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When I first saw all of (un)//void//able lined up, initially thought of a tablet of commandments. What I didn't know is that I accidently created future inspiration for a new calligraphy script, that is the computational script. The way false perspective depict movements of ink brush work. Each line() represented ink on hair of the brush applied onto the paper. The viscosity of the ink varied as $fx.rand.
How the journey started.
(un)//void//ble was my second drop on fxhash beta. At the time, I had just finished the #genuary2022 homeworks. And (un)//void//ble was me trying to code flow fields gone badly. But regardless of code, the outputs agrees with my taste. So I drop the work.
Modern calligraphy are often exploring the form properties of calligraphy. I would make the analogy of development western art, e.g. as Mondrian neoplasticism or Pollak's "abstract" expressionism. I would argue Xu Bing's Tianshu Dishu is the first calligrapher that take calligraphy beyond the formal abstraction of calligraphy. Instead, Xu's deconstruction freed the characters from the need of legibility completely. Xu's random combination of typeset particles is a form of generative art. Here I transfer the generative nature of forms back into INK.
The three character classic embodiment of Confucianism suitable for teaching young children, it served as a child's first formal education at home. The text is written in triplets of characters for easy memorization. In computational script, in the context of generative art, the failed flow field, firstly in my computational script, brush and ink flow, that is in the air, into the physical plane paper, and pulled out of same paper plane. That is the generative art, has instructions beyond the plane. It is four dimensional, the bodily movements of the calligrapher in time. What is on the paper is the ends of calligrapher, where means are lost in creation.
Calligraphy and Fashion
I am not the first calligrapher to think about collaboration and the marriage of calligraphy and fashion. Renown calligrapher, Tong Yang-tze collaborate with various fashion designers across 5 years of experimentation, the exhibition series named "Reading a dress" (讀衣). Without any visual inspiration, the exhibition title has a clear hierarchical in the relationship between the collaborators, thus limiting the collaboration. Like my stance on calligraphy in general, calligraphy need not overshadow the medium by being purely graphical. Therefore, when I became equal or less to fashion designers, I would curate "Wearing Ink" (著墨). Again whether on paper or fabric, my post-modern calligraphy ideology stays the same.
Then one day it hit upon my seeing Andreas Rau with his woven work. I took my png to the largest woven fabric manufacturer, Taiwan Taffeta Fabric Co., Ltd.. What a crazy idea, the old school fabric designer thought. There were no pattern to recognize. With their highest quality control they took my png and converted to a Staubli Jacquard readable file (un)//void//able.jc5. Don't laugh at the UI on these bad ass machines. This conversion is a lossy compression or an artistic distortion that soften the edges of my original work.
And the machine for mass production were limited to foot wide hooks.
My first application was to use the woven fabrics that of the basis of computational script, as the fabric mount of my ink calligraphy and paintings. This to attempt to contrast and synergize both digital and analog of my own codification externalized into materials.
Weave your art and application will come.
So now I had fabulous fabric, I talk to high end guitar bag apparel, who had initial interest, but declined politely. Damn, so the easiest application is to license to me a part-time philanthropic interior designer working on partitioning without actually walling up (due to short notice of applying building permits) unused emergency covid rooms into a hospital center for depression prevention. We came up with mobile partitions, with one specification required. That is to absorb excess noise from treatment machines. So we wrap sound absorber with my fabric. And to the hell with I printed (un)//void/ble wallpaper and glass sticky films. So the total vibe is consistent.
The Fashion Industry
After pitching to a few fashion designers with no avail. With 2 months to go Taipei Fashion Week 2024 SS. I met up with Gioia Pan. First time Gioia Pan saw (un)//void//able fabric, she was inspired by it, it was like camouflage, but different. I later shown the open generator of Teardrop and She was immediately hooked looking through the generator generating infinite inspiration. The variation button of the generator for her was dopamine rush.
