http://www.mathematica-journal.com/issue/v7i3/graphics/contents/animation/sand-dial.mov

90's era digital art: Jean Pierre Hebert

["Blue-ism," Jean Pierre Hebert. 1995]

Co-founder of the Algorists in 1995, Jean Pierre Hebert began his explorations into algorithmic art and drawings in the mid-1970's.  He experiments with various media, from pencil and ink drawings, to digital prints and sand and copper etchings.   In 1985 Hebert moved from his home in Calais, France to Santa Barbara, California where his first exhibition, “Sans lever la plume,” presented his variety of ink drawings made with mechanical plotters.   Hebert has an eye for repetitive patterns in nature, including especially the striations made by wind on sand and waves in water.  The software Hebert uses to create his compositions was developed by him for the specific purpose of creating forms to be plotted.  His drawings in the 90's were influenced by the work of Max Bill, hokusai, buddhist meditational art and zen art.

 

1.26.2011

It seems that technology can often be equated to novelty.  How often do you hear someone say "oh, I'm not very good with [cell phones][computers][digital cameras, etc], I'm not very tech savy." 

What does it mean to be tech savy? Or, more importantly, how do we socially define technology?  In class we discussed the technology of writing.  While handwriting was once a mystery to the masses, it would be far-stretched for someone today to think of handwriting a great technologic advancement. Once a technology becomes widespread and deeply embedded into the character of a culture, its connotations as a piece of technology quickly fade.

This relationship between technology and novelty illustrates a emerging dilemma in art.  Whenever technology is used as tool to create art, the first reaction by critics is always "Is this really art?"  As critics of digital art, we question the controlling influence of the artist, enforcing the ideal that art must be created by a skilled author.  The common conception of art is something that must be done by hand; something that the artist's pencil or brush entirely defines.  The authorship of an oil painting would never be brought into question.  However, digital art is not granted the same leniency; we question who the artist is, the computer or the user.  It takes time for the 'newness' of a technology to wear off before something truly creative and widely recognized as art to emerge and be appreciated.  It is easy for everyone to recognize the artistic skill of someone who works with charcoal or graphite; we have all picked up a pencil and used it to create something.  With all of the software packages and power of a computer, we cannot know what is controlled by some algorithm, what is a photoshop brush, or what was intentionally  and cleverly created by a 'digital artist.'   We need to understand the limitations of a particular software before we can again recognize the skill of the artist; in order for something to be art it needs to be both visually or mentally stimulating, and their needs to be a sense of wonder and awe for the skill of the artist. 

postcard reflection

I chose to illustrate the “Digital Fabrication” lecture by Larry Sass from MIT.  Since digital fabrication is by nature controlled by a computer, it resounds as something clean and precise, yet simultaneously complex; these concepts embody the spirit of digital fabrication and were the focus of each of my compositions.

I first worked with Wordle and arrived at a 'finished' level of work within an hour.  After setting the parameters on color (light blues and whites), orientation, and establishing a hierarchy, I probably spent at least half an hour pressing the 'realign' button, which would give me a somewhat random arrangement within my stated limits.  I saved 20 different compositions I liked out of 60 or so total that were generated, and I found that there was a diminishing return on how much I liked any given composition over the next, so I decided to not spend any more time realigning and be happy with what I had.

Following Wordle's completion, I moved onto the illustrator postcard.  While in Wordle the compositional outcome always fell within an expected range of organization and color scheme, this was not the case in illustrator where I had to start with a blank slate and everything was intentional. To create a digital 'structure' for this composition, I worked with a dot matrix to turn 'on' or 'off' the general reading of my text.  I spent nearly all of the two hours working on this, as I first had to experiment with how to create roughly legible text at three different scales on the same dot matrix.  In this composition, as opposed to the first, scale does not define the hierarchy; it is hue.

The third postcard, which is hand drawn, was completed last and is probably farthest removed from the spirit of 'digital fabrication.'  By definition, an analog drawing is the farthest removed from the digital, and I didn't want to attempt to precisely draw binary or the likes.  Instead, I wanted to create a free flowing dynamic piece that suggests some sort of self-assembly by a natural algorithm.  The composition is simply a collection of cellular components that twist and join to create a framework that possibly suggests it was created or conceived in a digital environment, or on Zaha's computer screen.  Although my hand drawn postcard is probably farthest from the parameters of the project statement, I enjoyed working on it the most and spent all of the two hour time allotment. 

The introduction of Wordle in class played a large part in the development of the other two post cards, but in an adverse way.  The last thing I wanted to do in the following two compositions was take two hours to mimic something anyone can generate with Wordle in 5 minutes.  Instead of taking influences from Wordle, I turned the complete opposite direction and sought to create something that would be extremely difficult or near impossible for Wordle to ever produce.

