10/30/2024
Science or art?
This year we stepped our game WAY UP! For over 3 months the team had two 4090 GPUs rendering content for testing 24/7, then built a third when we got to
The first half of my life was spent working as scientist in wet labs doing research on topics like groundwater, chlorinated solvents, metal-oxide nanoparticles, and then to bacteriophage. With the advent of node/parameter based animations, I used what I learned working in these roles and applied a scientific method approach to making art.
Sounds gross, I know.
In biomanufacturing, you’re goal is to find the perfect combination of salts, sugars, aminos, temperature, stir speed, and tons more, in order to reach the best possible outcome. Through statistical analysis we’re able to find the most important parameters and can then define where the priorities are and where the wiggle room is. Turns out, this concept can be applied in the same way to generative visuals.
It is because of this, I’m hesitant to say I make art. Artists intentionally make the most beautiful, happy, sad, or dark art, but always with the goal of it being something that is liked (at least by them). I do quite the opposite. I intentionally make bad art, lots of it, because I need to find the wiggle room in how crazy can we go before it completely falls apart or fails to launch. Finding the sweet spot in a workflow is nearly identical in feeling to success in the lab.
Getting to share these results and play with them live wiggling through the sounds of musical artists which are then heard, seen, and felt by the audience is the most magical experience I’ve ever felt. Truly honored and humbled to have played such a big role this year at the greatest festival there has ever been.
Many many thanks and so much love for everyone that allowed and helped this to happen. A VERY special thank you to for providing such gorgeous source footage that was used to make everything from starting images to the most fluid motion I’ve ever seen.
-The Scientist
