One of my first steps when embarking on a new project is to gather research and understand the world in which I’m working.
This is the same as the way that I will stand at a corner of a party and get the vibe for a while before I feel like talking to strangers.
Generative art is intimidating because of all the potential possibilities. When you are working with randomness, how do you prevent things from just turning out like a bunch of noise or a muddy brown color?
We need to…
- research the systems used in the space we want to work in
- evaluate how other people have used those systems in the past
- deconstruct the systems that have created works most like the ones we want to create and what made those systems different
When I’m in a new place that I’m uncertain of, I don’t know the customs, I hang out a bit and wait for someone else to go ahead. Maybe I’m not sure the etiquette for paying somewhere, it’s easy enough to wait 20 seconds and observe someone who knows the deal and then just follow their lead.
But first I need to find a rough direction to set out towards.
What do I want to create?
Mise-en-place
Hello World
To begin, let’s make ourselves a sandbox to play in and get everything in place so we can think about making our project instead of how we are going to host it or share it with our friends.