Title: Wanderings into the Creative Process of a Computer Artist Tania Fraga tania@lsi.usp.br Abstract The present essay reports the process of creating computerized simulations of virtual and interactive 3D objects, which can be seen in depth with stereoscopic devices. During the process, objects were created with which the user can interact. The user becomes a co-author of the work, being no longer in the passive position of an observer. Recently 3D objects were created as seeds of an endless work of art to proliferate at the WWW in the following electronic address: http://www.lsi.usp.br/~tania/p3.html Introduction The present essay reports the process of creating computerized simulations of virtual and interactive 3D objects, which can be seen in depth with stereoscopic devices. During this process, were created pre-computerized objects (either motionless or animated) as well as potential ones with which the user can interact. The results of this process are shown in several ways, such as: 1. CD-ROM, considered a suitable media since it provides non-linear reading; 2. HOMEPAGES at WWW in INTERNET located at the electronic address: http://www.lsi.usp.br/~tania/tania.html; 3. and I have studied simultaneously different kinds of supports to show the result of the work in conferences and exhibitions. These supports are such as: videos or books; 3D installations with prisms, mirrors or lens' stereoscopes; or the set up of slide projections, using polarizing filters and glasses. Most of the simulations created have the property of being interactive either to myself or to anyone who will manipulate it. While being presented to the user, through stereoscopic instruments, the simulations lead the user into the 3D space of the object. Therefore I describe these simulations as perceptive phenomena, expressed in a visual repertoire, which constructs experimental fields for imaginative activities. I consider the development of creative strategies for the computerized world as being an important task for the contemporary artists. Penetrating into the artist's work is a new way of communicating and exchanging ideas, learning and creating. The user turns from observer into co-creator of the 3D objects. Being dynamic entities in constant change, these 3D objects require from the observer an intense perceptive activity. Wanderings The stereoscopic simulations of 3D objects enable people to have a sensorial experience of the tridimensionality, transforming the "virtual visible" into a "visible for us." (1) The creative process of producing 3D objects that I experienced has been the result of probabilistic and random concatenations of visual ideas. I call them probabilistic concatenations because they have resulted either from logic choices or from their subjection to laws regulating human perception. The random concatenations result of choices I have made and derived from the association of ideas that emerged in my mind by insight. I understand insight as the ability of detecting connections that are not conspicuous in any other previous premise. Such connections appear as sensations or as intelligible ideas. I understand the perception of the tridimensional space as intelligent constructs that results from the aggregation of several factors. Among them we have: the inherited factors added to the knowledge learned during the individual's contact with the environment, as well as unconscious factors. In human beings, these intelligent constructs are constantly re-elaborated by the imagination. Observing my own process of creating the 3D objects, I perceived that the abstract thought was organized in a synchronistic way. I have constantly analyzed the non-causal connections that emerged by insight and have transformed them into action. The results originated in this process enabled me to become aware of the synchronistic events that occurred and allowed the exponential development of 3D objects. Subsequently I transformed again these objects creating families. The objects' conception has combined the precise and disciplined thought with the free and undisciplined emotion, sometimes expressed through the exuberant use of shapes and colors. The tridimensional reasoning has resulted from the assemblage of sensorial, affectionate, logic, and intuitive qualities. It has congregated and articulated such qualities through the action of creating sensitive realities which I have named fields of events. I can not consider such fields of events as painting, sculpture, installation or performance. I think it is necessary to elaborate other categories. That's why I call them interactive stereoscopic simulations. Picasso said he found the shapes, with which he worked, without having to search for them. In a similar way, when I foresee the shapes I may explore, I try to reveal them and to surpass what I already know. However, while working with computer tools, I have come across an almost incommensurable