Soft Array

My BFA thesis project installation comprised of an interactive
computer program and a display of relief prints.

Artist statement:

“With this project, I sought to question the nature of creativity and complicate the narrative of computer autonomy. I considered my own strengths and limitations compared to those of a computer; by human nature, I’m capable of abstract thought and expression, yet prone to inaccuracy. On the other hand, a computer is unmatched in precision but lacks the autonomy to be artful. Seeking to blend these two sensibilities, I took it upon myself to ‘teach’ a computer program to work in abstraction.

Over the past few months I’ve learned how to write code in Java entirely via YouTube videos. Through the software sketchbook Processing, I developed a program that employs random movement and self-governing particles to autonomously make marks with a fluidity that calls to mind a human brush stroke.

As a sort of artist-and-curator collaboration between the program and myself, I translated its marks into relief prints. The chosen lines and forms were laser cut out of plywood, then inked up and pressed. The arrangement attempts to offer an opportunity like cloud gazing, as the interpretation of the prints are to each their own.”