Pixel bricks

This is part of a really fun and interesting series of quick compositions in which I drew walls with isometrick pixel bricks that is loosely inspired by old school 2.5D video game art.

All the standard references are here for me: pixels, orthographic/isometric projections, grids, iterations, digital/analog comparisons and even politics if you care to get deep with it.

And one more time

Digital traces

Here are digital time-lapse captures taken from within the EV building of Concordia University. 

What we inevitably see is how a slowed down digital capture exposes the digital process. What is qualitative and continuous in analog equipment becomes sequential, precise and divisible in the digital. Movement can be captured, but only in a precise, yet abstract way. We don't get the faint, blurry trace that we have come to expect from time-lapse photography. What we get is a the precise information of that existed in that pixel position at that particular time. 

Moving Bodies are transformed into information - numbers to be precise -  and only those things that appear immobile allow themselves to be understood. 

Shut it down!

Ok, so it is rare that I have to completely pull the plug on something that I have worked so hard on, but today I am doing it. 

By pure coincidence, I came across the work of American artist Jason Salavon, and realize that he has tackled the same issues as me, but seven years earlier. And when I use the word "same" I do not mean "similar", I mean the same exact thing. Same look, same point, same format, same everything. 

I have never heard of this guy before and I have lost weeks of work, as their is no way I can keep going with this without outright plagiarizing. 

Here is the link to his 2001 works that have staled me thus. http://salavon.com/MTVsTop10.shtml

New pixel-time tests

Here are some new generated images from modified version of my Pixel-time patch. This one turn films into timed pixel grids by calculating the resolution based on number of frames in the video and then captures on pixel per frame and flows from the top left down to the bottom right. 

I have some that capture the pixel based on its current read-write position and others that capture the average of all the pixels on screen. 

So far, there isn't much going on with this as it only produces abstract grid compositions. I am currently working to expand the functionality of this program as well as find an actual use for it. 

Self-Portrait Studying

After having found a way to streamline and speed up my program quite considerably. I took this 10 minute shot of me re-reading a draft of one of my latest papers. Due to the increased speed it is a lot easier to make out moving figures.

3 hour self-portrait in Pixel Time

Here is a higher resolution example of my pixel-time photography program. It took almost three hours to complete. I will need to find a way to pump a little more speed out of this program or I will have trouble finding sitters when the time comes to produce my series.

Or, maybe I just need to figure out a more creative use for this new machine instead of simple photo-portraits. 

I will keep playing around with it and see what comes out. The possibilities of opening the debate on perception and information are already quite apparent, as are the possibilities of discussing the differences between analog and digital perception and their subjects. I am looking forward to seeing where this can go!

Pixel lapse photography

Here is a test from my latest programing/print project. Basically, It does what a digital camera does only slower. It exposes the process of registering one pixel at a time as it takes the photo. Usually the process is so fast that it looks instant but in reality numbers always register in sequence. 

I still have quite a bit of work to do on this as right now my computer has trouble doing this at speed at high resolutions. So, I need to optimize the program and see where I can squeeze a little more performance out. I also need to make an interface and iron out some bugs. It shouldn't be long now as the prototype works quite well.

As you can see things that don't move register clearly whereas things that do move have their movement registered as the pixels draw.