Open Processing Link

Using the uinames API by Thom, which generates random profiles, my program displays the first names of the profiles. The color of the name presents the gender of the person and the size of the name is based on how long the name is. The program generates 10 new names every second.

The ideas that I have came up with that could be my final project would be:

• There would be a house that the animated dog would be. Everytime you click on the dog, it will move and walk around. The dog will also be able to eat if you make it eat or jump if you command it to do so.
• A mini story game where you can have two options and then at the end depending on that option you will get an outcome.
• A room where if you move the mouse it will show either night time or day.

Super Mario Clouds by Cory Arcangel is a piece that, as it’s title suggests, depicts the clouds from the NES game Super Mario Brothers. Arcangel created this piece by hacking into a cartridge for Super Mario Brothers and removing elements from the game until all that was left was the clouds. Released in 1985 Super Mario Brothers was and continues to be one of, if no the, most iconic video game, and instantly recognizable to many. Therefore Arcangel thought to experiment with its recognizability by removing pieces of it to see if people would still be able to identify that it was indeed Super Mario Brothers.

I felt like I should have been able to recognize that it was Super Mario Brothers, but when I first saw it on the museum it’s identity eluded me. I was able to tell that it had an aesthetic rooted in Super Mario Brothers or retro video games in general, but I didn’t realize that it was exactly the clouds from Super Mario Brothers. Rather I thought it was a piece simply trying to capture the aesthetic of classic video games, an aesthetic largely defined by Super Mario Brothers, but with certain degrees of separation.

Magnet TV by Nam June Paik is a piece that depicts the distortion of television signals. The piece consists of a tv, receiving a satellite signal to depict an image, with a magnet on top. The magnet will distort the signal to the tv, thereby contorting the image on the television. The shape of the contortion can be changed by moving the magnet. This piece was created as a subversion of two concepts when it was created in 1965. The first was that the television signal was all powerful and infallible. The second was that art was static. Allegedly, one could interact with the piece and move the magnet to change the image.

 

I first interpreted the piece as primarily featuring the body of the television itself as a sculpture akin to Marcel Duchamp’s Fountain. It was only until after I read the sign that I realized the focus of the artwork was on the image in the television. I wish I could have interacted with it like the sign suggested people once could.  

CodeProfiles was made with Java program, created by W. Bradford Paley. It shows the difference of how the code is worked among people, programmers, and computers. At the beginning, I walk forward to this work because I noticed that there are many people standing and staring at this screen, and I’m wondering what makes them feel so fascinated. Shortly after, I became one of the crowds. Some people are asking whether these randomly moving lines are caused by the bug, and some just can’t move their eyes away from the moving lines. There are actually three points in this code space. The amber line shows how code is read people. The white line, which is my favorite one, indicates the programmer’s thoughts. Lastly, the green line shows where the code was executed tons of times and where the processor rarely visited. To me, this work draws a connection between three entities, which would never thought about each other’s way of running a code.

“Sine Curve Man, 1967” is created by the collaboration between Charles Csurl and programmer James Shaffer. It’s one of the most complex computer-generated images. C and S explained that to create this work “a picture of a man was placed in the memory of an IBM 7094, and mathematical strategies were then applied to the original data.” This works catch my attention mainly because of blurry facial features. At the first glance, I though I would need to move forward and get closer in order to see the facial features. After I get closer, what I see are bunch of shifting lines. These lines are transformed by code, drawing the man by repeatedly vertically shifting x and y values and drawing on top of each other. I feel that this work shows how the computer can shorten the gap between artist and scientist by using underlying scientific concepts to create physical reality.

At first glance, I thought the display was about U.S. politics, but on a closer inspection, it was about something different. America’s Got No Talent by Jonah Brucker-Cohen and Katherine Moriwaki is an interactive data visualization piece that shows the opinions of American reality TV shows (such as America’s Got Talent, The X Factor, American Idol, and more) through the lens of twitter feeds that mention the shows. It uses the time when the tweet was posted and its retweets to help create a measurement for the connection between a show’s success and it’s activity on social media. The display uses the image of the American flag as its interface, and sticks to the red, white, and blue colors. In person, there were two parts: the giant screen where the exhibit was being displayed, and a white stand which had a smaller screen where the user could interact with. The stand also labeled where on the map the user can interact with and what it will do. The display was interesting to see and play with in person. The interactive element made the data visualization fun and added an exploration aspect, from trying to see what the work ad to offer.

