Terrarium
My projection mapping piece is called Terrarium, with a focus on utilising the geometry of the triangle to create graphic and spatial patterns on the polygon.
Produced by: Freya Berkhout
Concept and background research
I was inspired by the way terrariums contain intricate ecospheres, and set out to create worlds within each triangle. I was also inspired by Minimalism, geometry and kaleidoscopic imagery, with the intention of creating a work that was eye catching and bold. It was also important to me to explore and highlight the edges of the shape to bring it to life in 3D space with depth and perspective. I was inspired by projection mapping onto the Sydney Opera House, as well as artists Joanie Lemercier and Dev Harlan, who projection map using a lot of multifaceted polygons (pictured in the gallery below).
Technical
My group decided to project onto a polygon made from multiple triangles. We laser cut 18 triangles in white Corex and constructed it, creating a multifaceted structure with concave and convex shapes. We called it the Communist Olga!
My piece comprised three sections, the first of which was called Origami, inspired by a sketch I created in Processing which emulated hundreds of pieces of randomly placed folded paper triangles. I chose to translate and develop the sketch in openFrameworks because I found it very aesthetically pleasing, and I thought it would be quite striking on the projector. The scene moves like short snapshots so that your eye grabs patterns, which on our polygon, created shapes that looked almost organic, like plants and flowers. I processed the speed using sin to make the random snapshots occur more quickly and then more slowly over time.
My second section was called Spores, which used noise to create hundreds of tiny spores that move in a bouncing swarm within the triangle. The spores grow and shrink over time, which takes them from an ellipse shape to little crosses, that look almost like blossoms or confetti.
My third and final section was called Terrarium, which was inspired by beautifully encapsulated plant ecosystems. I designed many triangles within the triangle border to mimic the structure of terrariums, and gave them movement using sin to create an organic motion. Halfway through the scene I added multiple colour lerps, which creates an almost holographic effect in oranges and blues.
With the terrarium theme in mind, all three of my scenes began in green and then transformed into a warmer rainbow palette.
Future development
Each scene could be developed further to add different kinds of movement, so that the behaviour of the shapes is less organic and more erratic. I would love to see these patterns mapped onto a larger and more multifaceted shape, as the patterns created at the apex of a pentagon made of triangles is really beautiful and unexpected, even with random shapes. I would love to go further into using the mathematics of the triangle to accentuate the edges and really play on the projection mapped object in space.
Self evaluation
There were so many unexpected surprises in moving from the screen to the projector with this project. I originally created five sketches, and throughout the process of editing and reworking, chose only the strongest, most vivid of my sketches, which proved to be a great decision as they translated really well onto our polygon. I was able to bring my original idea of capturing the essence of a terrarium to the shape, which I was really proud of. As an artist and musician but baby programmer, it is often difficult to bring my creative ideas to life with my burgeoning coding skills, however I feel like I really achieved my creative vision with this project, and the final product looked more dynamic and beautiful than I ever could have expected. I am also really proud that we designed and constructed our own shape as it came to life with the projections beautifully.
References
1. Code from Workshops in Creating Coding by Theo Papatheodorou, https://learn.gold.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=6852
2. Joanie Lemercier, Dev Harlan and Sydney Opera House projection mapped.
