Dot Matrix Gradient Study takes my approach of splitting the canvas into "patches", which each have their own stipple sizing, density, and layering, and distorts this process to create outputs which blur the lines of recognizable stippling. This piece is an exploration of creating abstract forms with stippling rather than depicting figurative ones. All pieces in this series are composed purely with dots. Some more than others. 50% of sales proceeds from Dot Matrix Gradient Study were donated on-chain at the time of mint to GiveDirectly, where the funds will be directed to helping those in poverty. 

Dot Matrix Gradient Study

Pointila explores what happens when you combine the meticulous dots reminiscent of Pointillistic painting techniques with the channelled randomness of generative art, whilst also examining how subtle changes in parameters can paint similar forms in different styles.

Pointila is designed for display and interaction. Clicking on a live mint will trigger an animation loop between the primary and secondary palettes, click again to pause. Press 0, 1, 2, 3 or 4 on your keyboard to change glitch state. Press S to download a high resolution print.

Pointillism emerged from a collision of art and science in late 19th century French painting. Developed by Georges Seurat, his appeal to science, rigour and order built upon the broken brushstrokes of the Impressionists, as painting began to reckon with the emergence of the new technology of photography. Unbeknownst to Seurat, this response to one technology would foreshadow another – that of digital displays and pixels.

Rigour and order was manifest in the distinct dots of colour that give Pointillism its name. From a distance, the eye mixes these dots into vibrant, luminous scenes. This optical mixing bears a striking similarity to the way pixels work to display images on screen for us today.

“It’s done mechanically?” was a question posed at an 1894 Neo-Impressionist exhibition. The answer then was no. Pointila is both more and less mechanical than the Pointillist work that provoked the question. More, in that the hand of the artist has been replaced by the work of the computer – an extension of Seurat's efforts to remove the free hand of the artist. Yet less, with the ultimate position of each of the millions of dots decided randomly, unknown to the hand of the coder.

The Pointila algorithm first divides the canvas into columns. It then traverses the canvas dropping dots along those columns. From just a handful of layers, landscapes emerge. They take on a variety of forms: from rolling plains and steep canyons to jagged peaks and dreamy moors. Some are sharp and tense, others hazy and ethereal. They are coloured with handpicked palettes and animated with bold glitches – a nod to the shared optics of Pointillism and pixels.

Subtle changes in initial parameters give rise to similar landscapes painted in different styles. Faint echos, perhaps, of the different styles we see from Seurat in the numerous studies related to his masterpiece Un dimanche à la Grande Jatte.

Pointila

An exploration of your inner universe. Enter your forgotten feelings. This project explores the hidden part of mind. Through four different themes you travel through the subconscious.

For the first 100 mints a plot in size 30x30cm will be available to the collector for free. You can switch to a preview of the plotted artwork as soon as the screen version is rendered by clicking on the image. 

The production will start immediately after the project is launched. Artworks will be plotted according to the mint order. Collect your free pen plotted artwork at herdberg.com. Enjoy!

Time travel in a subconscious mind

﻿Abstraction is a complex abstract artwork created in several stages where each new element drawn takes into account the elements drawn in the previous stages.

Abstraction

"Organized Disruption" uses a circle packing algorithm to position and scale objects on a plane in an organized pleasing composition. A series of weighted probabilities determines how this composition is disrupted by picking 1 of 3 forms... squares, spheres (slight elevation off plane), rectangles (extreme elevation off plane). Probability also determines 1 of 9 color sets (some colors being harder to acquire), and 3 possible color animations (slow, medium, fast). Each seeded token hash "might" unlock a collection of mouse interactions... proximity object displacement, proximity scale up, proximity scale down, proximity object mutation, proximity object rotation. All minted compositions include "mouse + click + drag" to rotate the system. All minted compositions can press the "s" key on your keyboard to "save" an image.

Art Blocks Presents

Dot Matrix Gradient Study #427

Jake Rockland

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Time travel in a subconscious mind

Jimmy Herdberg

Abstraction

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