CATSYNTH

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Category: Art

  • Quagmire

    No, not that quagmire!

    Rather, I am talking about an interesting software art project in which programs exist within a bitmap. From the author:

    Quagmire is an emulation of an impossible 8bit processor, where all memory is addressed in 2 dimensions, and is represented by pixel value. Program execution threads can run up, down, left or right. Sections of code are visible in memory, as are the processes as they run. Unlike a normal computer the internal process of the machine is visible. Programs are drawings.

    The programs are executed by scanning pixels in the bitmap/drawing and interpreting them as instructions that can change the original bitmap, including the parts that are being “run.”

    The best way to illustrate this concept is will an illustration, or rather, a series of illustrations:

    In the above example, the “program” in the lower-left corner switches various pixels on and off, and spawns more copies of itself in the process. After running for a while, one ends up with four animated “stripes” of execution.

    The program changes dramatically if the “non-executed” area of the image is different. For example, we can paste my “digital fish” logo onto the image and then run the program again:

    The very orderly execution over the empty image becomes much more complex in the presence of the fish logo.

    Although the complex changes in the image can seem random, they are completely deterministic. Running the same program/image in Quagmire yields the same result every time. Indeed, this can be seen as an example of chaos in which simple processes can produce incredibly complex results that may seem random but are completely deterministic.

    Some images produce less complexity. Applying the same program to a picture of Space Ghost (who has appeared in several posts on this forum recently) causes a small number of changes after which the program comes to a halt:

    By contrast, applying the program code to an image of Luna appears to grow ever more noisy and complex:


    The Quagmire site has more detailed technical information about the programming language (more of a machine language) and an implementation in which you can run your own programs. You can also find links to more examples of “software art.”

    It would be interesting to explore software art that uses audio in addition to (or instead of) visual images…



  • CatSynth pic: synth studio, with cat

    Another from our friend Knox Bronson at SunPopBlue:

    This is a rather abstract representation of his “almost all-analogue synth studio.” Mars kitty can be seen in the bubble at the lower right (and in the enlarged clip to the right). The overall composition suggests a blend of the CatSynth banner with my Music of the (Blue) Spheres graphic artwork.

    The original photo is from 2002, and Mars has since passed away. You can also see a close-up video at the original SunPopBlue posting.






  • Standing with Cat

    Per suggestion of regular reader “Kitty” in response to a recent post, I will present some more of my own graphic and video work on this forum. The above picture is entitled “Standing with Cat.” It was originally done over a year and a half ago using the 3D modeling software Poser (on which I have commented a few times in the past). Previous digital art offerings include Green Kitties and Music of the (Blue) Spheres.

    Although this is an “early” work of mine in the medium, it still remains a personal favorite. It has elements of both abstraction and realism simultaneously, even within the female and cat figures (does that make it post-modern?). The pose of the female figure was inspired by a photo print in my collection by photographer and friend Luxe Zeigler.

    Another element of note is the tabby texture for the cat, which was created by graphic artist Lyne of Lyne's Creations, based on her real cat Travis. Astute observers might recognize Travis in the CatSynth banner as well. Sadly, Travis passed away late last year. I passed along my sympathies to Lyne at the time, being a “fan” of Travis as well as his late brother Clancy, whose fur and eye coloring are quite similar to Luna's. Look for Clancy in some dark, surreal or abstract works in the near future.






  • Neave.tv and friends

    This video came via our friend synthmonger. It was part of something called neave.tv, basically a custom video-channel application the web that plays a selection of syndicated material from YouTube, Google Video, and elsewhere. Synthmonger was actually calling attention this particular video featuring pjtoro's musical suit appearing on a Russian or Eastern European TV show. The suit appears to be a series of synthesizers controlled by body sensors. Pretty cool. The feline-themed models are a nice touch, too (hey, this is “CatSynth”).

    More detail can be found at pjtoro's site, including design information, more images/videos and even an interactive flash simulation.

    Back on neave.tv, I found a few other interesting videos. Most intriguiging to me was the a work called Sixes Last by 1st Ave Machine, a design and animation house located (surprise) on 1st Avenue in New York. They did an amazing job of blending natural elements with surreal biology. You have to think about it for a few moments to decide whether it's real, completely animated or manipulated in some fashion.

    It's really not hard to create ones own syndicated channel like this with Flash, dynamic HTML/Javascript and the APIs provided by YouTube and other video sites. What interests me more are a few of the videos themselves, such as the work by 1st Ave Machine and others, which remind me that I still want to do more experimental video and animation work to complement my music. I've been spending much time back exclusively with music and sound (and trying to sell the CD lately), but there are some upcoming video opportunities I might want to consider…








  • Dorian Grey's Box: Art Installation at Pajaro Valley Arts Council

    My sound art installation described in previous posts is now on display at the Pajaro Valley Arts Council as part of the current exhibition “The Human Condition: The Artists’ Response.” The exhibition is “an artistic articulation of the connection between
    the individual and world challenges, the exhibit
    brings together artists responding to political and social tensions in today?s world”, and features 22 artists (according to my best count). The pieces in the exhibi are all of great quality when compared to recent gallery exhibits I have visited. Many are overtly political or social, dealing with many of darker subjects in current events and recent history. Some are quite realistic, others more abstract.

