Author: Begad Elfackrany

Title: Does the Power of Lover overcome the Love of Power

This is an interactive generative artwork that explores the dynamic struggle between two opposing forces: Power of Love and Love of Power. Using color, motion, and shape, the piece visualizes how these forces interact, dominate, and fade.

Users can interact with the artwork using the keyboard: pressing X strengthens the Power of Love, Z increases Love of Power, and R resets the canvas. As one force grows, it overwhelms the other, creating a constantly shifting visual narrative of dominance, balance, and fragility.

Highlight of Code I’m Proud Of:

One part I’m particularly proud of is the heart shape formula used in the Heart class. Creating a convincing pulsing heart shape took a bit of trial and error—adjusting the sine and cosine coefficients to get the proportions and curves right. When I looked it up to check my work, I was pleasantly surprised to realize that I had remembered the formula almost perfectly! The code also incorporates time-based pulsing and subtle distortions influenced by the interaction of the two forces:

class Heart {
  constructor(battle) {
    this.battle = battle;
  }

  display() {
    let { t, loveStrength, powerStrength } = this.battle;

    let heartOpacity = map(loveStrength, 0, 1, 10, 90);
    let heartPulse = map(loveStrength, 0, 1, 0.4, 2.5);

    stroke(340, 80, 100, heartOpacity);
    strokeWeight(2 * heartPulse);

    for (let i = 0; i < 3; i++) {
      let s = 100 + sin(t * 2 + i) * 50 * heartPulse; // pulsing size
      beginShape();
      for (let a = 0; a < TWO_PI; a += 0.1) {
        // classic heart shape formula
        let x = s * 16 * pow(sin(a), 3) / 10 + sin(t + i) * 30 * powerStrength;
        let y = -s * (13 * cos(a) - 5 * cos(2 * a) - 2 * cos(3 * a) - cos(4 * a)) / 10
                + cos(t + i) * 30 * powerStrength;
        vertex(x, y);
      }
      endShape(CLOSE);
    }
  }
}

This section highlights the combination of mathematical formula, animation, and interaction to make the heart both accurate and dynamic.

This is a self-portrait created with p5.js, inspired by Picasso’s cubist style. I focused on abstracting key features such as the hair, glasses, beard, and mustache into bold geometric forms and playful colors to emphasize expression over realism.