Art in the Time of Uncertainty

Prequel

The seed of the project was planted in 2021 from another series which looked nothing like it. In 2022, against the backdrop of a post-pandemic and pre-recession environment, newly recovering from COVID-19 and having the urge to create, I started to think about other possibilities for the project. I thought about how it may embed the undercurrent of precariousness, relief, mild anxiety, and a bursting life force.

The main technique in this project is mapping. I transformed the earlier series from Cartesian to Polar space. Each space is a world of its own. Moving between them changes the perspective and creates an alternative version of reality. One may encounter a dissonance — not recognizing them as originating from the same code — as the visual starts to take on an entirely new look.

Process

When constructing the pieces, I built the skeleton first. The overarching grid layout formed the backbone of the visual. Then, I filled in flesh and blood – base shapes adapted from rectilinear to curvilinear and colors in various compositions – some distributed randomly, some clustered, some position-based.

Features

Colors

One of the main features, and the feature I’m most dedicated to, is color. I used 40 palettes covering a wide range of harmonious, contrasting, and monochromatic hues on light, dark and gradient backgrounds. Some of the palettes were inspired by nature. For example, the snapdragon palette was from a pot of flowers I brought back from Filoli Garden. Others were hand-mixed and interpolated.

Closed-up views

Other than the default view which showcases the work in its full complexity, some outputs offer a minimalistic closed-up view. The concept behind this artistic decision is to create an interplay between the philosophy of "more is more" – which views art as layered, and "less is more" – a motto of Bauhaus minimalism. I felt the uncertainty of this year had its ripple effects and occasional shock waves across different communities, which deserved more than a monolithic stance.

Centroid

Centroid guides the starting location of the visual in the multi-perspective view. It could start on the left, right, top, or anywhere in the middle.

Base shapes

The base shapes like petals and squares could appear separately and in various combinations. Some of the outputs have inner and outer circles populated with different shapes.

Behind-the-scenes

Perhaps the most time-consuming part of this project is that the emergence of the code is too strong that I had to stay focused and eliminate all the tangent directions it could lead to, to keep the variants coherent.

The project is print-friendly.

I hope there will soon be a time you can enjoy it in its entirety.

About the creator

I'm a creative coder and data scientist based in California who has been making generative art since 2018.

p.s. All proceeds goes to healthcare causes via The Giving Block and all royalties are donated to Processing Foundation. As of 2022 year end, the transfer has been made.