Week 2 – Natural Movement Among Chaos – Introduction to Interactive Media

Concept: Natural Movement Among Chaos:

This week, I intended to work on a piece that would make the most out of simulated natural movement with noise() and the random() function. To do so, I inspired myself to do something related to space after playing Starfield, an action videogame with a space theme. I experimented using new ways of portraying my shapes, such as vertex(), curveVertex(), and trigonometric functions. The movement of the Spaceship is completely dependent on the noise() function, both on the x-axis and the y-axis, while the star position in the x-axis is randomized by the random() function. The stars in the background also appear in a random sequence. They are placed one by one in a “for” loop, and the amount of stars that appear per frame is also varied.

Code Highlights:

I am personally proud of the application of the noise function. The movement of the spaceship looks just like a natural turbulent run through the space. Also, it is my first time working with the beginShape() function, which allows to “record” vertices and make them a whole drawing.

 //NOISE
xoff = xoff + 0.01;
let n = noise(xoff) * width;
let j = 400;


//STARSHIP
beginShape();//<---- TOP
fill(205,60,60);
curveVertex(n+15, j-30);
curveVertex(n+15, j-30); 
curveVertex(n, j-50);
curveVertex(n-15, j-30);
curveVertex(n-15, j-30);
endShape();
//-----------
fill(220);//<---BODY
rectMode(CENTER);
rect (n,j,30,60);
fill(0);
ellipse (n,j-15,15,15);
fill(205,60,60);
ellipse (n,j-15,10,10);
fill(250,150,10);//<-----FIRE
triangle(n-15,j+35,n-20,j+50,n-5,j+35);
triangle(n+15,j+35,n+20,j+50,n+5,j+35)

Reflections and Improvements:

Initially trying with more realistic drawing, I have come to realize utilizing P5JS for that purpose would be some sort of “golden hammer problem” (see reference for explanation), where I would try to use this one tool to experiment on all art styles. Instead of forcing this tool on an art style it is not made for, I decided to improve my shapes and the details of my shape drawings.

For next time, I would like to improve my art style by exploring more abstract expressions instead of things that exist in real life. It is okay to portray objects and people, but my thoughts go beyond material subjects, and I would like to include more of them in my projects.