the work of participants in [digital love languages], a class about building software upon the assumption of shared love and communality in online spaces. this project rests under the umbrella of the school for poetic computation (sfpc), a new york-based experimental school of interdisciplinary study in art, code, hardware, and critical theory.

as a humanities student at one of the most prominent preprofessional and technical schools in the country, I really admire the marriage of humanistic and innovative research and teaching that this project represents. no idea how long it took them to make, but the class took place over the course of summer 2020, so I can’t imagine any single contribution to the zine required more than 3 or 4 months of work.

creating this project likely required some combination of custom and existent software. ‘landscapes of love’ and the sfpc in general may have been inspired by or working in close conjunction with thinkers and makers in design justice, radical information architecture, generative / game artists like everest pipkin, etc.