Favourite Pattern
My favourite of the three patterns I created was Sketch 2. I like this one particularly because when I was experimenting with it on Illustrator, I realised that there are a number of different things I could have done with just two colours – such as modifying the alpha channel, changing the background colour, and hiding or making visible some aspects of the sketch – to create multiple unique compositions. I also like how different it is from some of the other sketches I have created so far. If I had to continue to iterate on it, I would potentially add more detail to the sketch in the eye, as well as some interactive elements possibly like making the eye move or blink. Maybe even combining different versions of the sketch to create a gif. If I had to see it in a physical medium I think linoleum prints would be the one that I would prefer to use. However, seeing the potential for experimentation in its digital form, I am not sure I would want to create a physical version of this sketch since I don’t think it would be more interesting than what is possible digitally.
New Skills
I think the new skills I gained this week were most helpful in using transformations in my sketches. After going through the p5.js documentation that we discussed in class I was quite excited to try out transformations to integrate elements of my earlier sketches into this week’s new ones. Variables were particularly helpful in doing so since I could modify the variable itself to try out different types of transformations rather than retyping values for them over and over again. In Sketch 1 this was helpful as I wanted to use earrings I had sketched last week in the self-portrait, and I didn’t want to redraw them all over again, so using variables and transforming them was helpful. Moreover, in Sketch 2, I used variables for the alpha channel and the translation I did of the “blue layer” which simplified the process of testing different transformations. Sketch 3 was where variables came in most handy as it allowed me to think of the rotation and translation transformation in the context of one set of defined units rather than having to calculate all of the vectors myself.
Artists
Christian Marclay
Christian Marclay makes use of physical records and manipulates them to create new new sound compositions in a series called Recycled Records. In another project, called Sound Stories he made use of millions of publicly accessible Snapchat videos as raw material to create five immersive audiovisual installations, two of which are interactive.
Oscar Sharp + Ross Goodwin
Filmmaker Oscar Sharp and technologist Ross Goodwin fed a machine learning algorithm with multiple Sci-Fi movie scripts to see what new script it would stitch together. This resulted in the production of the Sci-Fi short film ‘Sunspring’.
Aaron Koblin
Aaron Koblin is an artist specialising in data and digital technologies and is best known for his use of data visualisation and pioneering work in crowdsourcing and interactive film. One of his most famous projects is ‘Flight Patterns’ which visualises every airline flight over North America in a 24-hour period.
