Kin-Ming Wong: Simplexity 01
Artist(s):
Title:
- Simplexity 01
Exhibition:
Category:
Artist Statement:
Summary
Simplexity 01 is a piece of computational media artwork that explores how organic visual complexities emerge through the application of simple algorithmic procedures.
Abstract
Simplexity 01 is a selection from an on-going experimental project which explores how unexpected visual complexities emerge from massive scaling of simple algorithmic procedures. For this particular work, the artist appropriated a simple space filling algorithm into a generative medium for creating unseen imaginary structures. The main quality that identifies this work is its semi-organic appearance as a whole, and the artist sees the emergence of this look as a direct result of the scale of space that the algorithm is allowed to explore.
Technical Information:
Simplexity 01 is a photorealistic rendering of an unseen semi-organic structure that was generated by applying a simple space filling algorithm in a massive 3D space. This procedural structure, a seemingly impossible one to pre-visualise mentally was co-created by myself and the machine through an iterated creative process.
The process involves iterative code tuning and algorithmic experiments which put the computer and myself together as close creative partners. My expectations are iteratively informed or navigated by the visual results computed in each iteration, and the new parameters and algorithmic change I made define the next rendering.
The main technical challenge involved in this project centers on the issue of memory efficiency because of the enormous geometrical elements involved. The paths of the structure are pre-computed as a memory efficient logical representation, and the geometries are created during render time. The code used the RenderMan Interface calls to define the geometries and other rendering options. The image was rendered using an obsolete version of 3Delight.
Other Information:
Inspiration Behind the Project
What I wanted to experiment, is to see if there’s a way one may grow an organic structure such that the underlying method is at the same time visible from the work itself. The beholders would be able to find out the structure itself is formed by a simple space-filling algorithm which randomly walks in a voxel structure.
Key Takeaways for the Audience
I want them to see how unseen beauty can be created through an extremely simple idea.
