Moving image pieces, made with bespoke software developed with interactive interventionists Digital Funfair. The abstract objects are drawn in the software, then animated algorithmically, morphing and distorting in a non-repetitive, generative dance.
The concept was developed by Gavin Morris and me to activate what I have always imagined my static 2D pieces to be doing: moving evolving and communicating with one another in a state of flux.
The idea was to enable my work to be imbued with facets that engage, immerse and induce calm focus.
Interactive iterations are currently being prototyped, with the intention of creating large-scale, responsive installations that turn the viewer into a participant in the making of the work. The concept is in part inspired by the soothing mood of sensory rooms in special educational settings.
The videos featured here are short clips. Full, non-repeating iterations to follow.
ROOM TO BREATHE Individual forms in interdependent, dynamic states, breathing in and out as they perpetually respond to one another, changing colour and shape. The intention was to simulate communication and interaction and to suggest that maybe the shapes are affecting and influencing one another, using colour as language.
A NOTIONAL WHOLE Multiple the layers and a minimal pallet, implying a biomorphic, abstract whole. Making each shape by duplicating the previous one and utilising that as a starting point in an attempt at coherence in an undulating space. Excuse the bumpy loop point, this is very much a prototype, like all these pieces.
THE DUALITY OF RANDOMNESS As part of the process of writing the parametres and variables available within the User Interface of the software, we undertook a lot of experiments in applying random algorithmic choices to the code, whilst simultaneously aiming to retain aesthetic coherence.
IS THERE SPACE IN BETWEEN? In looking to find a space somewhere between my ongoing bodies of work in radically differing mediums I’m finding enjoyment in the numerous questions this process poses. When is a painting not a painting? When it moves? Or maybe when it has not been made with paint? If I still think and work like a painter, can I describe this process as painting with light? Should definitions change as technologies evolve and are definitions even important? Answering questions with more questions feels like a vital aspect of my practice during this significant phase of change.