The Artist
Alp Tuğan is a contemporary artist with a focus on sociotechnology, generative art, and sonic arts. He has exhibited his audiovisual projects in various events and exhibitions. Tuğan is also the co-founding member of RAW (www.rawlivecoding.com), a live coding duo. Since 2015, he has been imparting knowledge on creative coding, interactive arts, and sound design classes at Özyeğin University in Istanbul. Tuğan's works aim to blend visual and auditory experiences through hybrid forms. His inspiration stems from hardware hacking, sound synthesis, material collection, and computational environments. A mathematical model of a natural phenomenon, only observable through a microscope, or the output of an autonomous system, could potentially serve as the foundation of his artworks.
The Science
This art piece is inspired by the mathematical model called "Supershape" (aka Superformula, Superpolygons), which is used to represent biological entities that can be found in nature [1][2]. I utilised Johan Gielis' algorithm [2] to create a computer-based application in C++ using openFrameworks. I adapted the original algorithm to fit my artistic vision. Through the application's stochastic decisions and randomness, I generate real-time 3D forms and apply texture to them. I have found that the algorithm often creates 3D shapes that are symmetrical. I have been incorporating various images as textures to make these shapes appear more natural and less computer-generated. Doing this allows me to add colour variations that give the shapes more depth and complexity. Additionally, I have been using my own post-processing effects library (ofxPostProcessing) to create a shiny and grainy appearance and to apply cinematic visual effects to the digitally created images [3].
This artwork emphasises the interconnectedness between computer science, maths, and nature. The mathematical model used in my piece, "Supershape," is derived from biological forms present in nature, showcasing the symbiotic relationship between science and the natural world. The custom application I developed allows me to modify the generated shapes on the fly using randomly determined parameters, such as setting the number of repeating patterns. The texture blended on the 3D shape breaks the monotone style of raw 3D shape and adds more complexity with details allowing the viewer to discover the details of the artwork. The randomness in creating the 3D forms embodies the symbiotic link between the artist and technology. As a human, I am limited to discovering different forms using buttons and sliders, but the computer is much faster than a human in altering the parameters. So the computer becomes an assistant for me to generate numerous outputs according to my choices. My goal with this piece of art is to investigate the concept of symbiosis and how various components can merge to produce something beautiful and harmonious.
References
[1] Gielis, J., Bastiaens, E., Krikken, T., Kiefer, A., & De Blochouse, M. (2004). Variational superformula curves for 2D and 3D graphic arts. ACM SIGGRAPH 2004 Posters on - SIGGRAPH ’04, 5. https://doi.org/10.1145/1186415.1186421
[2] Gielis, J., Beirinckx, B., & Bastiaens, E. (2003). Superquadrics with Rational and Irrational Symmetry.
[3] https://github.com/alptugan/ofxPostProcessing
Copyright statement. This work is published under the CC BY-NC-SA license