Author: sticks

sticks-LivingWallpaper

Living Wallpaper

GIF

screen recording with better quality: 

My initial goals for this project was to create a mesmerizing space with shapes, so I wanted to focus a lot on creating an animation that has objects flying through and out of the frame and one that felt less static. I wanted to implement rotation as part of my infinite loop, where shapes will loop out of the frame, and then loop back in. I also wanted to create a funnel-like and vortex kind of motion with the shapes, where the distance from the center of the vortex allows objects to behave differently. I later chose to use rectangles for every object, as every different kind of rectangle had its own behavior. The paths of the flying rectangles were defined by various equations, where I combined the sin, cos, and tan equations while adding rotation to create different orbit behaviors.

I think my living-wallpaper is a good starting point as a living wall-paper, but I could have added better rotational elements and visuals to create more character within each of the objects. I think playing with color, and how color and value changes as the objects rotate would’ve made this project more successful, since it still reads as a 2-D twirl and less of a 3-D vortex. I think the background could also be further developed and strengthen the the warping of a vortex and containing more depth in color.

Link to my project

sketch

 

 

 

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“First Word Art/ Last Word Art”, by Michael Naimark, highlights an interesting concept that categorizes and separates art into either newfound and original artwork (First Word Art) or mastery and skillful artwork that has been seen before(Last Word Art). This idea that art can be invented and reinvented allows for the world of artists to create and invent new and fresh art, while having other artists develop and expand off those discoveries at the same time.

The development in art that we see in the world today is like a cycle, where old artwork (last word art) cannot exist without new artwork (first word art), and new work similarly cannot exist without old-work. When looking at art movements from hundreds of years in the past, we see how necessary “last word art” is in the development of great classics, where artists needed to learn from each other in their traditional fashions to create masterful and impressive art. Artists had to learn traditional ways of creating artwork, such as sketching and painting to develop and master skills so they can create quality and impressive art. This is where “last word art” becomes important, where artists learn from previous works and improve the medium of art through their own iterations and creative processes.

Since art is forever evolving and changing, “first word art” has its purpose in expanding and redefining what art can be. While newfound artwork and trends may be considered “original”, the idea of originality doesn’t exist, as artists and humans in general create the idea of originality through combining elements and morphing ideas together to create something new. The ability to create art that is considered original depends on collective knowledge and experiences.

I think that in today’s society, we put a higher emphasis on originality and ultimately “first word art”, where creating original and fresh renditions of art is more important than creating impressive artwork that has already been seen or done. However, artwork that have been deemed worthy and so tremendous turn into classics, that will remain as classics for generations.  In a sense, most of the greatest art classics that still remain famous and renowned today are “first word art” that achieved such a high level of mastery and appreciation that it will never be able to be recreated or comparable.

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Generative Art Deep Dive – Zachary Lieberman

I am really drawn into the shape of the gradients in motion, where the shape sort of mimics how a submarine light shines underwater; the light becomes muffled and takes a softer form. The way the “submarine light” appearing objects bounce from positive form to negative form is such an interesting visual, and the way it transforms from light to dark and dark to light in a revolving pattern generates a 3-dimensional creates a space that is so simple yet complex and mesmerizing at the same time.

Zachary Lieberman’s “Gradient work”

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Gradient work #openframeworks

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sticks-Map

Generative Map

Territory:

I tried to represent an abstraction of motion and forces as the territory of my map. I wanted to explore how motion and forces could be depicted through the overlapping and overlaying of circles. I found that overlaying and creating circles within circles could generate a ripple effect, seen in how earthquake magnitudes are represented on maps and diagrams. My focus was on generating ripples, where ripples could be generated in a way that will still read as a map of motion and.

Technical Process:

One of my inspirations for creating the large circular discs were earthquake maps, where multiple circles are used as ripples to simulate the earthquake magnitude. Using circles, I created a map where the overlaying of vibrant circles creates an abstract sense of motion through ripples, along with a sense of sound due to the composition of the ripples.

code

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The “10,000 Bowls of Oatmeal Problem” is a common problem which artists face when creating generative artwork, where the idea of perpetual uniqueness may only be correct in the micro sense but not the macro sense. You may have 10,000 “different bowls” of oatmeal, where oatmeal in the bowls are composed differently, but may be too similar to one another to differentiate in the bigger picture.

In some cases, the lack of perpetual uniqueness may not be a problem when an artists goal is to create a more homogenous set of objects defined by specific characteristics, specifically when the objects are not of significance. An example would be creating a crowd of people in a stadium, where the features of each person do not need to be clear and can thus appear somewhat similar from one another.

In other cases, perpetual uniqueness becomes an issue when a set of important objects are all distinct, but lack an interesting appearance. Though uniqueness is present in every character, the traits and characteristics fall short of being exciting or interesting due to the lack of memorable traits and symbols that give each character the unique personality. Successful generative artwork would have to depend on the artist’s creative decisions that will make every iteration memorable through a defining personality.

 

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JODI’s My%Desktop 2002 is a digital piece that utilizes a “user-friendly” Mac OS 9 operating system, manipulating the elements on the desktop through clicking and software manipulation to create a piece with interesting visuals and glitches. The “desktop performance” of glitches and interactions resulted in chaotic frenzy of elements jumping and popping from the screen. When I first walked into this installation in the NY MoMA, I was immediately drawn to the way positive and negative space can be manipulated in a computer desktop, where highlighting an icon or folder creates a contrasting and inverse shape. I never realized how many different formations and patterns can be created from overlaying folders and opening and closing files at a rapid pace. The aesthetic of the old operating system and how it was used as a tool to create interesting visuals inspired me to look for outdated tools which may be useful. After further research, JODI’s intentions behind manipulating a computer desktop was to create a space where normal computers could be given a personality and influence irrational behavior in viewers through overwhelming amounts of data, as they emphasize their concept that “The Computer is a device to get into someone’s head”.