![\"Lewitt\"](\"http:\/\/www.zoebachman.net\/itp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Lewitt.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nFor those who are unfamiliar, Sol Le Witt was a conceptual artist from the 1970s who had a series known as the Wall Drawings. The idea behind the wall drawings was that LeWitt would write up a set of instructions and give them to people to execute as large drawings on a wall surface. Some were very specific, others left room to interpretation. <\/p>\n
So when we got the assignment, I immediately thought of LeWitt. I also thought, wouldn\u2019t it be funny to try and process a set of LeWitt wall drawing instructions into p5? Almost like a game of artistic telephone. I interpret LeWitt\u2019s instructions and then turn them into code AKA a set of instructions for the computer to then interpret. <\/p>\n
So I grabbed Instructions (1971)<\/a> Which a version of at the MoMA is interpreted like this: I was easily able to make a rectangle, and rectangles inside of it. But when it came to plotting lines, I quickly became frustratingly inept at getting it to place them where I thought they should go. My brain could not for the life intuit\/understand this grid system. this led to grumblings and comparisons of analogue vs digital, a WHY CAN\u2019T I JUST DRAW IT MYSELF. I turned to classmate Paula and using some basic math and trial and error, we figured out how to get my line where it needed to go. <\/p>\n I then looked back at the instructions and realized I mis-interpreted some of them, so went back to the drawing board (heh heh). <\/p>\n First I started by creating a 200x200px square (to correspond to the 20\u2019x20\u2032 square) on a 400x600px canvas. <\/p>\n Then, in order to preserve the ratio in the instructions, I made squares 10x10px inside of the larger 200x200px square. 200 individual lines of coded squares. Let\u2019s just say copy and paste saved me. First I created the entire first row, copy and pasted that for my second row, then figured out which parts I needed to modify. I continued that for the next 10 rows. <\/p>\n I then copied the code for the first half of squares and pasted it to create the next 10 rows, for a total of 20.<\/p>\n Next, I followed the next set of instructions and decided where to put my diagonal lines. Since all the rectangles have coordinates, I tried to match them up to create lines in a few of the boxes. <\/p>\n Now, this is where I started to struggle. Was I really going to write out each line of code for each line? I mean, sometimes I wanted two lines in each square aaaand that could mean up to 400 lines of\u2026lines >< So I tried to organize my code to better copy and paste, but this was pretty difficult at times because I didn't have a chunk of code like I did when i made the squares. So, I divided the square in half along the diagonal, and decided to the left I would have diagonal lines going from bottom to top and to the right I would have them go top to bottom. \n\n At some point I decided I\u2019d have intersecting lines as the main diagonal line that bisects the large square. <\/p>\n Then at another point, I decided I wanted more intersecting lines than just that, so started to add lines of code to some of the bottom rows. <\/p>\n Initially, I didn\u2019t want to use any blank squares. But as I proceeded in a somewhat randomized fashioned, I noticed that I liked some of the white areas I had left unintentionally. In general, it was difficult to be spontaneous with this and while LeWitt\u2019s instructions leave an openness to randomization, my artistic-minded self wanted more of an intentional composition. <\/p>\n This artist-minded self proved difficult when my brain started getting tired and I would copy and paste the wrong code and have to redo it all. I mean, because it didn\u2019t fit my intended composition. (I wonder what it would have looked like had I left my mistaken code\u2026?)<\/p>\n What I found most interesting about such an iterative process was how meditative it became, and that I got into that same zone I do when I\u2019m drawing. Although, this was after a few times when I just wanted to gouge my eyes out form starting at all these line and rectangle codes and the palms of my hands got sweaty from continually touching my laptop. <\/p>\n In the end, while I originally anticipated filling in every square, I liked the emerging composition that included the blank spaces (cue TSwift), giving it a weaving effect. So, I decided to stop there. <\/p>\n All in all, I find the concept of riffing off of other\u2019s work very interesting. You can expand or subvert the very intentions of an artist by using their work in a new way or putting it in a new context. It also gives a specific context to a new piece, situating the new work in a certain language and history. <\/p>\n I\u2019m also interested in the idea of instructional-based art and the nuances and interpretations that can occur, even when someone tries to stick closely to the model. Makes me think of happy-trees painter, Bob Ross<\/a> and his show, The Joy of Painting<\/i> on PBS or the kids version that I used to watch as a kid, Pappyland<\/i><\/a>. Ditto paint-by-numbers or that new phenomenon, Paint Nite<\/a>. <\/p>\n Like I said before, it\u2019s sort of like a visual game of Telephone. But I wonder how often that\u2019s due to human error and that if using machine-based drawing systems for a Paint Nite would lead to everyone\u2019s painting\u2019s looking exactly the same, or if the organizers would intentionally leave opportunities for conditional statements. <\/p>\n PS \u2013 The New Inquiry\u2019s latest issue on Counterfeit<\/a> informed and expanded some of these thoughts. <\/p>\n PPS \u2013 Here is a song by the Beatle-ette\u2019s<\/a>, a rip-off\/riff on the Beatles that I think treads an interesting line that sort-of also speaks to these ideas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" So here we are, the start of the semester. The start of GRADUATE SCHOOL. Holy sh*t. Five years out and I\u2019m finally back in. The teacher becomes the student once again. One of the classes I\u2019ve been most excited to … Continue reading
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