prosthetic knowledge
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Ant Ballet
Experimental art project using synthesised pheromones distributed by robotic arm to guide ants on randomly generated paths:
Ant Ballet is a six-year research project into control systems, paranoia and dancing insects. The project is separated into four phases.
Phase I
Phase I (2010-2012) included thorough research into ants and control systems, synthesis of ant pheromones and testing of these systems with live ants in Barcelona. Through use of synthesised pheromones (Z9:16 Ald Hexadecenal), a robotic arm lays trails which cause ants to move in a different way to their natural foraging behaviour. This phase proves the viability of the research and technologies.
Phase IIThe first live performance of Ant Ballet. Anticipated in Brazil as part of Pestival, 2013.
Phase IIIDevelopment of intercontinental ant colony communication devices.
Phase IVDestruction (undetermined).
Here is a video demonstrating the idea:
You can find out more about the project here
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Generative Jigsaw Puzzles by Nervous System
Each puzzle is unique, made of pieces which look like organic forms. Generated with Processing code, and laser-cut:
Jigsaw puzzles for the 21st century! Each generative puzzle is a one of a kind creation with unique art and pieces. Our goal was to marry the artistry of traditional, hand-crafted jigsaw puzzles with the possibilities of new technologies. Custom software simulates crystal growth to create an organic interlocking pattern. Our laser cutter translates this into a unique set of plywood pieces. We collaborated with contemporary digital artists who created engaging artwork for the puzzles.
The puzzles are made entirely in our studio in Somerville, MA. We print the artwork on archival paper and laser cut the puzzles from birch plywood. They come in two sizes, a round 7.5″ puzzle with 85 pieces and a rectangular 18×12″ puzzle with 410 pieces. Every puzzle is unique.
The video below demonstrates the idea perfectly:
You can find out more at the Nervous System blog here
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Vib-Ribbon (Instructions)
Probably the cutest 1Bit vector Japanese rhythm action game instructions you will ever see. Thanks to Kris Lane for reminding me about this gaming gem …
About Vib Ribbon (via Wikipedia):
Vib-Ribbon(ビブリボン Vibu Ribon?) is a video game for SonyPlayStation. Developed by Masaya Matsuura (the former leader of the Japanese “Hyper Pop Unit” PSY S) and his NanaOn-Sha company, and released in Japan in 1999. The game was released in Europe the following year and was additionally re-released in Japan under the PlayStation the Best and PSOne Books greatest hits lines in 2000 and 2001 respectively.
Vib-Ribbon is a rhythm video game in the style of PaRappa the Rapper and Amplitude. The game was unique in that the software loaded into RAM, letting the player use any music CD to play against; the game could generate a unique level from any track. The graphics for Vib-Ribbon are simple, consisting of straight, white vector lines forming crude, angular drawings of the level and the character, a female rabbit named Vibri.
I took a capture from this video, which is longer and demonstrates more about what the game was like. I have even heard that someone made an HTML5 version, which allows you to play using Soundcloud tracks, but haven’t found it hosted anywhere.
Also, the game’s original promotional website is still up, which you can check out here.
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Seed Drawings by Clement Valla
Ongoing art series which looks like computer generative art, is actually a product of thousands of drawings by people:
Each Seed Drawing is an aggregate of many smaller drawings, all produced as copies of one another.
Over a 3 month period, thousands of individuals were solicited to copy small simple line drawings, through an online labor marketplace called Amazon Mechanical Turk. As each copy was completed, it in turn was replicated by other Mechanical Turk workers. Each drawing is produced by a single individual with no knowledge of the overall forms and structure within the larger drawing.
The iterative process of copying produces growth-like structures in which different patterns of influence and large-scale structures emerge. These larger drawing characteristics are purely the result of local interactions; beyond the writing of the algorithm, no single individual is making larger decisions for the group. -
AARON - The First Artificial Intelligence Creative Artist
AARON is claimed to be the first cybernetic artist, developed for 25 years by Harold Cohen. Initially a painting robot then later became a product, a screensaver in 2000, which these GIFs above came from, each unique and generatively composed:
Aaron, the first robot artist, is the brainchild of Professor Harold Cohen, the British abstract painter. The result of 23 years of research and $150,000 Professor Cohen has pushed forward into the realm of artificial intelligence in the development of this unique computer driven robot..
Most recently Aaron created original paintings at The Computer Museum in Boston. Aaron “creates” several images in his computer memory each night. Cohen selects one and for 5-6 hours during the next day Aaron makes line drawings, mixes colors, executes painting strokes, and even cleans the brushes and paint cups.
A selection of Aaron’s creations were auctioned over the Internet in May, 1995, at a reserve price of $2000 each.
