Oscillons

Job Description: The work created is a generative image that emulates the oscillatory sinusoids created by Ben F. Laposky in the 1950s, using oscilloscopes and electronic signals. Using simple trigonometric functions and repetition structures, a moving shape reminiscent of Lissajous curves (a variation of sinusoids) is generated. The system responds to the position of the mouse, allowing the viewer to modify the work.

Technical, aesthetic and conceptual development

Technical development: This work is developed within the p5.js environment using only 2D primitive forms, without resorting to images, color, or 3D models. The program produces oscillatory curves using sin() and cos() functions, built within a for loop, which generates a figure using a variation of the equation that generates a sinusoid called the Lissajous curve formula, characteristic of the oscilloscopic art.

From a technical point of view, endogenous data (frameCount for internal animation) and exogenous data (mouse position to modify amplitudes) are used, generating a dynamic, live and interactive image with the viewer. Using the background() function with low opacity produces a creeping effect that alludes to the photographs Ben F Laposky took of oscilloscopes. The aesthetics of the work recall the beginnings of electronic art, when technology began to be used to create images. José Luis Brea points out that the true value of digital art lies in how its tools are explored, not in using them as if they were brushes. This work does just that: it uses programming and the Lissajous curve formula as a visual language to experiment and generate new forms. Conceptually, the work reflects the idea of ​​redefining art in the 21st century that Brea proposes in Redefinition of artistic practices. The piece does not seek to be a fixed and closed image, but rather a participatory experience, where the viewer intervenes in the work without the need for technical knowledge, modifying the development of the work in real time. This open form of creation reflects how today’s digital art focuses less on the final object and more on the viewer’s experience. The reference to Laposky is not only formal, but also historical: it highlights the gesture of experimentation with analog technology from a current perspective. The code becomes a meeting place between tradition and future, between machine and body, between author and spectator.

Literature Laposky, B. F. (1952). Oscillon #40 [Fotografía]. Victoria and Albert Museum. https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O187634/oscillon-40-photograph-laposky-ben/