It is time to upgrade your browser! This site looks and acts much better in a newer browser. Go TO THIS PAGE to find LINKS to all the major NEW BROWSERS. The links are at the bottom of the page under "What can I do?"

Or, you may keep reading this ugly page.

the MTAA-RR

[splash image]

MTAA-RR » news » mriver » autotrace 4 fishman s moving and being performative report:

Mar 20, 2010

Autotrace #4 (Fishman’s Moving and Being; performative) report

posted at 14:47 GMT by M.River in /news/mriver

Autotrace is series of works in which we use software to trace jpegs of paintings. The resulting vector graphics are used to create new artworks. Thursday night at Winkleman Gallery, we presented the 4th piece in the series as a part of #class.

Autotrace #4

In the heart of the Autotrace #4 performance, we asked the audience to pick one painter. They selected Louise Fishman. Then, from a Google Image search, one jpeg of her work to Autotrace. They selected the painting Moving and Being.

Fishman's  Moving And Being

Using customized software to automate Adobe Illustrator, we have distilled the tracing process down to a simple drag-and-drop action. In this one action, the jpeg of Fishman’s “Moving and Being” was dropped onto the Autotrace software. The script launched, the software centered the image, traced each brush stroke and shape in the painting creating vector graphics for each, matched a color to each vector graphic, picked one random shape from the painting, deleted the other shapes and finally scaled-up the selected vector graphic to the size of the projection screen.

To output this new work we picked a stick of chalk that was close in color to it and I traced the outline of the shape onto the chalkboard-painted gallery wall.

Autotrace #4

Once the image was one the wall, T.Whid deleted all traces of the work from his computer’s hard drive. The artwork, now erased from the gallery wall, exists only in written and photographic documentation.

Autotrace #4

Thanks to
#class,
Winkleman Gallery,
Jennifer Dalton,
and William Powhida

so, remember kids…

autotrace #4

Update - Here is some video posted by Kai Vierstra
(Note: T.Whid copy-edited this a tad after publication.) permanent link to this post

MTAA-RR » news » mriver » autotrace 4 fishman s moving and being performative report


1997 - 2006 M.River & T.Whid Art Associates. Some Rights Reserved. MTEWW.com is licensed under a Creative Commons License with the exception of Website Unseen titles which are covered by agreements with individual collectors and otherwise where noted.