Subterrane
A 2D projection project inspired by subterranean flows and creatures.
produced by: Marisa Di Monda
Introduction
This project was an exploration in depth, symmetry and seemless movement in order to create a hypnotic atmosphere. The shapes and seamless symterical motion was inspired by jelly fish and Manfred Mohr's plotter works. These drawings were also the inspiration for using repetitive lines to create depth in a 2D composition.
Concept and background research
This work first began as an extension of a previous Processing project which drew upon the aesthetic of Manfred Mohr's iterative plotter drawings. The starting point of the previous project and this projection project was a cardioid shape. The difference became the addition of animation and that was the turning point. I wanted to create perfect shapes and swimmers, or jellyfish like creatures, in seamless motion to achieve the contrast of organic(through movement) with machine(format and method).
I manipulated a cardioid shape made from vertexes to find interesting symmetry and asymmetry which could flow seamlessly from one to the other. I created three seamless loops of shapes bending and folding into themselves and then back out. The aim was to create a kind of hypnotic pendulum motion. These shapes felt like geometric sea creates. To take the shapes further into the organic feeling, I overlayed two folded shapes and added noise to the vertexes. This effect gave "life" to the shapes. The result is a fluttering effect which resembles a jellyfish or cuttlefish. These mechanical fish collide and bounce off of the edges and each other as they swim around their surfaces.
From Top: Manfred Mohr, Program No. 112 also known as "Lady quark" 1972-1973,
My Processing project inspired by the iterative plotter drawings of Manfred Mohr.
Cardioid Shape
Technical
This projection mapping project was created with openFramworks and the addon ofxPiMapper. To create the smooth movement and iterations through the shapes I used sin and noise functions. The shapes were made using vertexes and for loops.
I had great difficulty with ofxPiMapper. Initially I wanted to map the three boxes with one grid shape to allow for the fish to freely swim around the entire object. However, the program would crash each time I used the grid shape and tried to create a new preset. Due to this error that I could not solve I adjusted the projection design. Unfortunately it has meant that the waves that begin and end the sequences are not seamlessly joined at the edges because each had to be a separate mapping quad.
Future development
I'm happy with the movement of the shapes in this project. However, for further development I would like to solve the error mentioned above so I can more effectively work with the shapes I project on in a more integrated way. Following this I could create a swarm of the fish swimming all over the shapes which would entail improving the code that manages their collision. Following this I could create other kinds of fish and coral like shapes that fit around the edges of the shapes to create a cornucopia of mechanical looking sea life that calmly and hypnotically flow together.
Self evaluation
The movement and seamlessness of the shapes was well achieved. The fine lines can be difficult to work with due to resolution and that was a learning curve - getting the right resolutions settings, line weight and transparency. I think the projection lacks integration with the shapes. Partly this is due to not being able to use grid shapes but also I think the other animated graphics could perhaps work better on another formation of shapes of in another kind of arrangement to feel more apart of the objects they're projected on. To summarise, I achieved seamless motion and depth in the shapes I coded but I do not think I achieved a well integrated mapping on to the objects.
References
Cardioid Shape Learning:
Coding Challenge #133: Times Tables Cardioid Visualization
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bl3nc_a1nvs&ab_channel=TheCodingTrain
Line Noise (Processing)
https://processing.org/reference/noise_.html
Resources for Coding of JellyFish Class:
Theo's simple physics example
Processing bouncing ball here: https://processing.org/examples/bouncingball.html
Resources for Coding of JellyFish Collision:
Theo's answer in the oF forum
https://forum.openframeworks.cc/t/circle-to-circle-collisions-and-physics/2004/10
Video Music:
Godmode - Underwater Exploration
Youtube Audio Library