---------------- EXHIBITION GUIDE ---------------- ======================== Like Tiny Cubes of Glass ======================== New artworks by Matthew Gray (0-7) James Wallbank (8-F) 0. Various Pen & Ink Treatments of a Picture of the 'Moulim' Slab, Avon Gorge, Bristol A picture of a rock slab with graffiti was processed in PHP (GDLib extension) to give a list of drawing instructions, which were then drawn using OHP pens. The treatments use techniques such as pseudo-random number generation (right-hand sketches), one-dimensional cellular automata (upper left) and edge detection (lower left). This is an extension of the programming involved, where the program is an idea in the artist's head - and the processor is the brain. 1. Hand-Drawn Fragment of a Window View This is a small fragment of piece of "Window View" redrawn in OHP and pencil. 2. 'Moulim' Slab, Avon Gorge, Bristol A picture of a certain piece of graffiti was reduced to three colours and output as an array of small polygons. http://www.mg.lowtech.org/ltcog/moulim.php 3. Barcelona Toaster Graffiti A crude 'outlining' or edge detection algorithm is used to reduce a piece of graffiti to an array of three coloured squares. http://www.mg.lowtech.org/ltcog/graf.php 4. Window View This piece uses PHP to redraw the image as arcs and rectangles, at various scale factors. The process draws in both black and white, overwriting certain black areas to create a painterly, feathered effect. http://www.mg.lowtech.org/ltcog/edge2.php 5. Froggatt Edge The hidden rock-climbing spot "Tody's Playground" is reduced to a continuous line drawing. Dark rock is represented by line, vegetation by crosses, and lighter rock or grass by single points. http://www.mg.lowtech.org/ltcog/frogatt2.php 6. Ailefroide from Above From above, the trees in this alpine valley appear as uniform circles. The line of the glacial stream is visible in the top right section. http://www.mg.lowtech.org/ltcog/ailefroide_from_above.php 7. MACBA, Barcelona, on a Sunny Day I was drawn to the strong lines of this building and thought I would do a treatment that brings out this character. The floor lines of the building are brought out by a REALLY crude algorithm - basically, if the pixel above and below are different, then draw a black rectangle. http://www.mg.lowtech.org/ltcog/bcnmacba.php 8. Five Colourful Abstract Mazes on a Dark Ground This series illustrates the way that mazes can be of different densities and characters. The corridor (c) and room (r) percentages gradually decrease in each image. The colours are completely random. Although they look like fuzzy circles, in fact they're squares of background colour viewed through a fuzzy, circular frame. http://microunit.net/mazes/maze6/?c=100&r=100&x=14&y=14 http://microunit.net/mazes/maze6/?c=95&r=66&x=14&y=14 http://microunit.net/mazes/maze6/?c=75&r=50&x=14&y=14 http://microunit.net/mazes/maze6/?c=50&r=33&x=14&y=14 http://microunit.net/mazes/maze6/?c=25&r=25&x=14&y=14 9. Five Abstract Black-on-White Mazes Again this series plays with different densities and chances. Notice the minimum corridor percentage is 25%. Each maze element (cell) has four sides - so if there's less than a 25% chance of each side connecting to another cell, then, on average, the maze will completely disintegrate. This piece is only semi-abstract: use a little imagination and you can see corridors and rooms. http://microunit.net/mazes/mazec/?c=100&r=100&x=20&y=20 http://microunit.net/mazes/mazec/?c=100&r=33&x=20&y=20 http://microunit.net/mazes/mazec/?c=75&r=33&x=20&y=20 http://microunit.net/mazes/mazec/?c=50&r=33&x=20&y=20 http://microunit.net/mazes/mazec/?c=25&r=33&x=20&y=20 A. Colourful Abstract Maze This was the first maze in which I perfected the random background colour technique. If each coloured circle had to be transported across the net there would be a long wait to see the maze matrix. By simply transporting one fuzzy circular 'frame' and then setting the background colours of HTML table data cells, the image loads hundreds of times more quickly. http://microunit.net/mazes/maze5/?c=50&r=33&x=25&y=25 B. Huge "Gray-Tech" Maze Tiny black-and-white elements mimic Matt Gray's techno-style graphics. In fact, the display is achieved through a completely different process, using generated HTML to mosaic together 32 pre-saved graphic elements, while Matt's PHP uses the picture drawing functions of GDLib to build pictures dynamically. http://microunit.net/mazes/maze4/?c=50&r=33&x=50&y=50 C. Ice Maze The graphic elements in this maze were created using ImageMagick's 'implode' function. ImageMagick makes it possible to transorm 32 images with a single command - in this case the maze elements were all squashed down, making snowflake-like structures. http://microunit.net/mazes/mazee/?c=65&r=50&x=24&y=24 D. Urban Aboriginal Maze The 'spraycan effect' goes wild! This maze started as an attempt to make a maze that looked hand-drawn - very time consuming, because the best way to simulate hand drawing is... drawing by hand! However, the result didn't look very good until I applied ImageMagick's 'blur' function to the 32 elements. Now the challenge to graffiti artists is to reproduce this sort of image in real life! http://microunit.net/mazes/maze1/?c=50&r=33&x=24&y=24 E. Dungeon Map This piece represents the original, 'no nonsense' output of the maze engine that forms the foundation of this project. I originally became interested in mazes as a teenager when I was more than enthusiastic about 'Dungeons & Dragons'. The idea of mysterious subterranean tunnels filled with monsters and magic, traps and treasure, and, most intriguingly, puzzles, continues to fascinate. I'm convinced that the tree structure of computer file-systems and the many-threaded architecture of networks emerged from the same ideas which spawned the branching narrative of the role-playing game. http://microunit.net/mazes/maze/?c=50&r=33&x=28&y=28 To appreciate the capabilities of the PHP maze engine, try this! http://microunit.net/mazes/maze/?c=50&r=33&x=28&y=28&s=1 F. Coffee Bean Maze This maze again makes use of ImageMagick's 'implode' function to generate its graphic elements - but this time with a negative number: a negative implosion causes bloating, distorting the cells into bean like shapes. http://microunit.net/mazes/mazed/?c=50&r=33&x=28&y=28