Flor Armonica
Brief description (max 200 words): Flor armónica is a generative piece that explores the translation of natural forms into a digital language. Using gentle curves and mathematical oscillations, he constructs an abstract flower that rotates and pulses organically in a calculated space. The work is developed in 8-bit grayscale, reinforcing its minimalist and electronic character. Each petal vibrates with a subtle movement that simulates expansion and contraction, evoking the breathing of a living being. Inspired by the visual experiments of Ben F. Laposky and his Oscillons series, the work does not seek to imitate nature literally, but rather to suggest its rhythmic and vibrant essence through code, fusing the natural and the artificial in a poetic visual experience.
Technical, aesthetic and conceptual development
Technical, aesthetic and conceptual development (max 500 words): Flor armónica is conceived as an exploration of the intersection between the natural and the digital, creating a visual experience that refers to the organic without representing it figuratively. The flower generated is not a faithful reproduction of reality, but a mathematical construction that suggests life through rhythm, symmetry and movement.
Working in grayscale reinforces the minimalist and electronic aesthetic of the work, inviting us to focus attention on contrast, shape and internal dynamics instead of depending on color. The variations in tone create depth and give the impression of a living body, in permanent transformation. The result is an abstract figure that subtly beats, expands and contracts, offering the viewer a moment of hypnotic contemplation.
The work finds its main inspiration in Ben F. Laposky, pioneer of electronic art. Between 1946 and 1950, Laposky experimented with photographic pendulum tracings and, after reading about the use of oscilloscopes to create decorative patterns, developed his famous Oscillons series: images generated by manipulating electrical signals to produce harmonious geometric shapes. His work did not seek to represent the natural world directly, but rather to explore the beauty that arises from mathematical laws and electricity. In that vein, Harmonic Flower employs principles of oscillation and repetition to create a living pattern, translating the idea of blooming into an abstract and calculated language.
From a conceptual point of view, the work dialogues with the ideas of José Luis Brea. In Brief and messy anti-glossary on electronic art (2002), Brea warns that the true tool of art is not the computer itself, but rather immanent self-criticism: the ability to rethink the limits and language of the medium. In this work, the code is used not as a mere technical resource, but as a reflective language capable of proposing new forms of perception.
Likewise, in Redefining artistic practices in the 21st century (2008), Brea proposes that contemporary art expands beyond the finished object to become a process and experience. Harmonic Flower embodies this idea by not offering a static and definitive image, but rather an animated and variable development that constantly changes over time, inviting the viewer to immerse themselves in a visual process that reveals the poetry contained in the harmonic patterns.
Literature Brea, J. L. (2002). Breve -y desordenado- antiglosario sobre el arte electrónico.
Brea, J. L. (2008). Redefinición de las prácticas artísticas en el siglo XXI.
Victoria and Albert Museum. (s.f.). Oscillon 40 by Ben Laposky. Recuperado de: https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O187634/oscillon-40-photograph-laposky-ben/
Referente artístico: Ben F. Laposky, Oscillons (1946–1950s).