universe of probable shapes. For this reason I have felt the need to define limits to guide my creative strategies. These limits are selected, dissolved, and expanded, but are always restored. Being flexible limits, as vectors, they orient the creative action in a complex system of choices and decisions. The experimental process, however, happens always within the possibilities offered by the hardware and the software. According to this contingency I have established some premises to guide my own action and used them to produce the simulations. Formerly, I have worked with them to delimit a group of ideas and procedures that would make the production possible. It was an attempt to orient the creative action and to maintain the coherence along the process. The choice of such premises arose from an empathy to the ideas of some thinkers, artists and scientists. The premises have been initially just outlined. They have been improved, reelaborated and transformed through successive approximations during the creative process. The main purpose of the work has been accomplished, being it: to enable the public to immerse partially into the created objects and interact with them. The user becomes a co-author of the work, being no longer in the passive position of an observer. Recently I have created the 3D objects as seeds of an endless work of art to proliferate at the WWW. (2) The selected premises are the following: 1. the opposition between the conceptual simplicity of the shapes and the visual complexity of the final results; 2. the contrast between the physicality of the 3D objects and the immateriality of their simulations; 3. the contrast between the shadowed and the lightened areas of the 3D objects; 4. the fact that there is no established system for the visual reading of the shapes; 5. the amplification and the invention of visual repertoires as "prima materia" for the imagination; 6. the experimentation with shapes and colors as fields for exploring the possibilities offered by the computer technology (I consider the computer to be not only a working tool but also an instrument for cognitive amplification.); 7. the acceptance of subjective choices and the search for a balance between subjectivity and objectivity along the process; 8. and the elaboration of experimental fields which are favorable for recovering sensations while exploring new realities, opening new perspectives and expressive frontiers. I have selected, simultaneously with these premises, different methods to design the 3D objects such as: sets of basic 3D shapes; sets of principles for producing some topological surfaces; and sets of numerical series. I used each of these sets in my design procedures since they offered me some guiding elements. The basic shapes used were the torus, the cones, the prisms, the cylinders and surfaces formed by NURBS (non rational B-splines). The principles for generating the topological surfaces were the following: 1. the beauty that resulted from the simple periodic movement of a straight line in the interior of a cylinder as in the Plücker surface; 2. the exponential variation using harmonic relations to design 3D assembled rings; 3. the fact that there is only one side in topologic objects called: "Cross-Cap", "Moebius Strip", "Esker conoid", among others; 4. and the complexity and richness achieved from small variations of the objects in the "Koch" curve. I used also numerical series to modify the 3D objects, originating others totally different. Such objects, however, maintain among themselves an impression of unity that can be found in their common mathematical relations and not necessarily in their final appearance. The conceptual premises along with the selected composition methods have provided the elaboration of the visual repertoire shown in the electronic address: http://www.lsi.usp.br/~tania/tania.html. The speed of the high performance computer systems has enabled me to learn, to amplify and to refine my repertoire. The whole process is what I call the adventure of experimenting with sensations, ideas and images. I would describe this repertoire, which assembles several categories in its conception as well as in its results, as rational, sensitive, affectionate, intuitive and transcendent. Rational, because the 3D objects' elaboration was consciously controlled by the logical and analogical reasoning. Sensitive, because these objects evoke sensations. Affectionate, because the produced sensation induces judgment. Intuitive because synchronistic and non-causal associations were used during the objects' conception. Finally transcendent because the repertoire tries to lead the user to experience sensations related to abstract concepts such as peace, harmony, unity and freedom. I consider the concept of harmony as being much more than only a set of mathematical relations that cause pleasant sensations. Harmony results from the tension that exists among