Cortocircuito

This work consists of an abstract animation of two figures connected by a curve with flickering fill, which leave traces on a black background. By pressing the “Enter” key the thickness of the figures begins to change depending on the position of the mouse on the X axis. Once satisfied with the thickness, the user can preserve the change by pressing “Enter” again. By holding down the left click, lines are generated that form the drawing of a rhombus.

Technical, aesthetic and conceptual development

In the work, two main figures are generated using Bézier curves, whose control points change depending on a continuously varying angle, along with a connecting curve with anchor points that connect it to each of the main figures, and control points that are random.

I was inspired by the movement I perform by seeing the works of Ben F. Laposky and Herbert W. Franke, in which they manipulate electronic transmissions through an oscilloscope and record the abstract patterns to obtain images of abstract patterns. Therefore, according to José Luis Brea’s definition, they would fall into the category of Electronic Art, and unlike my digital reinterpretation, they are analog.

I was interested in how they worked with the trace of the transmissions and the interesting images that resulted in the visual path of the signals. Based on the information about how his works were created, I wanted to give the work a “flickering” effect that refers to the light variations of the oscilloscope screen. This effect is achieved through limited variations of random gray scale values.

The thickness of the main figures can be modified by the user, by pressing the “Enter” key the thickness variation is enabled, taking as reference the midpoint of the canvas, if the cursor is on the left the thickness will decrease and if it is on the right it will increase.

Additionally, holding down the left click will generate a drawing composed of lines drawn with a starting point in a random horizontal position and in the vertical middle of the screen, and an end point in the horizontal middle of the screen, but in a random vertical position.

Even if you do a single quick click on the work you can begin to see that the lines that appear have a relationship in terms of where they are positioned, but their appearance will depend on the user. In this way, a collaboration between author and user is proposed that blurs the boundaries between interaction, authorship and production.

“There are no longer “artists” as such. There are only producers, people who produce. There are no “authors” per se, any idea of ​​authorship has been overwhelmed by the logic of circulation of ideas in contemporary societies.”

The interactivity of the piece allows the user to make decisions about the work, giving them the opportunity to also recognize themselves as the “producer” of the work, or let the work “produce” them. On the other hand, this can also be denied, leaving the work as it is.

“The artist as producer intervenes, more and more, in the real time of the domain of experience, not in the deferred time of representation.”

The user is invited to question whether interacting with the work makes them feel like an “artist”, a “producer”, perhaps a “collaborator”, or whether they simply feel that they only followed the instructions given; but you are also invited to question your response.

Literature

BREA, José Luis. (2002). “Breve (y desordenado) antiglosario –o diccionario de tópicos- sobre el arte electrónico” en La era postmedia.

BREA, José Luis. (2008). “Redefinición de las prácticas artísticas (s. 21)” en El tercer umbral.

IDIS. Ben Laposky. https://proyectoidis.org/ben-laposky/

ATARIARCHIVES.ORG. BEN F. LAPOSKY OSCILLONS: ELECTRONIC ABSTRACTIONS https://www.atariarchives.org/artist/sec6.php

V&A. Analog-Grafik P1 (Pendular Oscillogram) https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O188318/analog-grafik-p1-pendular-oscillogram-print-franke-herbert-w/