In Walk, the automata take center stage. They have predetermined tendencies, but they are otherwise free. For example, they generate large comopositional shapes themselves. The automata often change location, color, size, and sometimes even the rule by which they move, some of which are complex and dynamic.
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, Chekhov’s plays - as I am by data structures. Many have noted that complex behavior can emerge from automata following simple rules, and I aim to understand how these rules, under additional constraints, translate to a visual experience. I take a statistical perspective, because it allows for complex behavior.
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 is fun to extend, and it’s kept me happy and busy trying to develop new versions. I hope it can give you the same, and so I am sharing the code under a creative commons license on openprocessing.org.