SINE: Observations of the ubiquitous represented by a function and its manifestations.

SPECIFICATIONS

~1MP (native) | 24 bit colour | PNG

BACKGROUND

The genesis of this work rests in a desire to create something dynamic and variegated from the unassumingly elementary. While exploring the possibility of developing a long form art series with a single colour, I introduced the Sine function as a way of adding complexity to monochromatic images that were obstinately RED. This investigation gradually bred a discovery of the Sine function's potential, and eventaully, its adoption as the core element. (A chronological archive of progress can be viewed here: @shaunaqmadan)

APPROACH

Feedback induces a wider range of behaviour from the Sine function. The Sine wave deforms proportionally with increasing feedback before abruptly breaking down into randomness. This range is leveraged to attain a balance of features - extremities are mixed or averaged over multiple layers, while a propensity to seek critical feedback at the limit of periodic order and randomness mushrooms the probability of emergent formations. The process is guided towards generating a wide gamut of materially ambiguous possibilities that are not obviously digital, but bear only a semblance to physical media.

(a)

(b)

(a) Sine wave with exponentially increasing feedback. (b) A more detailed, magnified view of the point of inflection between periodic symmetry and pseudorandomness.

A limited, unbinned and unweighted colour palette imparts homogeneity to distinguish the work universally. Any variety or prominence of colour in a particular output is an exclusive consequnce of the process. The palette is composed from subjective personal preference, aided by non-visual analytical methods.

Despite the affliction of partial colour blindness, which imposes a pervasive uncertainty on my perception of colour, I trust that the disparity in what is observed will offer a novel experience.

Colour palette

PROCESS

A line spanning one side of the canvas is charged with the output of a custom function and advanced along the side perpendicular to it. The character of each fragment on the line is computed through a cascade of feedback loops around the sine function, with residual contributions from previous iterations and the layers below, followed by non-uniform quantization and colourisation. As the operation progresses from one side of the canvas to the other, colours are impressed, pulled and blended one pixel at a time. This routine is repeated up to 4 times with a possibility of movement in the same direction, backwards, or perpendicular to the previous layer. Borders and partitioned sections are distinguished by colour and marginal variations in other parameters. The surface is finally illuminated with a randomly selected colour temperature to accentuate undulations and irregularities.

FEATURES

∿ | Shaunaq Madan | CC BY-NC 4.0 | 2023-2024