Gioia Pan: "After working with BAYC and cloneX in my last show, I was interested to learn more about NFTs as artistic inspirations and IP. I was introduced to generative art in particular by Jimi Wen, I was fascinated by endless and infinite patterns that could be more than imaginable. Going through the generator was "difficult" for me since I could only showcase so many designs. And sometimes the zen in Jimi’s art was so “calm”, I had to disrupt such states of zen, and bring my own style back into the design with more vigour. My yang to his yin. I see great potential in generative art and fashion as I learn more about gen art. Hopefully take the notion of fashion shows into a new frontier"
Fashion Show Production
I believe the seductive power of generative art does not stop at a pattern on fabric. Since gen art can be deconstructed into lower elements within a complete composition. It is to our advantage to showcase generative art in its totality. What I initially proposed was 100% generative, from music to background animation. As with everyone first time exposed to new "things", it can be a bit scary. So we settle on 100% generative fabric patterns, 80% generative animations, 0% generative music. helped taking apart my p5.js code which mix the elements with the music Gioia's choice using her dedicated touch designer setup. The animation now sync to Gioia choice of music, only need a little bit of touch by .
Show time
Lights on, beat dropped, models came out. Seeing and experience generative art albeit not 100%, seems like a glimpse into the future.
Seeing the backs of teardrop, almost brought the same tears of joy when I dropped the work over a year ago. Please see the whole show on youtube. Until the Vogue edited the video, show starts at around the 12 minute mark.
Token or Pass
In spirit of collaboration, only collaboration within the generative art community and OUTSIDE of it, can generative art take over the world. In the generative animation with generative music composition, I inviteto create with freedom his take on my (un)//void//ble.
Elout: on this remix =___= I took over, the moment Jimi started drawing pixels on the screen, and went from there. It became a kind of hybrid, using p5.js and vanilla.js & tone.js and also using some of the 3D matrix functions by Simon Yeung. more information in the source. I really wanted to use my own 2D and 3D routines, make them seamless, and using my own bitmap so I could control every pixel and rgb that was drawn on the screen.
Please enjoy the animation together with the 100% generative composition, or not, it's up to you.
The collections
//void//able//void// printed polyester waiting time approximately 10 weeks from measurement confirmed and the production to shipping. Price are subject to change if fluctuation in xtz-usd is above threshold.
//void//able//void// wovenpolyester waiting time approximately 16 weeks from measurement confirmed and the production to shipping. Price are subject to change if fluctuation in xtz-usd is above threshold.
Teardrop Yellow printedpolyester waiting time approximately 10 weeks from measurement confirmed and the production to shipping. Price are subject to change if fluctuation in xtz-usd is above threshold.
Teardrop Starry Night printedpolyester waiting time approximately 10 weeks from measurement confirmed and the production to shipping. Price are subject to change if fluctuation in xtz-usd is above threshold.
Teardrop x Damo printedpolyester waiting time approximately 10 weeks from measurement confirmed and the production to shipping. Price are subject to change if fluctuation in xtz-usd is above threshold.
1/1 bespoke design and/or patternprinted or wovenpolyester waiting time approximately 20 weeks from measurement confirmed and the production to shipping. Equivalent to $fx.rand() designed specifically for you. Price are subject to change if fluctuation in xtz-usd is above threshold.
Food for thought
With the internet, distribution of voice stretches out to the long tails of knowledge consumption. Into the social network the pendulum swung back to centralised power, a consolidation. With web3 I believe the production is back to the power of people, and it gives a new way by means distribution of production of, in particular digital IP. Not all creators can become auction house superstars, but web3 allows creators to contribute to the aesthetics of our world with all that more possibilities in their own ways. WIth proliferation of precision digital manufacturing, code is the key. This fashion collaboration was to experiment with possibilities. In web3 we might get 10x or 100x for creators’ creation to be externalised back into the physical world, and define the aesthetics of our time.