different situations in the phenomenal world. It is the organizing principle of energies, which transforms everything and pushes life forwards, "for what stops changing and being transformed decays and dies." (3) Harmony is also the set of all different relations that provide the articulation of different states. It organizes the perceived fragments into a totality in permanent transformation. It is the expression of dynamic patterns that form unstable "webs," which delimit the bounding area between order and chaos. I have felt that people tend to believe that the geometric shapes are cold and express only ideal and perfect realities, very distant from the human imperfection. The set of works with torus [Figure 1: To see the deepness of the 3D object try to coverge your eyes untill you see 3 images.] and NURBS try to modify such belief. The torus and the NURBS are twisted, intercepted and connected with other geometric shapes, showing sensual possibilities, sometimes even provocative. Some of them have a strong tactile appeal, asking to be touched [Figure 2: To see the deepness of the 3D object try to coverge your eyes untill you see 3 images.], instead they can only exist in the immaterial space, without gravity, where they float. The 3D objects delimit virtual environments, mixing inner and outer space. The negative space often catalyses their visual strength, providing the configuration of torn ethereal floating structures [Figure 3: To see the deepness of the 3D object try to coverge your eyes untill you see 3 images.]. In many objects, the inside and the outside can be perceived as a continuum, which we enter in one side and emerge on the other side [Figure 4: To see the deepness of the 3D object try to coverge your eyes untill you see 3 images.]. Such 3D objects try to inspire the sensation of unity which is latent even in the fragmented and discreet multiplicity. The continuity is found in the order subjacent to the composition. Certain puzzled shapes when seen with stereoscopes become clear and defined. Theirs apparently interlaced rings dance in the space, touching themselves several times but only in a few places. The vitality of some 3D objects has been found in the tension between the delicate shape of the floating rings, and the chaotic and aggressive strength of their concentration [Figure 5]. Other objects have rings that rotate around their center while going through their trajectory, building new structures that remind us of the crystal nets structures. Some objects show harmonic variations eliciting sensations of serenity and peace, while others transmit instability. They are like waving solidified surfaces, which capture the fragility of a moment [Figure 6: To see the deepness of the 3D object try to coverge your eyes untill you see 3 images.]. I showed here only few examples of my work. They are some of the almost uncountable possible results obtained through the manipulation of "script" files which have originated the 3D objects and can still originate more. The 3D objects I create are intangible illusions that occur in the mind when it is confronted with some perceptive phenomena. Such phenomena provide the users with the illusion of other realities and allow their immersive experience. When we apprehend the illusory phenomena we became astonished by their magic. A magic that results from the fact that such phenomena do not correspond to our usual experience of mechanical and gravitational laws in the physical world. The fact is that, although the 3D objects provide sensorial experiences, they could never exist materially. Such existence is impossible for most of them, since they consist of elements that could never be submitted to gravity's attraction without losing their shape. Our cognitive system recognizes the impossibility of their material existence, but it perceives them as shapes delimiting spaces. The 3D objects apparently transgress the laws of Physics. The uncommon experience they produce either disturbs or delights us. The experience suspends for a moment the disbelief, and arouses our curiosity with its unattainable existence. Although we have a visual pleasure we feel also frustrated for not being able to materialize the 3D objects. These 3D objects, when transformed into prints or photos, lose their enchantment and become just documented fragments of realities that have been conceived to exist as virtual simulations. I conceive the 3D objects as visual poetry. They are objects that allow us to explore frontiers where exchanges may permeate and where logic and analogic thought complement each other. All this together permits us to become aware of the act of perceiving, of thinking, of feeling and of creating while they are being processed. The process of creating 3D objects offers uncounted possibilities of exploring new sensations and of amplifying the sensitivity of those who interact with them. They work as "laboratory exercises" for