I feel a bit defeated in admitting that I think the Wordle postcard was in the end the most successful.  After working with Wordle I looked forward to the illustrator and hand drawn compositions, where I would have much more artistic freedom to do as I please.  However, I think it was within Wordle's strict framework and limited inputs that I was forced to be most creative, and therefore I had a more successful and clever solution.

hand mailer

while this hand illustration may not be the most intellectually deep work ever created, I had a lot of fun with it.  I started with drawing some cell-like forms that resemble the likes of zaha and the sci-arc crowd; why not join them for a bit? I used the cells to frame off the text about the upcoming digital computation lecture, and give the otherwise tiny boring rectangle some life and movement.

illustrator mailer

this particular piece evolved from wordle's same intent of creating something clean and yet slightly complex; ideals that align with the process of digital fabrication.  It started as a dot matrix, and dots would then either be "on" or "off" in order to create the text.  In order to allow for an overlapping of the text and establish a hierarchy I introduced color to the otherwise black or white dots.

wordle

here is my first attempt with using wordle as a means of creating a mailer for the upcoming lecture series at Miami University; the arrangement of the words could use a bit of tweaking, but with a little luck and a few more clicks of the "re-layout with current settings" I'm sure I will be able to settle on an outcome.  My intentions were to create a composition that is clean and precise, with a degree of ordered complexity. These are concepts that encompass the spirit of digital fabrication.  I intermixed the given text about the lecture with its binary translation, using this loosely complex system to mask the details of the whereabouts of the lecture; the reader must search for these.  Finally, to catch someone's interest, I thought it was important to establish a hierarchy which highlights the lecture title first, followed by the presenter and then MIT, followed at a distance by the lecture's details and extraneous binary code. 

1.24.2011

Deadlines are both a blessing and a curse.  In class we discussed how if Pixar never had a deadline for any of their projects, they would still probably be working on their first project.  Just as no design can truly be 'perfect,' no design can ever really be done if it weren't for the gift of an otherwise arbitrary deadline.  Listening to this in class I couldn't help but feel a bit shameful towards my own work habits in studio.  I hate deadlines and don't typically work towards the realization of a project until the final two weeks before a project is due; I am far to contempt to dabble in all of the possibilities without ever committing to a final plan of execution. 

Much to the contrary of my work habits, it is probably much more productive to know when to walk away from a project rather to continue to tweak and restlessly attempt to perfect.  In relation to the Herb Simon article, we stressed the importance of incremental improvement and generational 'perfection' of an idea over time and over a wider audience. 

The Steam Engine and the Computer

What is the difference between evolution and a revolution? A revolution suggests that one sudden event  sparks a whole movement and permanently changes the way we look at things; it's impact is lasting and widespread.  Evolution tends to describe a slower process, a systematic and methodical growth and betterment over a extended period of time.  Herb Simon questions the notion of revolution, as it is so often applied to invention.  The paradigm of the steam engine illustrates his point; the steam engine was not a spontaneous and simultaneous invention of all the components necessary to assemble a steam engine, but rather a slow accumulation of innovations that unknowingly would lead to the manifestation the steam engine.  Even after many first generation steam engines were conceived in the 1700's, it still took over a century to actually apply this technology to anything that could begin to approach something that would inevitably forever change the way the world travels.

"In order for the steam engine to produce genuinely revolutionary change, there had to be a whole series of subsequent inventions, none of which were- or could have been- contemplated by its originators, and these took still another generation, reaching well into the 19th century.  The steam engine was adapted for use in transportation, giving us the steamboat and the steam locomotive."

In order to invent, we must not always be so worried about taking a huge leap into the unknown; rather, focusing on taking a few small steps, but just in a slightly different direction would prove just as innovative and with a greater chance of discovery. 

1.19.2010

the importance of being a critical consumer | user | observer seemed to be the resounding theme of class today.  It is far too easy to be drawn into mistake of using terminology to compare two concepts without understanding the true meaning of the terms that define the comparison.  Without first researching the trendy verbiage we are fed through various forms of propaganda, this constantly emerging terminology used to sell us phones, laptops and cameras is nothing more than marketing rhetoric.  While there may be truth to the 4G'ness' of a phone, do we really even know what 4G means? We discussed this issue in particular in class, and although certainly everyone is aware of 4G, no one could really explain what 4G, or 3G or any number G really is.  Especially as many of us in class are going into an industry where technical rhetoric, both relating to sustainability and digital technology, rapidly evolves and absorbs into our vocabulary,  it is crucial to our integrity as designers to stay current with advances and technology and maintain a critical understanding of the truth behind buzz words.

1.12.2011

The seats in class were surprisingly comfortable today, I eagerly look forward to sitting in them the rest of the semester.  We were introduced to wordle today.  Although it seems like a great tool, its ease of use is a little startling; where is the room for artistic license?  Still, browsing through wordle's gallery, an eye for hierarchy, coloration and typography seems atypical even when the tool seems to predetermine more decisions that not. 

I think I would like to have August 3 of 2010 printed and hung in my room:

[ astronomy picture of the day]

technology's enrichments

I wonder if the creators of the first binary punch cards could possibly have foreseen the connective capabilities of technology today.  Whether it be iChat or Skype, Facebook chat or AIM, the ability for friends and loved ones to stay in touch with one another has surely transcended the dreams of their creators. Social networking has become so resoundingly popular, its rhetoric has even found its way into everyday conversation.  While once reserved for only college students, a friend request from grandma or grandpa is perhaps no longer the the most unusual activity on Facebook [ http://www.5newsonline.com/news/kfsm-news-facebook-senior-citizens,0,5956152.story ] With just the swipe of an iPhone or stoke of a trackpad, staying connected has never been easier. 

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