‘Ecluse’ is a commissioned generative artwork! It is a series limited to only 6 editions: each token triggers a protocol whereby the artist hand paints and signs a physical edition for the collector. ‘Ecluse’ marks the culmination of a reflection which began with ‘Aqueduct’.<

This project was born of the desire to confront the human hand with the algorithm and the machine. The primary goal of this program was to build a protocol that I had to interpret with both plotter and paintbrushes. It’s not a question of opposing, but rather of combining the precision of the algorithm/machine duo with the sensitivity of manual work. These forms can be seen as a kind of score to be interpreted, in a way replaying the similar/singular relationship seen in generative art. Each edition follows the same rules, but each iteration has a different property and appearance. In the work of Écluse, the process involves manual work that will bring out even more uniqueness, or singularity.

This project grew out of a fascination with scientific imagery, which can be seen as graphs, with peaks and troughs. A viewer might think that the program uses a data source to build these shapes, but it doesn’t. It uses data that it generates itself. In a way, the shapes it constructs are not used to analyze and understand something external, but to understand how the program itself works. There is a central self-reflective quality to the algorithm at play.

The biggest challenge I had to solve with this project was to reconcile screen and paper, while not favoring either of them. I developed the program by trying out different drawing techniques (with my plotter as well as with my physical watercolors). There weren’t two distinct phases where I elected to favor one version and reproduce it on the other, it was all systematically done side by side. As the program evolved, it was tested in the physical world. I practiced these two mediums (code and painting) at the same time, making sure that I stayed within the boundaries of feasibility.

 
See the generator on Foundation