the created signs, recombining and testing them. During my creative process I work with numerical data, with functions, with relations and with logical operations. I have conceived and produced flexible patterns of realities and my "prima materia" is abstract. Numbers and principles based on simplified interpretations of physical laws permit the production of the 3D objects as conceptual models that change and evolve. This transformation occurs as these models become adjusted to the results of the learning process. Such facts characterize the 3D objects as being mutable and interactive for the artist and the users. The users' participation in the artists' work has been a goal for the most of the arts' movements of this century. However, turning the user into a co-creator, into someone who shares intensively the pleasure and the responsibility of creating, of making decisions and of choosing, is an communicational attitude that may be intensified. We have also a "place" to experiment with space and time, chaos and order. Inside these pre-defined fields of events, the user can share new sets of significant relations. They can also have the opportunity to increase their visual repertoire, to develop and to organize their logical and analogical reasoning as well as to practice their creativity and to refine their sensibility. They can even enlarge the potential of their multiple intelligences amplifying their conscience of signs. The experience sensed directly through the simulations is curiously a conceptual one which is objectified in a visible and touchable entity. It may seem paradoxical to speak of direct experiences, when such experiences are intermediated by computer languages. Languages which organize them mathematically and enable us to live the magic moment of apprehending a visual quality. Immersing in the virtual illusory space is like oscillating in a flexible and multiple universe. In such universe we become aware of several sensitive facts; we organize our perceptive efforts in different spaces and time; and we apprehend as well as transform our discontinuous sensations in different realities. Our conception of reality is strongly amplified. Reality is not only what materially exists around us, but also everything that we are able to perceive either conscious or unconsciously. The development of a new technology, however, is not enough to provide a new expressive way of creating repertoires. If we refer to our history we will verify that the technologies of production have usually characterized the civilizations and determined the aesthetics of each period. I used, in the present essay, Peirce's conception of aesthetics. The Brazilian semanticist Lúcia Santaella affirms that Peirce considers aesthetics as the act of feeling; the comprehension through the senses; the sensitive knowledge able to contribute to the "human growth." Aesthetics determines what "should be considered as the highest ideal..., the goals..., the dreams..., the plans..., that conduct our steps." Aesthetics is responsible for "the impossible discovery of the highest ideal, 'summum bonum' of human life, (...) the utmost force of attraction for humankind without any other reason, (...) something to be experimented by itself, in its own value." (4) The "action of the sign" is the connector that links everything in the universe: stars, galaxies, human beings, animals, planets, minerals, as well as art, science and culture. In Peirce's view this action is mediated by an ideal, a purpose or a goal. In the present work the goal is to communicate with people guiding them towards the creation of interactive stereoscopic simulations. Our capability of devising shapes is based on the learning and on the knowledge acquired through experience with pre-existent technologies. It is by experimenting that we find possibilities of generating shapes and of refining our sensitivity. Therefore, through the constant re-elaboration of shapes and concepts, our repertoire of signs is improved. Artists are the ones who explore, discover and unveil unfathomable possibilities and are not certain of anything. They simply pursue to assemble signs, to create new meanings, to awake sensitivities, to arise curiosities and to stimulate actions for themselves and for others. Artists reveal universes of possibilities, inspiring feelings through the act of admiring. The artists' work may lead our consciousness towards a state of emptied mind, except for the pure sensation of a quality it produces. It attenuates the boundaries between the quality shown and the reaction that it produces in someone's mind. (5) Sensation is here considered as being the basic requirement for the apprehension of quality. Quality is something that presents itself in the mind, instantaneously, in the exact moment that this mind becomes aware of its manifestation and of the effect that it produces. The new approach for artistic activity is now in the exploration of illusory realities. We may conceive, experiment, observe and transform imagined simulations, which by their own nature allows the manipulation and intervention. The alternatives shown here are only a few among several possible ones, and the attitude required to explore such options is the main conception of contemporary art. Experimenting with interactive stereoscopic simulations reveals possibilities that have not yet been explored. This is not only happening in the art field, but also in most different areas of human knowledge. In the imagination's world there are infinite combinations of shapes to be disclosed. 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[SIMS93] Sims, Karl [1992]. "Revue Virtuelle: Images Évolutives" in Conférences. Paris: Centre Pompidou, carnet 5, Março 1992. [VINC92] Vince, J. [1992]. 3D Computer Animation. Great Britain: Addison-Wesley. [YOUN68] Young, J. Z. [1968]. The Memory System of the Brain. London: Oxford. Short Resumè Education 1974 Bachelor in Architecture Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil. 1980 Master in Urban Planning University of Brasília, Brazil. 1995 Doctor in Communication and Semiotics Doctorate thesis: "Interactive Stereoscopic Simulations" (the first Brazilian thesis in multimedia using CD-ROM as support) Catholic University of São Paulo, Brazil. Employment 1987-1995 Adjunct Professor at the Department of Visual Arts at the University of Brasília, Brazil. 1979-1987 Free lancer in Architecture with the realization of several projects; Fine Art activities with the realization of several exhibitions. 1974-1979 João Pinheiro Foundation realizing projects in urban planing, urban design and landscape design Membership and Activities Associated Researcher at the Laboratory of Integrated Systems in Polytechnic School of Engineering in the University of São Paulo Member of the National Association of Art Researches (ANPAP) Member of the Institute of Architects of Brazil Member of the Art Comission of the VIII Brazilian Symposium of Computer Graphics and Image Processing SIBIGRAPI'95 Recent Exhibitions 1995 Art Show at the Brazilian Symposium of Computer Graphics and Image Processing Federal University of São Carlos, São Paulo, Brazil Interactive Stereoscopic Simulations Museum of Image and Sound, São Paulo, Brazil 1993 IV FISEA: The Art Factor (Minneapolis 93) "The Artistic and Technological Production at the Brazilian Public Universities" Campo Grande, Brazil "Virtual Reality Show - Atlantic Promotion" Rio de Janeiro, Brazil "Infoaesthetic" Brasília Art Museum, Brasília, Brazil 1991 "2nd. Infoaesthetic" "Institute of Aesthetics and Sciences of Arts, University of Paris", Paris, France "Infoaesthetic Group" "Caixa Econômica" Federal Bank, Brasília, Brazil Grants since 1986 1991-92 Visiting Scholar at the Computer Science Department in The George Washington University, with a grant from the Brazilian Postgraduate Education Federal Agency (CAPES). 1986 Artist in Residence at the artist colony "Alternative Work Site: the Bemis Project," in the United States, with a grant from the Fulbrigth Commission. Recent Publications Fraga, Tania. (1994) "Simulações Estereoscópicas: Interatividade e Imersão" in Anais do Segundo Simpósio de Computação Gráfica em Arquitetura, Engenharia e Áreas Afins. Salvador: UFBA, 1994, pg. 81 à 86. Fraga, Tania. (1994) "Interactive Stereoscopic Simulations" in Conference Proceedings of First Symposium Multimedia for Architecture and Urban Design. São Paulo: FAUUSP, abril 1994, pg. 81/87. Fraga da Silva, Tania & Taunay, Maria Luiza. (1992) "The Phenomenon of Computer Art and the Possibilities of a New Aesthetic" in Conference Proceedings of Sixth National Conference on Liberal Arts and the Education of Artists. New York: New York School of Visual Arts, October 1992, pg. 278/291. Areas of Special Interest, Knowledge and Skills The convergence of art, sciences and communication using networked hypermedia, developing interactive stereoscopic simulations using the proper computer environment as the support of her work. The 3D Objects have been created with HPs, SUNs, SGIs Workstations and PCs. Formerly the software used was the solid processing software PROGRAF, from "TARG Technology Ltd." and afterwards the software TOPAS, TEMPRA, PHOTOSTYLER and 3D Studio, among others. The sets of stereo pairs were created using the public domain software RAYSHADE, from the University of Utah (USA). The interactive objects were created using the Silicon Graphics' script language YODL with the POWERFLIP interface. The hypertext interfaces (Homepages at WWW) have been written using HTML language and the browser Netscape and the multimedia interfaces (CD-ROM) have been written using the software TOOLBOOK. Tania Fraga (Tania Regina Fraga da Silva) Address: SQN 107, Bloco H, ap 106 Brasília, DF, Brazil, 70743-080 Phone: (55) (61) 272 1147 e-mail: tania@lsi.usp.br tfraga@guarany.cpd.unb.br