Welcome again to my dot matrix dreamscape!
Once upon a time I was debugging the code behind my creations. To spare the cycles of my hardworking graphics processor, I did not draw my diffraction curves as curves. I did not connect the dots!
To my surprise, I liked the result! The point (pun intended) of my Diffraction Art is to take something straight-forward and simple, and make it radiate. Make it show off its hidden and unexpected features! Make it sparkle!
Omitting the curve segments between the dots makes the virtual structures both simpler – 1980 computer-game simple – and more sparkly.
But wouldn’t it be even more surprising if I would finally use different colors? I am glad that nobody asked!
I had stuck to my spectral rainbow colors religiously. It was not for the lack of trying. In that code I enjoy debugging are lots of functions for creating special colors. Wild paths through red-green-blue color space … and seemingly clever transformations …
But none of the artificial color gradients appealed to me, or not as much as the rainbow! Creating a gradient between two carefully selected colors did work, but I failed to cook up a symphony of proper colors as varied as the dispersed spectrum of white light. I wanted to be edgy and shuffle colors randomly. It got worse.
Is almost as if sleep-walking through RGB space is a dumb idea.
RGB is the devil. Seriously, it does not match how we think about color AT ALL.
–Tyler Hobbs in Tips to Improve your Generative Artwork
…
I see lots of beginner generative artwork where RGB colors were selected with random values for R, G, and B. Under almost all circumstances, this is going to look worse than a color palette that is carefully selected.
In despair, I applied the simplest transformation. I just inverted the rainbow colors: I was prepared to be looking at the non-pleasing assortment of colors reminiscent of 1980s film negatives. Expecting to see those faded orange and lilac hues.
But I got this!
Looking at hues and saturation of the inverted curves, it should have been obvious! Bright red turns into bright cyan. Blue turns into yellow. The inverted rainbow looks foreign, but equally vibrant. It is way more vibrant than photo negatives, just as the rainbow looks more vivid than the average colors you see around you. Rainbow colors are both familiar and rare – maybe this is why we find them alluring!
The wavy ribbon of inverted spectral colors looks also has a more pronounced outline than the original ribbon lacks. The spectral colors fade out into the dark: I am using this physicist’s function for nanometer to RGB conversion – who has converted this other scientist’s FORTRAN code to python. The inverted spectra fade into white. In a sense, it would have been “more consistent” to also invert the background.
But this is not about being “right” or being smart about physics or math. I am using scientific facts and methods just as a prompt. This should feel like creating Found Poetry from internet search terms, not like having to prepare a flawless lab report. I want to start the engine of the dream machine!
Welcome to my dot matrix dreamscape!
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Evolution of diffraction art, from the present to the past:
Diffraction Patterns for Everyone! (Double Star Gate)
Stargate of Diffraction. Escaping the Labyrinth of Colorful Wires.
Newton’s Space Probes Investigate my Ribbons of Diffraction
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