Dmitri Cherniak

2019

Turbulent Figures

Steps I–VII

Turbulent Figures works by drawing string and peg forms on top of one another. The algorithm selects a number of pegs in a grid and wraps them in string, then halves the samples for each added layer.

Increasingly turbulent figures appear as more and more pegs are sampled, allowing for more layers to be stacked, and revealing new colors and forms. A slight bug gives it some unique crossovers.

Made
24 February 2019
Medium
JavaScript-generated SVG
    Overlapping rounded forms with long, round-ended arms in charcoal, grey-green, and pale mint, with a tall yellow bar at the left and a small ring near the center, on a light grey ground.
    Turbulent Figures, Step I, 2019.

    Turbulent Figures

    Steps II–VII

    Charcoal, grey-green, and pale mint rounded forms crossed by a long yellow bar running diagonally from lower left, with a small ring at the upper right, on a light grey ground.
    Turbulent Figures, Step II, 2019.
    A denser stack of rounded, many-pointed forms in charcoal, grey-green, and pale mint, crossed by a yellow triangle and an orange bar, on a light grey ground.
    Turbulent Figures, Step III, 2019.
    Rounded charcoal, grey-green, and pale mint forms under a large yellow triangle, with an orange bar running diagonally across the top, on a light grey ground.
    Turbulent Figures, Step IV, 2019.
    A large pale mint shape with a small ring near its lower edge, crossed by a yellow zigzag and a thin orange line, over charcoal and grey-green arms, on a light grey ground.
    Turbulent Figures, Step V, 2019.
    A large yellow triangle with an orange blade at its lower left, over pale mint and grey-green planes with a small ring, with charcoal spikes behind, on a light grey ground.
    Turbulent Figures, Step VI, 2019.
    A tall yellow form with an orange triangle inside it, among pale mint and grey-green planes with a small ring, with charcoal spikes along the left, on a light grey ground.
    Turbulent Figures, Step VII, 2019.

    In motion

    Generating new figures

    The system draws a new composition from a 4 × 4 grid of pegs each time it runs. This recording shows it generating one after another.

    Watching it, you can see the gap between what the system produces and what is aesthetically of interest. That gap is where the artist’s curation, and the heuristics for understanding the form, play their part.

    Turbulent Figures, generating, 2019.

    Shown at

    Exhibitions