More information about this fascinating project can be found here, here and the artist’s own web 1.0 site here
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Carpets for Buildings
Experimental Art / Design project using generative techniques to produce carpet tiles that are unique - no pattern in any room will be the same to the other despite similarity:
The project ‘Unrepeatable Carpets’ is a collaboration between visual artist Marcel Kronenburg and software engineer Marten Teitsma. The main objective of this creative undertaking is to make better use of the current production capacity of carpet manufacturing. By means of custom-made written software we intend to have the computer-controlled carpet printing machine generate and print images at
random. To execute this project we will cooperate with manufacturer Zimmer Maschinenbau in Austria. -
Online Spot Art Generator
Part of a collection of online generative art composition toys created by Rob Myers using Processing.js.
Go here and just click the image for another automated composition. You can also play around with stripes, colour grids and blank canvasses. All have links to their respective source codes.
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Thread Up
Following on from a previous post, I put together a video demonstrating the effect using a piece of code put together by Ate Bit [I’m guessing what is different with this piece of code is that it was put together with Assembly code rather than BASIC].
What is interesting with this code is that it could be considered an early example of generative art, as what is visualised is a random selection of \ and / characters.
If you have a C64 emulator, you can download the file here
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Circuli
Online generative ambient sound generator:
Circuli is a generative musical instrument conceptualized and developed by Batuhan Bozkurt.
- Circles grow at a constant rate.
- No two circle can overlap.
- Bigger circle pushes and shrinks smaller circle when in contact.
- A circle “pops” and makes a sound when its boundary intersects with the center of another circle.
- The pitch of the sound is determined by the position of the circle on the background. Bigger the hole, higher the pitch.
- The envelope of the produced sound is determined by a number of parameters including final circle size and time of interaction between two involved circles.
Here is a video of it in action (which is also an iOS app):
You can play around with this sound toy here, as well as find links to the App Store
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Piccolo
Small CNC bot, potential drawing machine for only $70. As you can see in the video below, it is capable of some interesting things:
Piccolo is a pocket-sized stand-alone CNC platform. For under $70, you will be able to assemble your personal Arduino-compatible kit for tinkering, and playing with basic CNC output. Be it plotting a quick graffiti, printing a one-off business card on the fly, or multiple Piccolos working together to create a large mural, this kit provides a platform for experimenting with 2D or 3D digital fabrication at a small scale.
We are currently refining the Piccolo prototype into an open-source design that is simple, quick to assemble, and easy to use, and is entirely composed of digitally manufactured components and inexpensive off-the-shelf hardware.
The Piccolo project includes Arduino and Processing libraries, to use Piccolo in a variety of ways such as moving autonomously or responding to sensors and data, whilst providing an accessible educational tool and a new output for Processing sketches.
Piccolo isn’t available yet, but you can be notified via their website here
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Fake Fish Distribution - version 500 sampler
An IDM album created by Icarus, limited to 1000 copies. What is interesting is that each copy of the album will be a ‘unique’ version - using generative programming techniques each copy will have a different compositional structure on it’s tracks.
Icarus’ album, Fake Fish Distribution (FFD), uses generative and parametric software techniques to create 1000 unique records. FFD comes in the form of a vast array of structured variations on the album’s musical content, feeding unique versions to each unique listener.
The album is available as a limited edition, via the normal medium of music distribution — the media file download — with each of the 1000 versions only being sold once and in sequential order. Upon purchase, you become the owner of that unique version.
The above audio file is a sampler of the tracks. More information can be found at Icarus’ website here
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Generative Typography Experiments by Reza Ali
Using the Processing programming language, Reza has been testing code to manipulate and alter type through various means:
Over the past year I worked on several client projects and got a fulltime job (which I am no longer at), which kept me pretty busy. When I did get some time, I ended up experimenting with typography, color, simulations (particles, springs, and fluid), audio-input and simple rule based systems. These images are the results of half a year or so of coding, tinkering, tweaking, manipulating, and massaging algorithms for generative typography. Read more about these images and how these were created.After briefly experimenting with typography and dynamic systems in Nov. 2010, I started to experiment with color after being inspired by Paul Smith’s vibrant color palette. I believe in minimalism, and for a long time I used only monochromatic color palettes. I still believe in minimalism, but utilize color to make things pop and to give them a playful personality.
The full set of examples can be found at Reza’s blog here
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Stack by
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Music for Shuffle by Irvine Brown
A collection of short MP3 files to be played in music player on shuffle mode to create a random generative track. The image above is the artwork for each track, which in theory produces a random abstract animation when each song is played:
I set myself a half-day project to write music specifically for shuffle mode – making use of randomness to try and make something more than the sum of its parts. The ever-brilliant Russell Davies (who works a few desks away at the BRIG) sowed the seed of the idea in my head around January 2011.
Over an hour or so, I wrote a series of short, interlocking phrases (each formatted as an individual MP3) that can be played in any order and still (sort of) make musical sense.
More information, including a link to download the MP3s, can be found here
