We all take unique walks through life. Viewed together, these walks weave a tapestry. Joy, pain, hate, love --- which are sometimes all-consuming in a given moment --- combine into beauty when taken together.
In this work, the automata weave a tapestry, not unlike our own. In viewing the output of the algorithm, one might achieve a sort of detachment from the individual automata. They seem far away, because their individual paths, or stories, are just parts of the whole.
If one would like, one might achieve a similar sort of detachment from one’s own story. This detachment allows one to see oneself as one might see another, fostering self-compassion. It can also help one see others as one sees oneself, fostering empathy.
In this work, the automata take center stage. They have predetermined tendencies, but they are otherwise free. For example, large compositional shapes are not explicitly programmed; the automata generate these shapes themselves. The principal algorithm, with some twists, is to move straight without retracing one's steps or the steps of others. The automata often change location, color, size, and sometimes even the rule by which they move. Some automata move according to complex and dynamic rules.
Mostly, the automata choose their colors from the Upstate New York Erie Canal, where the creator often walked. For example, we see a cobalt canal lock, arctic blue piping under a thruway exit bridge, and a navy circle around “Empire State Trail.” We see a salmon Guelder-rose berry, a fiery red fall Smooth Sumac leaf, and a golden ochre Willow branch. Colors are drawn also, sometimes, from a painted rock garden outside of a hospital.
I am interested in visualizing how different automata interact. I am as inspired by reading fiction - for example, the interactions of Chekhov’s characters - as I am by studying data structures. Many have noted that complex behavior can emerge from automata following simple rules, and the goal of my research is to understand how these rules, under additional constraints, translate to a visual experience. I take a statistical perspective, because it allows for automata whose behavior can easily become complex.
Direct feedback, over the years: J. Oh, A. Blocks, A. Park, M. Pinney.
Inspirations of the work, often from afar: S. Wolfram, N. Todisco, Krankarta, J. R. García, H. Lippman, Spaghetticoder, S. Eliot, a mindfulness group, M. Nystrom, my Mother's work, K. Vaden, T. Sauer, Pheonix, J. Leonard, M. Waltz, S. Freeke, C. Reid, A. Penne, G. Richter, T. Hobbs, P. Cezanne, W. Kandinsky.
The Walk Algorithm has made me very happy over the years; the algorithm is fun to extend, and it’s kept me busy trying to develop new versions.
I hope that Walk will give you the same happiness that it has given me; I am sharing the code under a creative commons license on openprocessing.org.