Composition #37

Composition #37 is an experiment in new forms of collaboration. The graphical structure of this work is derived from recorded mouse movement on the computer of the artist. Abstract constellations of path traces build the underlying content. The visual style has been introduced to this structure by applying the colors of other digital paintings with machine learning techniques. The remote utilization of these abstract decision making processes brings the ability of working with ones own and others ideas. This work brings plays with the notion of the moving image, referring to classical approaches, re-evaluating this meaning in the context of new media.

Composition #37 + Z (still)

Composition #37 + Z at Kesselhaus Museum Berlin

Composition #37 + Z & So Intimate at ART|JOG|10 in Yogyakarta

Composition #37 live drawing at Kesselhaus Museum Berlin

To the axis of the plotter a microscope is attached that displays traces of the movements over the lines and paper at the same time. The screen below shows the microscope view while drawing, creating an emerging rhythm as the drawing gets more and more complex. Throughout drawing the movement on the screen which is below the drawing surface is getting more and more erratic. Please see the video below to get an impression.

Composition #37 / Vector Graphics on a Laser

Composition #9

The work “Composition″ consists of many choreographies. The composition is an abstract representation of the essence of my unconscious mind, putting my past movements onto display. I have been taking very detailed records of the movements I make with my mouse while using the computer, what gained me a repertoire of multi-functional lines, which represent concentrated information, traces of my past. Though, through the extreme abstraction of these movements, the underlying intentions and actions are blurred and the only thing that is left is the feeling that every line used to have an individual intention and has been created unconsciously, without any doubt or aesthetic aspirations.

What drove me to this are the fascinating characteristics of the traces of minimalistic human decision making in contrast to the deterministic qualities of mathematical functions. On the search for possibilities to combine the advantages of generative software approaches with the uniqueness of an individual hand-drawn line, I came to the point where I found out that it is impossible to synthesize these human qualities with existing geometrical algorithms or mathematical functions. Due to the predetermined qualities of mathematical functions, one function becomes a closed system and thus naturally disconnects from human thought and feeling. At the same time I was not satisfied with the thought of actually drawing myself, as this active act of intended expression blurs the overwhelming power of unconscious decision making and action.

Eventually I became aware of the fact that I need to use human generated data as the source and I started recording very detailed information about the movements of my computer cursor, while operating the machine for every day tasks, in order to re-purpose those traces for future experimentation. With these lines I, in a way, quantified my personal motoric finger print and had the blueprint of universal human ‘touch’ that can possible be injected into generative systems in order to balance the weight of influence in between computer and human. Wit that I can conduct compositions and choreographies of ‘myself’ from a third person perspective and observe ‘myself’ drawing.

What you are reading and seeing is the report of a point in time of that research.

Composition #9.6