When does a work stop being the representation of our world and become art?
Can we appreciate a work of art without measuring it with our space-time parameters?
In Time Atlas 🌐 the link with our Earth shaped over millennia through the urbanization process is explicit.
Time Atlas 🌐 uses geo-referenced city data intensively and displays it randomly in geographic areas, showing the current time of each city, whether it is currently exposed to the sun, at night or at dusk by changing the reference color palette . There are over 200 cities collected in its monumental internal archive, each with its own latitude and longitude values, UTC and DST time, number of inhabitants.
Each instance shows a square of our land, the cities arrange you in a grid that respects the distances in proportion. The background rotates to the current value of seconds which is the same all over the world. It is potentially composed of 8 geometric elements that can be present with different probabilities.
City clocks can be of 4 different shapes; the length of the pendulum that rotates with the time of the seconds is composed of 5 elements that combine randomly but the length of the pendulum corresponds to the number of inhabitants of that city.
The elements of the composition can be turned off and on again thanks to these keys:
[c] toggle cities
[w] toggle watches
[b] toggle background
Finally, there is the Written Circles variation. It takes up a past work of mine with the same title and in my initial idea it had to be the only aspect of Time Atlas 🌐. The salient feature of the Written Circles display is that it does not have a rotating background but, for each city, the crown of minutes is proportional to the number of inhabitants, therefore interesting moiré effects are obtained in superimposition. 

Time Atlas 🌐

Himinn is a painterly cloud study exploring light, color, and the generative composition of clouds in the sky. The algorithm creates natural forms and the illusion of ever-changing atmosphere through carefully structured layers of color and shape. Himinn means “a sky”, and it has been incredibly fun to paint the skies with code.  


Himinn

Contrast Agent is a collaboration between artist Tim Richardson and creative technologist Sean Zellmer. The title refers to chemical agents used in CT scans that make soft tissue visible in x-ray imaging. We were inspired by the ways this process reveals our interior physiology, making the connection between our exterior and interior bodies transparent. 

Drawing on CT imaging, we explored fractal geometry as a visualization of human physiology. The geometry is constructed with cylindrical orbit traps that possess an inherent self-similarity. Much like the vascular system of the body, the orbit traps have a nested symmetric structure with finer details mirroring the overall structure. 

This symmetric structure became the core motif for the edition and is embodied as an infinite visual loop. Each unique artwork is bound to this temporal cycle, creating an animated ‘liquid physiology’ emblematic of the shifting realities we engage with on a daily basis.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Artist - Tim Richardson 
https://www.instagram.com/timrichardsontv
Richardson's work has been exhibited internationally and is in the Collections of Deutsche Bank and Sir Elton John. Three books have been published on his work, most recently the monograph Spiritual Machine by Prestel UK.

Creative Technologist - Sean Zellmer
https://www.instagram.com/lejeunerenard/
Sean Zellmer has made a piece everyday for 5+ years focusing on shaders. His work has been exhibited in Times Square as part of Decode Experiential and in São Paulo for FILE Festival 2018. He has collaborated with brands such as Lush and Vans.

Contrast Agent

Rippling is a generative algorithm that recreates the impression of a raining day. It is a research for the balance between order and chaos. It is also a journey through time and light. Each token represents a different moment and space, creating a unique composition.

I took great inspiration from Impressionism, focusing on capturing the light of a moment. The highlights of the ripples are calculated with a simulated 3D water surface combined with a directional light in order to achieve the realistic look of the reflection. The result of this then serves as a base for laying the strokes on the canvas. Light plays an important role in our memory. Through the light and the colour we travel back to different moments and places in our memory.

The colouring of Rippling is inspired by the 24 solar terms of the Traditional Chinese Calendar. Each term represents a different period in the year. Rippling uses these terms to represent not only the time but also the memories of the season.

Growing up on a subtropical island, rain was a big part of my childhood. I can vividly recall those heavy showers in the afternoon of the summer. It washed out the agitating heat and calmed the world. With Rippling, I'm seeking to use a generative algorithm to recreate the feeling of a rainy day or night at different moments. And perhaps, it could remind you of the sound of the rain drops, the scent of the dirt after the rain or that moment the sunset peek through the heavy cloud ...

Rippling

“Squares” utilizes the shape of a square as a unit of construction, combining and overlapping them at various scales to create interplays of color, structure, and atmosphere. The overall effect is something along the lines of Bauhaus meets Blade Runner, as complex rectilinear forms float untethered through fields of light and texture.

Art Blocks Presents

Time Atlas 🌐 #237

Paolo Tonon

More in Art Blocks Presents

Himinn

Sarah Ridgley

Contrast Agent

Tim Richardson + Sean Zellmer

Rippling

Yi-Wen Lin

Squares

Martin Grasser

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