Arc Diffusion

This digital artwork seeks to determine how complex patterns and attractive imagery could be created from relatively straightforward processes of repeating and overlapping geometric shapes, which are transformed and repositioned by chance operations. In John Whitney's Matrix series of animations, multiple hexagons and other shapes are animated and at various points new patterns, including 3-dimensional objects, emerge due to the way the repeated lines overlap. To explore this phenomenon, motion graphics software was programmed to create a patch in which the size, type of shape, number of repetitions and random motion and transformations could be assigned. The shapes were then set in motion and the results observed over time. As the animations progressed visually striking moments were identified, and the image was frozen and captured as an artwork. This was a productive approach that involved a large degree of initial programming, but once the patch had been designed several different outputs could be created by setting up different initial conditions. The line graphics themselves were of interest but they were greatly enhanced by the addition of feedback effects to create diffused textures which complemented the vectors. This artwork was selected as an Art Gallery contribution for SIGGRAPH Asia (Virtual) 4-13 December 2020