Author: Ziya Vhora

REFLECTION

Casey Reas’ talk on randomness & chance revolutionized my own understanding of how art is composed, and what defines it as art. Before watching this video, I held a rigid view that randomness and art were mutually exclusive, believing that every artistic decision was deliberate, therefore, randomness is not possible. However, Reas’ discussion used the example of Dada’s artwork — which made me reflect on his time period. I am familiar with Dada, and his works. Like Reas mentioned, Dada shows his approach was to challenge the rational, as a reflection of the collapsing societies and turmoil post World War I.

He forges a link to art and the use of technology, by discussing the renowned John Cage. He was revolutionary in the field of Music Technology, as he was one of the first producers to use technology to compose music – utilizing the element of randomness  to determine pitch and length. As someone that has heard of John Cage, and is familiar with parts of his work,  I was surprised to see him featured here, as I had not considered his Book Of Music as ‘art’ — I had seen it as a strict use of splicing, impressing his audience of the time with the tools he was able to fine tune and take advantage of. Therefore, this got me to think, what kind of music did I consider as art? And what kind of technology makes art?

I also found Reas’ discussion on his concert compositions quite profound. He reveals how he found inspiration from previous pieces to make his composition, yet included an algorithm to sort of generate a randomness, limited by his requirement of the shapes being 90 degrees. This discussion has led me to question my own methods on inculcating this philosophy of randomness when I am making artworks and projects, and how I can draw a so-called ‘balance’ between the idea of randomness and other deliberate pieces.

CONCEPT:

While walking across campus, I saw children blowing bubbles with their families. This simple, joyful scene transported me back to my own childhood, when my brother and I would spend hours blowing bubbles in the park. While I was in front of the screen, I thought about the patterns I recently saw during the week — and then I was reminded of the bubbles. I was then propelled this wave of nostalgia, inspiring me to incorporate the playful essence of bubbles into my piece. 

 

CODE:

In terms of coding, I was particularly challenged by the randomness factor. I was unsure of how to produce bubbles at random places, sizes, and even colours. Therefore, I looked for assistance on the p5.js website.: https://p5js.org/reference/p5/random/ to understand the syntax of the ‘random’ feature. After relentless experimenting, I was able to randomise the selection of colours, which I had little idea on how to approach. I was particularly proud of it. In terms of design, I removed the stroke to add some sort aesthetic to the bubbles, and I changed the background to a light blue, to resemble the sky.

 

for (let i = 0; i < 20; i++ ){
  
  let x = random(width);
  let y = random(height);
  let r = random (10, 50);
  
  fill(random(250), random(250), random(250))
  
  noStroke()
  
  ellipse(x,y,r)
  

REFLECTION:

This assignment really challenged what my understanding of art is, and also made me realise how often we are surrounded by ‘art’ – no matter how subtle, quotidian, or ordinary it may be. Perhaps, if I were given the opportunity to further it, I may add some user interactivity such as popping the bubble and slowing down the speed.

WORK:

 

My Concept:

As the first assignment, I thought to keep things simple but also to add some personality into it. The background is a beach. One thing about me is that I absolutely cannot tolerate the beach – it is one of those outings I just cannot stand and enjoy. So as I started to create this piece, I thought to implement that (which is why I look so unhappy haha)

In terms of code, I decided to include some user interactivity. If you do click on me, then I end up blushing for as long as you press on the mouse.  I was quite happy with this part of the code because it took me some time to decide on what particular user interactivity I wanted.

// BLUSH
if (mouseIsPressed) {
  fill('pink');
  ellipse(460, 400, 40, 40); // blush on the right cheek
  ellipse(300, 400, 40, 40); // blush on the left cheek
}

Reflection:

This first assignment was quite an enjoyable one, because I liked getting the opportunity make something both creative and having a technical element into it. I suppose the most time consuming thing was editing the circles for the eyes and pupils, deciding where exactly they go and their sizes. I think this assignment helped me to have a solid understanding in how p5.js operates. I had hit a wall when I was drawing the hair on the character. It just looked awkward, especially as there was none present at the forehead, hence I decided to give her a fringe. If I had another opportunity, perhaps I would elevate the work by adding facial expressions and adding some text.