En conjunto

We can begin by describing the work by talking a little about the scene. In the first instance, two ovals are seen levitating, each at different speeds, but in a moment they meet again, appearing as if they were one. These are trapped or contained by a cylinder, in short they are caged. You can also see that above and below the cylinder some larger ovals emerge, one on top of the other, which support the cylinder, which contains the two smaller ovals that are levitating.

On the other hand, further away from the main observation, there are different squares of different sizes, within them there are other squares that change sizes and border each other. Thanks to the interaction that the work has by clicking, the squares change color, and if we move the mouse to the right the lines of the cylinder begin to shake, and to the left for their movement. Finally we notice that the range of colors is within grays with an almost black background and as a contrast we have gray lines that fill the work, the ovals and the squares are white so that they can stand out.

Technical, aesthetic and conceptual development

To make the work I was using different functions of p5.js, mostly geometric configurations to be able to reach the result I had in my head, also to have movements I used “sin()”, I applied trigonometry so that the ovals seemed like they were levitating; and so that the lines will start to shake I used the random function. With the mouseX and mouseY values ​​I made the boxes look darker every time the sketch was clicked. Regarding the range of grays that I used, I wanted to go for the classic soft and black to further highlight the geometric figures present in the work. I wanted the work to have a somewhat minimalist concept so that it would not look overloaded or that the viewer would get lost among so many things, since the idea was to highlight the ovals in motion.

For this work I based myself on the text by Brea, José Luis (2008), “Redefinition of artistic practices” and on that by Heinich, Nathalie. ([2014], 2017), “The work beyond the object.” In Brea’s, although he says that “there are no artists as such, there are only producers”, or that “there are no longer works of art, but works or artistic practices”, it is still the same since one complements the other, and they continue to be works of art as such. And with Heinich, with contemporary art he presents works that are not just an object, but a set of events that depend on the interaction that the viewer has with them. The artists who inspired my work were Lillian F. Schwartz and Herbert W. Franke. Lillian F. Schwartz, for her incredible story of how she overcame her paralysis by learning to move her muscles to draw, after serving in World War II as a nurse. On the other hand, like Herbert W. Franke, he combined science with art, creating great works, beyond their beauty, the great work that goes into making them. This has a lot to do with the work I did because in order to reach that aesthetic, that interaction with the public, I had to understand how the program works and how it is related to mathematics.

In conclusion, it is called “together”, because they are all the artistic, scientific, creative tools working together to create a work of art, where we can see represented those two ovals that one moment come to touch, that is when the magic is produced by working together.

Biography

• Text by Brea, José Luis (2008), “Redefinition of artistic practices”.
• Text by Heinich, Nathalie. ([2014], 2017), “The work beyond the object.”