*Arcadia* is a homage to the fridge-worthy landscape art of our youth. Childhood techniques of creating art are re-imagined by the scribbles of a nostalgic, computer-assisted mind.

**Spacebar**: Skip animation and load final image (useful when rendering in high resolutions)
**Up arrow**: Speed scribbles up (default speed is the highest)
**Down arrow**: Slow scribbles down

Arcadia

__*Implications*__ explores the symmetry of a chaotic system in motion. Each output contains a selection of geometric shapes that slide, twist, and resize over time. Their intersections divide the canvas into two regions, each with its own set of rules for generating mathematical textures. As predictable geometry and chaotic automata intersect and evolve, a variety of organic and artificial patterns emerge. Gradually, the colors and rules shift, and new forms appear. Through a series of carefully reflected changes, symmetry persists.

Each animation is constructed from large virtual pixels. By varying their scale, spacing, and alignment a variety of patterns are generated — ranging from a pixel art aesthetic to one with softer, larger-scale structures. Where does a tiny pixel end, and the emergent whole it’s a part of begin?

Building on the foundation laid in __*mono no aware*__ and __*Zoologic*__, __*Implications*__ continues the work of making the beautiful complexity of cellular automata visible and accessible. New techniques for optimization, color generation, and constraint selection -- along with simplifications to features and interactive controls -- place focus squarely on an endless and compelling animated experience.

__*Implications*__ is a meditative work best experienced over the course of at least a few minutes. Put on some music, full-screen the live view, and enjoy the show! What sorts of symmetry do you see? What sorts of shapes and textures are there, and how do they move? For viewers who would like to customize the detail level, frame rate, and other aspects of the viewing experience, press **[H]** to open a menu describing the available keyboard controls.

Implications

Heavenly Bodies is built out of love for the skies and gratitude to the land. The land has always been home to us, steady ground underneath our feet lending itself to finding roots, family, and community. Our homes are as varied as the lands around us, but the common thread of land runs between us, the base need for being grounded. It connects us to each other, and to ourselves. The ground, in its stability, also supports the potential for more: the absence of limits, the open expanse of the possible. The ground gives us a home from which to reach, to strive, to learn to become more than we are. The sky invites us into a future that stands upon the solid shoulders of the past, giving us the tools we need to navigate our way into the unknown. To be human is to love both these things: the steady known, and the uncertain unknown. As we find our footing, the land will always welcome us home, and the sky will always beckon us beyond: to reach, to dare, to go further.

Heavenly Bodies

An audiovisual series that explores the paradoxical nature of our over-connected world.

We are objectively moving more and more into the digital world. Increasingly connected through technology, and while it’s undoubtedly clear there are a lot of advantages to our interconnected world, it also seems to feel more dystopian. Soon we may no longer be able to realize what is objectively real. As if the more connected we become; the deeper we explore the possibilities of technology; the further we move away from the lives right in front of us. When was the last time you took time to observe a leaf falling from a tree, carried on the wind? Watched a beautiful sunray coming through a window? Listened to a gentle piano tune for a while? It feels like the whole world is collectively forgetting to enjoy moments like these. (Dis)connected tries to emulate the sentiment of those moments, while contrasting it at the same time with a darker, nostalgic undertone.

(Dis)connected is a series that invites you to take your time to really appreciate each piece. The visual artwork has soft swaying analog cables on a breeze,  with a play on light in the background, as if days are going by. Cables, for decades now have been used to connect appliances, transmitting either electricity or data. The cables in (Dis)connected are clearly connected to something and leading somewhere, but we do not know to what or where. 

The long form generative auditory work complements the soft swaying of the cables. At times the generated soundtrack is soothing, nearly meditative, at other times it becomes slightly off-tune and the sine wave changes. Forcing the viewer into the disconnected sentiment. The entire piece purposely glitches at times, disturbing both the auditory and visual state. Asking you to take a look at your own reality both in the digital and the physical realm.

For color palettes works from both traditional and crypto-native artists resembling the sentiment of (Dis)connected were incorporated. You may recognize palettes utilized by Van Gogh, Rothko, Picasso, XCopy, Grant Yun and more. There are also a handful of custom palettes that aren't related to other artists.

One of the artist inspirations for the work was Ryan D. Anderson, who creates incredible moody animations often accompanied by piano music. Ryan really has mastered the duality of soothing animation and music in a usually quite dystopian or nostalgic world.

On a technical level, where (Dis)connected is really breaking new ground is in the melodies. Most generative art series working with sound use none or fairly simple music theory. The melodies in (Dis)connected are created by first selecting one of 60 different scales (a scale is any set of musical notes ordered by fundamental frequency or pitch) and combining them with one of 16 different chord progressions (a chord progression is a succession of chords). Every beat, the chord is matched to the scale and during the beat musical notes that fit that chord can be played as well. The number of notes varies per beat, per melody and per piece. For each piece there is a generative main melody which is repeated throughout the piece and between each main melody a new custom melody is generated. In essence creating a musical piece that can play into infinity, together with the animation, and will continuously sound slightly different. It's also worth noting that the entire work is coded in vanilla JavaScript, meaning no external libraries were used.

Most browsers don't support the auto-playing of sound. Once your piece has loaded in tap, click or press any key to start your (Dis)connected piece. As the animation can be quite heavy there is an option to set a "hq" parameter in your URL (you do this by adding "index.html?hq=false" at the end of your live URL), especially on mobile or high DPR screens (e.g.: retina screens), it is recommended setting hq to false.

(Dis)connected

Tens of thousands of particles are traversing the force field, leaving a trail in their path. The sum of their trails reveals the face of the eldritch horror hidden in a token hash. Some look like smoke, some look like tentacle-mouthed elder gods. What do YOU see there?

"Summoning Ritual" is an exploration of generating emergent pareidolia-inducing shapes using particles, symmetry, and a set of force fields. 5142 bytes of javascript is just enough to summon visions of ethereal beings.

Requires a WebGL-enabled browser. Renders in real-time. Speed and quality depend heavily on the canvas size (the particle size and count are functions of the canvas size). Keys l(ow),m(edium) and h(igh) switch rendering quality. Keys 1-5 control the rendering speed.

Any similarity to actual deities, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Art Blocks Presents

Arcadia #227

Zachariah Watson

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