Author: Nourhane Sekkat

Casey Reas’ exploration of chance operations in the realm of generative art provides a compelling argument for the intersection of technology and creativity.  The idea of utilizing randomness within the confines of algorithmic structures resonates deeply with the age-old debate of structure versus freedom in art. When he draws parallels between traditional art methods and computational processes, it reinforces the notion that technology is just another tool in the artist’s toolkit. However, I think that while chance operations in code provide a sense of unpredictability, they are still bounded by the parameters set by the programmer, making the ‘randomness’ a controlled one.

Reas, while advocates the cause of computational art, might inadvertently present a biased view, advocating primarily for the merger of art and code. The essential question that I’m left with is does the purity of randomness get tainted when confined within coded structures? Additionally, while the talk hasn’t changed any of my previous beliefs, it does make me think about the true essence of creativity. If an artist sets the parameters and the machine generates the art based on these, where does the artist’s influence end, and the machine’s creativity begin? The talk certainly raises questions about the authenticity of art, the boundaries of human creativity, and how technology shapes or confines our artistic expressions.

Overview: 

In this project my main inspiration was my background and who I am since it is a self-portrait after all. I started off with the blue sky, radiating sun and moving clouds since I love summer but also because Morocco is always sunny and perfect weather. Then I added a red banner with a green circle in the middle of it as a reference to the moroccan flag in which I put my portrait that I made as similar to me as I could get it.

Highlight:

My favorite part about my portrait is the sun shining and the clouds moving it truly gives it life and dimension.  Using previous knowledge, trigonometry and loops I was able to create an endless sky feeling as the sun rays expand and retract while the clouds are moving effortlessly through the screen.

Sun animation: 

function drawSun(x, y) {
  // Sun circle
  fill(255, 204, 0); // Yellow color
  ellipse(x, y, 40, 40);

  // Animated Sun rays
  stroke(255, 204, 0); // Yellow color for rays
  strokeWeight(2);

  let rayLength = 30 + sin(frameCount * 0.1) * 15; // Creates the animation effect

  line(x - rayLength, y - rayLength, x - 60, y - 60);
  line(x, y - rayLength, x, y - 60);
  line(x + rayLength, y - rayLength, x + 60, y - 60);
  line(x - rayLength, y, x - 60, y);
  line(x + rayLength, y, x + 60, y);
  line(x - rayLength, y + rayLength, x - 60, y + 60);
  line(x, y + rayLength, x, y + 60);
  line(x + rayLength, y + rayLength, x + 60, y + 60);

  noStroke(); // Resetting the stroke for other drawings
}

Cloud animation: 

// Moving clouds
  drawCloud(cloud1X, 60); // Cloud on the right of the sun
  drawCloud(cloud2X, 100); // Cloud below the sun
  drawCloud(cloud3X, 350); // Cloud at the bottom

  //Moves the clouds
  cloud1X += 1;
  cloud2X += 1;
  cloud3X += 1; 

  // Loop the clouds once they move off screen
  if (cloud1X > width + 30) {
    cloud1X = -60;
  }
  if (cloud2X > width + 30) {
    cloud2X = -60;
  }
  if (cloud3X > width + 30) {
    cloud3X = -60;
  }

........
function drawCloud(x, y) {
  fill(255);

  // Group of ellipses to form a cloud shape
  ellipse(x, y, 30, 30);
  ellipse(x + 20, y, 30, 30);
  ellipse(x - 20, y, 30, 30);
  ellipse(x - 20, y, 30, 30);
  ellipse(x + 10, y + 15, 30, 30);
  ellipse(x - 10, y + 15, 30, 30);
}

Reflection and ideas for future work or improvements:

The sketch successfully brings together elements of animation and interactivity, and overall bring out what I wanted to from the beginning a serene day in Morocco and who I am. While the current representation is visually appealing, there are several areas of potential enhancement:

-Day to night: I would love to create an aspect in which based on the time of day the sky and the sun changes color and position or even switches to a moon and the clouds change for stars.

-More similarity to me: I would love to be able to figure out how to add more details to the portrait since I do think it’s not as similar to me as I envisioned especially with the hair and other lack of characteristics that were due to not knowing how to manipulate the shapes in my favor.