Week 3 – OOP Array Production – Joy Zheng

Concept

This project is inspired by Yayoi Kusama’s immersive polka-dot installations at the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art in Australia and her collaborations with Louis Vuitton. I’ve always admired how her work visualizes the flow of her inner world and allows viewers to enter an environment of rhythm and playfulness. My goal was to adapt this experience into a digital dot space, where users are also not only observers but active participants.

Yayoi Kusama’s Collab with Louis Vuitton

Yayoi Kusama’s Interactive Installation at the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art in Australia

Embedded Sketch

Highlighted Code

The part I am most proud of is the growth logic of my Dot:

function mouseDragged() {
//   let user to draw their own dots on top of the background
//   when mouse is pressed, add a new color dot
  let colorpick = random(colors);
  let d = random(5,20);
  let newDot = new Dot(mouseX, mouseY, d, colorpick);
  dots.push(newDot);
  
//   expand all nearby dots when dragged/clicked
  for (let i = 0; i <dots.length; i++) {
    if(dist(mouseX, mouseY, dots[i].xPos, dots[i].yPos) <= 10) {
      dots[i].grow();
    }
  }
  
}

This method became powerful when paired with mouse interactivity and repetition. In mouseDragged(), every time the mouse is close to a dot, that dot grows and creates a new one. By continuously dragging the mouse, viewers can continuously add new dots and expand them, creating a swirling, psychedelic canvas that evokes Kusama’s sense of infinity.

This small combination of object-oriented design created an effect where the user’s movement actively reshapes the artwork. It transformed the piece from a static background into a living, evolving canvas.

Reflection and Future Work 

Working with OOP in p5.js helped me think in a modular way. By separating Dot objects and their behaviors, I avoided repetitive code and could focus on experimenting with interactivity. One challenge was deciding which mouse functions to use: mousePressed() felt more like stamping stickers, while mouseDragged() created a more immersive, “infinite swirl” effect that matched Kusama’s style better.

For future work, I want to experiment with the analogical distribution of dots according to the real-life exhibit of the show. I’m also excited to explore Kusama’s “Infinity Nets” in a 3D or VR environment, where users could walk through an endless dot universe instead of only drawing on a flat canvas. I want to keep exploring how interactive code can reinterpret her immersive art (e.g., Pumpkin) in digital spaces.