 

CodeProfiles is by W.Bradford Paley and made using Java. The work looks at how people might read the code by tracing it, how the programmer would interact with the code, adding notes and jumping around, and highlights where the code would be executed multiple times. The use of green colored text on the black background displays the code in a more familiar/ traditional context. Seeing the wall of code at the museum made me feel both intimidated by the numerous lines of code, but I was also fascinated by seeing it all laid out. During my coding experiences, I haven’t had many opportunities to see my code laid out in full, usually a small section that can fit onto my computer screen. But by being able to see the entire code as a whole, it made it easier to pin point where there where changes the display, such when certain lines of code light up or when lines are drawn.

Reconstruction 7 & Ambiguous Icon #5 (Running, Falling) 

These two of Jim Campbell’s works are composed of LED lights to construct low-resolution imagery broken down by light units. The images are defined more by movement and rhythm rather then modern technological pushes for higher resolution of every detail. Ambiguous Icon is a matrix of red LEDs to form pixels drawing out various light values to animate a loop of a figure running and falling. Reconstruction uses a resin diffusion screen to soften the LED array of pixels to form a traffic scene.

Being able to see how each LED pixel defines a small part of the image shows the dependency on such a small dot to be able to form a cohesive picture. It seemed almost vintage to me because everything in the world is focused on picking out the smallest detail in high definition. Campbell’s work here defines a simpler visual that is a lot easier to take in. It makes me feel like what’s around me isn’t so busy and fast-paced, that the motion of the world around me is more gradual as if I’m watching an old video. As mentioned before, Campbell broke away from mainstream high definition images. Rather than making everything in these pieces extremely clear, it’s like he’s allowing the viewers to interpret it themselves with only seeing the vague shapes and movements. There’s more human perception in picking up how the lighting works.

Tilted Plane

This is an installation also by Jim Campbell. Hundreds of light bulbs are suspended along an angled ceiling in a dark room and follow a flickering pattern to depict low resolution patterns. Viewers could define for themselves what the obscure patterns are, which is only sensible by its rhythm. Since we could walk through the grid of light bulbs, our perspective keeps changing in how we see the lights.

The whole lowly lit room seemed other-worldly and intimate. If I were to lay down on the floor, looking up at the light bulbs would be almost like staring at the stars at night. It’d be a very nice way to end a busy day of working and moving around, entirely peaceful and quiet. It’s relaxing and free.

This work is similar to Campbell’s other art based on low resolution displays. It’s a continuation of working with how perception of light and movement defines what we see. The old fashion light bulbs is a departure from high definition technology on bright screens and billboards. Campbell brings LED lighting to primitive technology in order to capture the basics of images.

 

 

 

1. the first idea is to develop the rain game from previous homework. Instead of collecting raindrops, I will generate a person collecting food that falls from sky. Like rain game, I will write a food class that contains multiple food objects and functions. I would also add p5.collide 2D library to detect if the person “get” the food. Here’s a sketch:

2. I would love to add more functions to my visualizing time project. Instead of merely use change of colors. i want to generate a mystery box. When I click the box, there will be a object posed up. And the color of the box will change as time pass. The object inside the box will also related to time. 

3. The third idea is to generate a group of ice melting based on weather API. The rate of ice melting will be depended on the temperature outside room. Plus, there will be wind sound as back ground music. 

Final Project Ideas

1. Variable Face Project – I can build on my existing variable face project by adding a weather API. I can change my figure’s clothings according to the weather. I can also give new outfits and have new accessaries. I’m also planning on organizing my code and add some animated objects to it. Many computer programmers have been using weather API to make weather application, but not a lot of them use it to make art. But I did find a data visualization of weather at this website: http://w2w.meteo.physik.uni-muenchen.de/cca/visualization/index.html
2. Generative Landscape – I can build another generative landscape using the WEBGL 3D library. This library is very important because it allows me to add dimension to my figures instead of just having a flat 2D canvas, but it’s very challenging, since it involves a lot of planning and sketching. I’ll have to imagine everything in 3D. Instead of having figurative figures, I want to make this landscape more abstract. I want to use dots and lines, rather than actually filled shapes. I also want to combine that with the time project so the landscape changes with the time. I’m inspired by Fletcher Bach’s computational art work. He works with 3D terrains and uses lines and points to form him arts.  http://fletcherbach.com/COMPUTATIONAL-ART
3. text/image – I want to load an images from famous movie scenes that have nice color schemes. But instead of displaying the image, I want to display text from the script/lines, and display each character as different colors, according to the color of the pixel at that position. I thinking about something like this https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/3863 but instead of having separate pixels, I want to have small text in the color of the pixel instead. I’ll have to use a function to break down the image into pixels and have a grid and store characters in each grid. If time allows, I also want to make use a video, or it something animated. I will probably need to use p5.dom.js and the loadpixel() function.
4. distortion – I want to make a still pattern/image with lines or pixels. Moving the mouse across the screen will distort the pattern and move the lines around. Depending on where the mouse is, there will be different sounds played and different special effects showing. When the image/pattern is distorted enough, the screen will refresh into a new pattern. I’m planning on coding 3 or 4 patterns with different themes. I’m inspired by https://patatap.com/ and other pixelated art works.