    Dorian Grey’s Box, the piece on which I collaborated with local artist Michael Carson, is one of the more abstract in the exhibition. The main element is a large black cube with newspaper clippings in various patterns and sections of redder coloring. Surrounding the main cube are several small wooden “alphabet blocks”, some of which have also been painted black.


    The sound (my contribution to the piece) is on a continuous loop that visitors can hear via headphones. The material is primarily ambient noise, gitches, percussive effects and sounds that only “hint” at speaking voices, arranged in a collage inspired by the sculptural part of the piece.

    ]The exhibition continues through March 4, and I strongly encourage anyone in the greater Bay Area during this time to check it out. It’s great to see such quality contemporary art locally (Santa Cruz-Watsonville-Monterey area).

    I have posted an excerpt from the sound installation on the podcast for those who are interested in the piece but unable to visit in person.










  • Preparing for January art installation: Part 2

    Looks like things are good to go for the upcoming art installation at the Pajaro Valley Arts Council. We took the sound track that I produced last saturday as is ( see part 1) and the entire piece is being installed the gallery today. It's nice when something comes together without a lot of stress or last-minute scrambling and compromise. It's also a welcome change to have something that “presents itself” via pre-recorded matieral – again, no stress, no preparing for live computer problems, etc.

    The exhibition, entitled The Human Condition: The Artists' Response will be at the PVAC gallery in Watsonville, CA from January 10 through March 4.






  • Preparing for January art installation: Part 1

    I am collaborating on an art installation for an upcoming exhibition in January at the The Pajaro Valley Arts Council Gallery: the piece has both a visual (sculptural) component and a sound component, the latter being my contribution.

    I've been doing bits of it over the holiday break, but finally gave myself the proverbial kick in the tuchus to complete at least a full draft today. I am making things simpler by using only sounds on the computer, not external synthesizers – and also focused on two sound libraries I purchased last year but have made only limited use of until now. The libaries focus on highly processed organic sounds (animals, environment, etc.) and modified analog synthesizers (including some circuit-bend instruments).

    The “composition process” was simply auditioning various sounds from this library and assembling them into a continuous sequence – a collage – that works with the visuals. The material is primarily ambient noise, gitches, percussive effects and sounds that only “hint” at speaking voices.

    Next step, after any additional changes and mastering, will be to put it together with the sculpture, presumably sometime next week…





  • [Music] of the (Blue) Spheres

    It has been a while since I have completed one of graphic-art images like the Green Kitties piece posted a while back.

    If the previous one was “green”, this one is definitely “blue.” It is actually inspired by an evening on the Singapore waterfront several years ago, which including a sculpture/installation with blue spheres and illuminated pools.

    This work was created using a combination of Poser and Bryce (in which the final render was done, along with everything except the figure).

    It is interesting to compare how both works combine abstract geometric elements with “realistic” figures.







  • Weekend Cat Blogging #79: from the archives

    For this weekend, we go back to the archives for this artistic sepia-toned closup of Luna:

    The poster behind Luna is of a stabile by Alexander Calder, among my favorite artists. Calder is famous not only for his monumental abstract stabile sculptures, but also his abstract mobiles – his mobiles were influenced in part by the paintings of Mondrian, another of my favorite artists.

    I think Luna's profile and sculpture complement one another quite nicely.

    Check out more WCB fun over at belly timber Angry Cat Blog. I figure it's best not to ask…







  • Worthless Kitty Musings: Brakhage and Bast

    I have been viewing on and off a collection of short films by Stan Brakhage. Brakhage was a very prolific and influential maker of short experimental films. Most of his films have little or no narrative, and in many cases are made from images created directly on the film (i.e., not filmed with a camera), as in the case of thethe frame from Resurrectus Est shown to the right. Most of the films are also silent, leaving the viewer to focus exclusively on the images.

    One of the films that intruiged me was Cats Cradle, originally done in 1964. Basically, it consists of a series of clips of a black cat interspersed with separate closeups of a man and a woman (apparently there were two couples in the film, but was not able to see this as I was watching). The cuts are frequent and the lighting/tinting is an amazing shade of red/magenta. It really is hard to describe, though you can find a better attempt here. An interesting suggestion is that the film can be seen as the “cat's perspective” on the couple.

    The film definitely has a sexual feel to it, though there are no explicitly sexual images (discounting the fact that juxtaposing images of a woman and a man usually adds some sense of sexuality). How does the cat fit into that overall sense? Juvenile word-associations aside, cats have a history of association with (female) sexuality and fertility, most notably through the Egyptian goddess Bast. Bast is definitely a goddess for my personal pantheon, and I've been looking for an excuse to use her in a post on this forum. Bast has quite a resume, as the protector of cats, women and children, also associated with perfume, fertility, love, music and dance. It is interesting to consider Cat's Cradle in the context of Bast, even as a tribute of sorts, although I have no basis to assume Brakhage had such an association in mind. Though looking through his filmography, i think he was fond of cats.