I'm very intrigued by the whole "designer toy" phenomenon. And doodlers like Jon Burgerman.
At least, I find some aspects of the designer toys beautiful. At the same time, I'm put off by the elitism inherent in the high-prices and limited editions of some works (even if this is typical of other parts of the commercial art world)[1]. I'd like to engage with the aesthetic in some way, but not necessarily by making these toys myself. So first attempt : random monster stickers.
I guess some other perenial questions I am trying to address here :
- How can computer art get outside the computer screen?
- Bearing in mind 1), how can we make computer art that's "democratic" or accessible to many people. Not just something that a) requires a lot of expensive equipment and sponsorship, b) can only be experienced fleetingly in a brief gallery visit?
- How can we use computer technology to make something fundamentally interactive? Ie. even though you can't actually do anything with this program except run it (so far) there's no point just looking at the output. It's only fun if you choose a run you like, print it out to make stickers, and then stick them on things. The stickers aren't the work. The activity of making them is.
The source code is here. You can copy and paste it into Processing. However, I haven't embedded the applet because the program only outputs a PDF file (different each time) that's formatted for printing on Ryman P8 sticky labels with any desktop inkjet.
Update : Am I a Visual Artist
[1] Not including Jon Burgerman in my criticism of the designer toy world. He seems very engaged in making his work available to people in a variety of ways.
Built with Processing