Helen Shewolfe Tseng is an artist, designer, writer, tarot reader, beginning creative coder, and learning naturalist primarily observing urban coyotes in the Bay Area.
Website: http://shewolfe.co/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wolfchirp/
Past code projects:
Taper #8 piece (view source for statement)
Taper #9 piece (view source for statement)
Taper #10 piece coming soon…
I am relatively new to coding as part of my art practice. I have been interested in cellular automata for awhile but have not really understood what that meant, and how to work with one. This class description was compelling to me, it seemed like a tactile approach as well as a philosophical one.
Now, I have the beginnings of an idea of how to interact with cellular automata as a responsive and collaborative artmaking tool, as well as how to think differently about computation. I am looking forward to experimenting more with simulating ecosystems and divination tools, toward some artworks or mini-games.
I suppose if the class was longer, I would have had more time to work toward a dedicated project, however there was something also very nice and generative about working within the limitations and being playful
There were so many interesting concepts shared and I would have loved to experiment and interact with some of them more, such as Wireworld, personified robotics, geomancy, non-grid CA. I loved all the hands-on activities because it helped me gain more of a sense of intuition about the steps of a process, and how to think of working with CA as a tinkering process rather than one with a set beginning or end. I tend to work like that for other things too, so it was nice to see that emergent approach captured in tiny forms (seeds!) like CA rules. I would have also loved more collaboration with other students. I was so inspired by seeing how different everyone’s homework approaches were.
Worst is waking up earlier than usual especially right after daylight savings :)
Best: mind blown over and over from new things learned in class, things created and shared by classmates, and while experimenting with simple CA tools and “discovering” interesting emergent behaviors
The homework process always involved some lostness for me, some weeks more than others. Feeling lost (and the resultant frustration) is often a catalyst toward accidental creativity that results from play. I really enjoyed being encouraged to play, rather than work toward a result.
Yes, so many new ideas (seeds!!!) I now see a lot of things through the lenses of various cellular automata. I especially like the focus on decentralization, interdependence, responsiveness, emergence, accident, and the dynamic states that can result from very simple interactions. It feels like getting language for things I often experience in making creative works, interacting and collaborating with the artworks (and other people, ideas, materials, etc.) rather than it being a directed process. Maybe the rules are very simple: respond to what is there, go where a piece wants to go.
Yes, so many! Nay’s work with language and aphasia, Wiley’s in-progress dungeon crawler, Eric’s paintings, Liam’s riso works, Megan’s 3d modeled tiles, Burcu’s audio piece from the first week, and all of the tactile, textile/woven/crocheted, stop-motion pieces were amazing to see.