Week 4.3
causal relationship between the text of the tool (instructions/functions) and the images generated by the instructions and that the textual instructions play a vital role in the tool. Usually, we look at graphic communication as exploring the information conveyed by the text behind the image, but with the tool itself, by inverting this communication channel, would the relationship between text and image change? This was my initial question.
In reading the book “Uncreative Writing“, I found Goldsmith’s work on defining and valuing literary innovation, pushing boundaries in the digital age, interesting. In my practice, I try to make literal innovations in the programming language of p5js and explore the impact and limits of programming language changes on the generation of images. In my studio practice, I tried to use p5js code as purely as possible to convert the text of the Conditional Design Manifesto (Maurer et al., 2013) to explore what kind of images can be generated by such code instructions. Due to the limitations of the vocabulary of the p5js functions, adjectives, verbs, and adverbs that appear in normal writing language are almost impossible to enable while adhering to a maximum degree of closeness to the original text, and in order to maintain the integrity of the text during the process, I ended up having to declare the text with variable and substitute variable as a symbol for the already existing p5js functions. The graphic generated in this way has limitations that make it difficult to convey the same information as the initial text, but the image generated carries a certain regularity to it, and I can manipulate the image to some degree by changing the way the text codes are sorted into combinations.
His concepts of appropriation and re-purposing of existing texts and the chapter “Parsing the new illegibility” are more relevant to my practice. Goldsmith refers to some existing texts as “texts being written by machines to be read specifically by other machines rather than people” (Goldsmith, 2011). Although he is more interested in exploring the innovation of human-readable texts after mechanical intervention, I am considering the way computers read and aiming to innovate the text that computers used to read. In my practice, text is purposed in the programming platform for human readers, in addition to the traditional role of conveying information, text is also given the role of conveying logical instructions to make the code work. For coding language, the inclusion of large amounts of literal text also changes the logic of more complex code operations; the meaning of text in reading and coding is altered.
As a result, my enquiry has been shaped by looking at the re-purpose of text in digital coding, by altering the values of the coding functions and the way text is distributed, I aim to explore how text layout and literal text that conforms to the way a person reads could affect and change on the image being generated through p5.js and its relevancy with the original text.
Bibliography
Goldsmith, K. (2011). Uncreative writing : managing language in the digital age. New York: Columbia University Press.
Maurer, L., Edo Paulus, Puckey, J. and Roel Wouters (2013). Conditional design workbook. Amsterdam: Valiz.
Written Response Through The Tool
let counter =0;
let myColor;
function setup() {
createCanvas(900, 500);
myColor=color(random(255),random(255),random(255));
let x = random(200,800);
to=x;
consider=x+10;
the=x+20;
way=x+30;
computers=x+40;
read=x+50;
and=x+60;
aim=x+70;
innovate=x+80;
text=x+90;
that=x+100;
used=x+110;
explore=x+120;
how=x+130;
layout=x+140;
literal=x+150;
conforms=x+160;
a=x+170;
person=x+180;
could=x+190;
affect=x+200;
change=x=210;
on=x+220;
image=x+230;
being=x+240;
generated=x+250;
through=x+255;
p5js=2x; its=2x+10;
relevancy=2x+20; With=2x+30;
original=2*x+40;
}
function draw (){
background(myColor);
let C=color(random(255),random(255),random(255));
let x = random(200,800);
let y = random(200,400);
circle(0.1( to+consider+the+way+computers+read ), 0.1(and+aim+to+innovate+the+text),0.05*(that+computers+used+to+read));
noStroke();
fill(C);
rect(0.1(explore+how+literal+text), that+conforms+to, 0.1(the+way+a+person+read), 0.1(could+affect+and+change)); rect(0.1(on+the+image+being+generated), 0.1*( through+p5js ),0.1(and+its+relevancy), 0.1*(With+the+original+text));
noStroke();
fill(C);
if (counter > 0.25) {
//switch the colour to a new random colour:
myColor = color(random(255), random(255), random(255));
counter = 0;
}
frameRate(0.5);
counter = counter + 1;
}
