Standard strings

Standard strings is an algorithmic artwork that uses code to create a space where a circular string gradually takes on random fluctuations. This artwork was developed in tandem with a series of sculptures, Uncertain circles, that physically distort a string as it moves across a the surface of inflated paper forms. Standard strings encodes a three dimensional topology to create an infinitely variable moving image piece that exists as a digital sculpture. In its development ideas flowed between the physical and digital works, each one changing the other.

Influenced by Marcel Duchamp’s 3 Standard Stoppages where strings were dropped to create a set of random profiles, the circles within Standard Strings fall through a virtual space, distorted by a noise algorithm. This algorithm creates a natural ‘landscape’ that distorts the strings in multiple dimensions. The work shows 200 strings at progressive stages of this distortion and their change over time. As the string is distorted it always retains its length, exactly emulating the effect of a physical space placed on a curved surface.

This artwork exists as a website, encoded in JavaScript, HTML and CSS. It can be projected, viewed on a computer, or a mobile phone. It is never the same and each person will view something different. At any time the work can be downloaded as unique image, a snapshot in time. Every downloaded image is titled with a timestamp giving the exact time and date the work was created to the millisecond.

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