Project 5: FINAL

Project 5: Processing process

A big part of the process for this project was using generative art process with Processing software  (that's a lot of "P"s in a single sentence).

The characters in this piece were distorted using a randomized and automated script. The software would find a random pixel on the piece (within designated area, so I could for example concentrate on distorting the face by giving x and y pixel coordinates where the face starts) and sample a rectangle of random size from that pixel. All the pixels from this rectangular area are copied from the original picture and pasted into the modified picture (in both cases, the character with the head removed). It is then shifted by a random amount of pixels on both x and y axis (random within range) and given a random opacity (from around 5 to 80 percent) to create the effect.

This process is repeated a number of times and the outcome is saved. Rinse and repeat. I have created over a hundred pieces like the ones above (not all of them are "good" or even usable). I have chosen a dozen or so to be pasted and manipulated into the final piece.

Project 5: Progress 2

Project 5: Progress 1

Project 5: Idea and Research

The topic of my final project will be the same as the one from project 4 - how technology is affecting us. While the previous piece focused on an abstract idea behind the theme, this time I want to tackle it in a less abstract way. Does this look familiar?

We use our smartphones on daily basis, post painstakingly curated content on social media. This content is supposed to portray who we are, but because we choose what gets shared, it shows an idealized picture of us. On the other hand we don't what is someone passionate about when we pass someone on the street, while we can see it pretty easily from their social media feed. I want to focus on this disconnect between the virtual and meatspace you. We only see a part of who someone is.

For my final project, I want to take pictures of people on their phones (might just be a single person if I am really struggling for time) and "dissolve" them into more digital and a bit more abstracted representations. I am also toying with idea of superimposing some social media messages (kinda like that, but with more random facebook/twitter style posts instead of texts) to, at least on some level, bridge the gap between digital and IRL you. In a perfect world, I would like to make a series out of it.

I'll be using Photoshop and Processing (thanks to the influence and help of a great artist and creative coder - Jerome Herr) for this project. If I manage to make a series, I think a cool idea would be to display them in home photo frames (now thinking about it, it wont probably work for the idea I have now - a full figure against white background, but I might change it to "everyday" style photos and display them that way). 

Project 4: FINAL

Project 4: Progress 2