1.

My favorite one was Super Mario Clouds. The frame is quite simple; there are clouds randomly move through the screen. It looks very nostalgic to me, since I love the game Super Mario when I was little. It also brings me a sad feeling, since there is only cloud in the frame. I stranded in front, waiting to see if one of the character would show up, but there was only cloud randomly come up, as if Mario is gone. And actually, he is kinda gone for me, since my childhood is gone.

This project is created by Cory Arcangel, based a cartridge of Super Mario Brothers, “the original version of the blockbuster Nintendo video game released in the United States in 1985.” It is representing the game in a more abstract way as the sound and other visual element is unused, and audience can still associate this project with the game Super Mario.

 

2.

        

The another that catches my attention as soon as I saw it was Titled Plane, which is composed by LED lights bulbs. I love this piece since it gives me a quite, peace, and romantic feeling, also a little mystical. It makes me wanna pull my parents here, and let them sits here and talk, relax together.

This work is created by Jim Campbell. He handcrafted all the light bulb, expanding 2-d image to a 3d one. “The experience of Tilted Plane is akin to wading into the ocean or being surrounded by birds in flight. The space of the room constricts beneath the light bulbs and yet the dark seems interplanetary”.

Whitney Programmed: Rules, Codes, and Choreographies in Art, 1965–2018 

1. Super Mario Clouds by Cory Arcangel

The bright sky blue captured my attention as soon as I walked into the exhibition. The white super mario clouds are displayed with black pixelated outlines, moving across the screen. It reminded me of the mario games my friends used to play on their Nintendos, and it gave me strong nostalgic feelings that made me walk closer to see what’s really going on. I stood in front of it for a solid 5 minutes, but I didn’t see any repeated pattern of the clouds. They are randomly placed and the screen is ever-changing. The whole art piece was displayed using an old bulky TV with 4:3 aspect ratio to further help transmit the nostalgic and retro feelings, and the TV is hooked to a real Nintendo console, as shown in the photo.

I learned that the piece was first released as web art oriented toward the hacker community. The game’s ROM(Read-Only Memory) was hacked digitally to create this effect, and then physically instantiated by modifying a copy of its NES cartridge. Years later, when Arcangel was asked to exhibit Super Mario Clouds as an installation in a gallery setting, he set up a multi-channel projection, with the projectors hooked up to an NES console, displaying the output from the actual cartridge. This piece represents a rare, early interaction between the disparate contexts of the art world, Web 1.0, video gaming fandom, and hacker culture. Arcangel’s code, tightly wedded to the NES’s software, takes advantage of its color palette limitations and its method of drawing on the screen using CRT scan lines. His aesthetic and conceptual decision in the creation/exhibition of the work effectively emphasized the workings of the NES console and its programming. It did not break from the original design and technology, but as a result of good replication, it raises the questions about copy right issues in necessary preservation of game culture.

1. {Software} structures by Casey Reas

This work took me awhile to notice because it took up the whole wall, and the whole color palette is muted and dark, comparing to the other pieces around it. But when I look closely at it, the figures are actually changing as time passes. The lines and dots are visible, but not too crowded or overpopulating, so it’s really comfortable to watch. I sat on the bench in front of it for awhile to observe the changes. It seems to be continually changing, erasing, and redrawing while never repeating. The darkness of the black background really made the white lines pop, and the simplicity and minimalism made it satisfying to watch.

This piece is inspired by Sol LeWitt’s wall drawings. Reas explores the relevance of conceptual art to the idea of software as art using javascript. He tries to directly address the rules and instructions used in this piece’s creation.  He created “a surface filled with 100 medium to small circles. Each has a different size and direction, but moves at the same slow rate”. And he tries to display the instantaneous intersections of the circles, as well as the aggregate intersections of the circles. The lines I see on the screen connections the intersections of overlapping circles.

Casey’s website that shows the design process and concepts behind his piece: http://artport.whitney.org/commissions/softwarestructures/map.html

other works in the exhibition: