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About Sp;Pro modular; a sequence of elements which, disposed in heterogeneous manners, originates hybrid images resulting from the crossing of data from two or more images. Having its genesis in a typographic research undertaken by Vicente Pessôa in 2007 investigating 'poema-processo' that led to the creation of the typeface Processual, Es;Pro originates from a project that generated many manifestations in different media since the beginning, some of which transformed into projects while others remained as researches in progress. The grid that defines the typeface Processual – an array with uniform size and diverse conformations – works as an array of pixels that, when sequentially organized, makes images and texts visible. Sp;Pro is a development of this thought; in this case, the array of pixels goes beyond two dimensions. Originating from the crossing of pixels from two signs (textual or visual) in high contrast in a 3D environment, the software developed to mediate this system produces a virtual sculpture around which the visitor can drift, modifying his point of view in relation to the structure therefore modifying the perspective from which he apprehends two intersecting signs. The crossing of two signs in Es;Pro reveals the establishment of a paradoxical relationship between both sides, one opposing the other in a mutual conflict, thus intensifying dialectic structures, creating a layer of signification that results from the collision of two signs. Only from two points of view the signs are read as such; intermediate points of view while rotating around the structure reveal the interpolation of Es;Pro's morphing procedure and reflect each stage of transfiguration of one sign into the other. From the space modulation and the intersection of two-dimensional forms, Space;Process generates ambiguous three-dimensional forms, accessible to the observer through digital interfaces or constructed objects. modulation, formal synthesis, three-dimensionality, graph-sculpture. to read while listening (several times in a roll) to: Phonic Tiles; Eric Satie - http://is.gd/b0vTi Sp;Pro As a result of the research carried out about Poema-Processo, a Brazilian literary movement that sought to resignify the acts of writing and reading of poetic texts, the typeface Processual [1] was designed in 2007; due to the concision of its design, each character means two or more letters, favoring the construction of texts with two or more meanings at a reading.
Comparative table Poetry vs. Poem, taken from the book Taking as an analysis parameter the fundamental ideas of Poema-Processo – the initiation of informational processes at each new experience and the consumption of the information generated [2] – we discovered that the layout of texts written with Processual, although still done randomly, tends to generate physical poems that depend on the participation of the reader to compose its final form.
Poema; 2007 After that, words written with those types were transposed into digital three-dimensional environments and originated animations that, by highlighting the ambiguity of the three-dimensional form, intrigued the observers so much that they thought they had been deceived by a visual trick.
Love/Hate, 2008 The experience mentioned above and the one acquired throughout the project Superfície-Marca [3] resulted in the establishment of the ideal surrounding for the start of Space;Process, having in mind that both works are directed, since the beginning, to the development of modules, modular structures and to the construction of models of interaction among the modules.
6 arranjos, 1 módulo, 2007 The first sketches [4] of the synthesizer date from January 2009 and aimed at automating the cross of written words with the Processual font; initially, it depended on a manual matrix input to agglutinate in the same form two words of similar extension. Throughout the first semester of that year, we established plans for the creation of a software that allowed the agglutination of two different texts in the same three-dimensional form, as well as their general perception, manipulation through an interface and, consequently, the observation of different stages between the forms of the words. In August 2009, Space;Process was submitted to the project Marginalia Lab. The initial proposal – the development of a software for the construction of ambiguous typographic forms through space modulation and orderly space fill – was modified even before the disclosure of final results, when the developers of the project noticed that the same principle of spatial intersection would result in the agglutination of different types of images, not only words.
Sp;Pro – how to do it. In September 2009, the objective of the process started to be the development of a software that synthesized any planar shapes into one three-dimensional form from the same basic unit, allowing graphic images, typographic or photographic, to be modulated, spatialized, and recomposed when observed from a determined point of view. By allowing the agglutination of different types of images, Sp;Pro enables the analogy between modules and atoms, which are qualitatively equal particles that theoretically constitute all and any matter [5]. Thus, in the same way that, by obeying patterns of interaction, the carbon present in the reader’s body has been part of a tomato and may, one day, be part of a tile, a module may compose the image of the reader, of a can of tomato soup, or of the molecular structure of carbon.
The first form, homage to Vilém Flusser, is the cross of Lascaux and Latinha. The analogy between the form generated and a song or a poem is also possible, given that the three-dimensional diagram generated may be seen as a kind of sheet music to be filled in by the executor. By adequately interpreting the sheet music, he can organize a new object, which is not exactly identical to the original form – ideal – but derives from it – like the executions of a sonatina or the readings of a sonnet. In a figurative sculpture, the form is continuous as it represents continuous three-dimensional forms, and the act of observing it starts a temporal experience focused on the different appearances of this continuous form. In contrast, the form generated through Space;Process starts from two two-dimensional representations to create one three-dimensional form; what prevents the figuration to be in volumetric terms is precisely what allows the coexistence of redundant or conflicting forms in the same form. Thus, the gradual change between the different stages transforms the experience of observing this change into that of the perception of the mutation of a form into another, instead of the observation of different appearances of one form – which does not exclude, obviously, this type of observation In relation to the content of the crossed images, although it is free, the tendency is that it is guided by relations of redundancy and temporal, formal, functional, and thematic contraposition, which includes [tree/seed], [Fetus/Corpse], [Hitler/Obama], [brain/heart], [Darwin/Monkey], [Your Father/Your Mother] and any other couples or former lovers. Gene; 2010 The stage of the project directed to the processing and synthesis of planar forms was developed without many problems: in little time a synthesizer was produced; for each crossing of two images in gray scale it generated a three-dimensional matrix with the indication of the spaces to be filled by the modules. Happy and content, the project developers turned their attention to the modes of exhibition and noticed that the main conceptual questions and technical difficulties resided there. For practical reasons, the first presentations of the project were made with an exhibition of the three-dimensional object in screens. It was manipulated through interfaces of two-dimensional tracking (mice and trackpads), which demonstrated the need for an interface that established volumetric references for the observer. This is the only way in which the observer could apprehend and comprehend the three-dimensional forms in its complexity. Initially, we considered the exhibition of sculptures without matter: multiple forms disposed in an Augmented Reality environment and accessible to the observer through cell phones with cameras. The idea of maximizing the effect of the forms by associating them with a specific place, allowing the observer to see them from several angles from the extension of his/her body movement, aimed at provoking the ambiguous feeling of relating with an absent three-dimensional object, which is processed in real time, immune to the effect of gravity, and polysemic by the characteristics of its form... BUT mobile screens revealed to be either not potent enough in processing terms, or unaffordable in economic terms; thus, there was no other option but to use micro-computers linked to screens or projectors.
Instalative Proposal; Sp;Pro The presentation of Sp;Pro at Vivo Art.Mov, in November 2009, motivated the development of an interface that allowed the observer to manipulate virtual forms by using a cube with rotation sensors and a module of Wi-Fi data transmission, which failed because of the weaknesses of the first version of the software. A few more months of work and another version was built: this one allows, in addition to a more sophisticated interaction observer/form, the instant mix of typographic forms through keyboard input. This return to the initial project was very important to remind us that the word mix allows a better visualization of the modules that compose the form, which does not occur with the image mix. Realizing that the perception of modules decreases because of the limits of resolution for screens and projectors was followed by the will to materialize some of the forms generated and, after that, by the frustration in the attempts of materialization. Es;Pro; arte.mov 2009 Initially, simple forms were constructed from two words built block-to-block with paperboard. As we expected, the construction of sculptures from images started a series of technical, projective, and economic difficulties. The first difficulty was to deal with the complexity of an object that has enough modules to form a figurative image; then, to correct the perspective by scale; to support the material; to place each one of the 3,000 or 5,000 modules in the exact space that they should occupy; the material cost; and finally the inspiring number of work hours necessary to materialize one single form. From that we concluded that we urgently needed a patron or, at least, an order.
Love/Hate; 2010 These questions are, at the moment, the focus of the project: if the access to the generated forms presented in plane interfaces, such as screens and projections, is insufficient, but at the same time the difficulties to materialize these forms do not support its construction, in which of the exhibition modes should the efforts be invested? In the first case, the first thing to do would be to develop an interface in which the observer could establish a relationship with the form from his own body movements in a determined space. It is also important that the forms exhibited in screens or projections have textures and light effects closer to those experienced by human beings amid real three-dimensional objects. Still thinking about the presentation through screens, one objective is the creation of video-sculptures through an adaptation that allows the software to process 24 three-dimensional frames per second, that is, 48 images. These video-sculptures could serve as a basis for the production of videos and video-installations. In the second case, the simplest option would be to produce laser-carved crystals. That would eliminate one of the biggest problems for the materialization of forms that result from images – the support of the modules –, because every image would be recorded in the interior of a solid crystal piece. One strength is the possibility of circulation and trading of sculptures based on forms generated by the software. On the other hand, the size possible to be obtained from craved crystals is considerably limited. An interesting data is that, through this technique, the construction of the form happens through the absence of the matter inside the crystal, generating an inversion of form and counter-form in relation to the original. We could invest in the production of forms a few meters long: probably the impact of these upon the observer would be bigger than all the presentation modes listed before. The weakness of this option is the costs of investment in nanotechnology. Although still in doubt, the project developers intend, as soon as possible, to offer the application to anyone who might mix their own images and texts, not ideas. And that’s the end. back to the top 1. Typeface developed by Vicente Pessôa, Tiago Porto, and Zed Martins in 2007, selected for the 9th Biennial of ADG (Graphic Designers’ Association - São Paulo, 2009) in the category Visual Poetics, and for the Third Latin-American Biennial of Typography (2008) in the category Screen Types – digital interfaces –, despite the fact that it was registered in the category Experimental Typefaces. 2. Processo: Linguagem e Comunicação - Wlademir Dias-Pino. 3. Research on surface design – Vicente Pessôa, 2006-present. 4. Sketches in Processing, executed by Pedro Veneroso. 5. Wikipedia. back to the top ABOUT THE AUTHORS Vicente Pessôa;was born. He expects to know one day who he is. (pessoa@vicentepessoa.com). Felipe Turcheti; tries to translate into programming language his conversations with Vicente Pessôa. (mail@felipeturcheti.com). back to the top |
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| 08 dec moving_New website and open call + more info | 28 sept interactivos_Project submission deadline extended for Interactivos? '10 BH + more info | 20 sept interactivos_Last days to submit projects for Interactivos? '10 BH + more info | jun 6 labtolab_Marginalia+Lab in Madrid + more info | may 17 event_Exhibition, seminar and party close first cycle of activities + more info | dec 10 meeting_Lab welcomes Eduardo de Jesus + more info |
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GRAFO Laboratório de Artes Gráficas Escola de Belas Artes - UFMG |
LAGEAR Laboratório Gráfico para a Experimentação Arquitetônica Escola de Arquitetura - UFMG |
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