Robert Baker : Algorithmic Artist

ROBERT BAKER
Algorithmic Artist

I am fascinated with the morphogen, a term coined by Alan Turing in his 1952 paper ‘The Chemical Basis of Morphogenesis’, as a theoretical substance that induces growth and patterning. With slight differences in inputs, the outputs of his equations produce shapes as varied as spots and stripes - alluding to variations in animal skin patterns across species. They serve not as representations of what we see, rather suggestions of generative processes for how nature constructs.

Trained as an architect, I first learned to think of structure as a problem to be solved through the balancing of forces and prescriptive equations. Increasingly, I think more about its existence beyond an equilibrium - how it can form as a result of morphological processes, and how it can exist in states of constant flux. I am drawn to generative art as a way of expressing these ideas.

Atoms react and materials move, yet our instinct is often to dampen these forces: we build to last, to comfort, to protect – and in doing so, we divide space with structures that masquerade as static. Dynamism is reduced to an imperceptible tremor.

‘Edge of Space’ sets in motion a process for making structures that are deliberately loose and constantly evolving. The curves and surfaces delineating and connecting regions of space are not directly derived, but instead emerge from a choreography of influences between rendered material and systems of hidden forces.

Contrast and color – a mapping of the orientation of rendered elements as they move through space – serve to highlight the underlying dynamics driving these structures as they fluctuate between formation and dissolution. Like in the movement of mountains over millennia or rip currents between tides, structures and transformations are closely intertwined. It is this elemental idea that I wish to articulate with this work.

IMAGE

Each frame of the animation is the cumulative product of a simulation with 1,000 steps and 50,000 particles - a total of 50,000,000 faintly rendered in each frame.

The particles are randomly assigned initial positions in space and unique sets of rules directing their trajectories. Differences in rule sets allow for the emergence of varying qualities of texture within each image.

ANIMATION

To preserve the texture generated in each image, the framerate of the animation is limited to twelve frames per second - the upper limit for perceiving each image independently.

Varying only between successive frames are the positions of the systems as they travel along paths that end where they begin.

DIMENSIONLESS

The structure of each particle is dependent on the size of the image - enabling the generation of high definition videos and print quality images. Each particle is rendered as a cloud of pixels. Increasing with the size of the image, are the number of pixels found in each cloud.

RESPONSIVE

The images and animations are best viewed full screen and at aspect ratios between 9:16 and 16:9. Space expands between the sets of systems with more elongated aspect ratios.

URL PARAMETERS

The script reads additional information for customized rendering through url parameters. Type ‘?’ at the end of the url in the browser followed by one or more of the following parameters:

?size=: sets custom size {width},{height}

?frame=: renders specified frame only

?cycle=: sets animation loop length (specified whole number times 120 frames)

Multiple parameters can be defined with the ‘&’ symbol. The following example will render frame number 100 of 360 total frames (3 * 120 frames). The size of the image render is set to 1800 pixels wide by 2400 pixels high:

?size=1800,2400&frame=100&cycle=3

KEYS

Key controls allow you to pause, toggle through and save frames as image files. You can use the url parameters to render a high resolution image once a frame has been selected.

[s]: save {tokenID}-{cycle}-{frame}.png
[p]: pause
[r]: resume
[←]: previous frame
[→]: next frame