BINARY PROTOTYPE I + II

This work explores the transformation of an image through a system of code-based rules and technological processes in a virtual space, with a re-emergence back in to the physical world.  I use my original generative computer code written in Processing (Java) to create the digital images.  From there, I use additional software and a Computer Numeric Control (CNC) router machine to transform the images into wood-cut plates.  These plates are then used on a traditional printing press to create embossings on art paper.  In this way the original spark in my mind filters from through a system of technology to emerge into the physical world.  In this piece, I made every effort to remove myself from any aesthetic intervention in the piece.  From CNC gaffes, splintering of wood, and “perceived ugliness” on my part, I tried to capture every happy accident that occurred in the process of making these pieces.  They were originally going to be ink prints, but my accidental discovery of the embossing effect of the printing press opened an entire new direction of exploration for the series.  The generative software I wrote allows for no human intervention into the aesthetic process.  The algorithm alone determines which shapes go in any given cell of the matrix.  Other pieces in the series (Gatherings, Influenced System) allow varying levels of intervention into the aesthetic decisions. This is a means of exploring human-computer interaction, and the exchange of aesthetic control between the artist and the system they have written. The shapes in this series evoke urban terrain or geography.  These pieces were also featured in the Mercedes-Benz Financial Services Art Show in Fort Worth, Texas, 2017-2018.

Medium: Embossed generative prints with minimal intervention

Size: Set of 2 framed at 28″ x 24″ each

Year: 2016

Status: Available – Contact me to purchase

Related projects:  Gatherings, Influenced Systems, Algorithmic Prints, Eruption, A Break in the Line