Catlu – Plot

Final Product:

Link to code on Github:

https://github.com/catlu4416/60-212/blob/master/catluBuddhaPlot.pde

For this project, I had 2 main ideas I thought about. The first idea I pursued was the idea of a falling leaf that would be pushed around by an invisible wind. The leaf would leave a trail on the drawing and travel from top to bottom, chaos to order. This idea I started coding until I realized that visually it did not seem very interesting, and the idea gradually became boring. The second idea I had was inspired by my trip to see family in China this past summer. There was one day we were touring the Mogao Caves, and I distinctly remember the walls full of mini Buddhas that were almost identical but ever so different. Golan’s second prompt reminded me of them, and I decided to let this guide me. I made a program so that with every click, a new, slightly different set of Buddha heads appeared. I went with a very stylized and simple look for the small Buddha heads and wanted to create something with a more ancient sort of feeling. To achieve this, I first tried paper and then ultimately wood veneer with a laser cutter instead of a plotter so I could get the distinct mark of the burnt wood markings. Having to come up with something physical was different, and made me think about both how the code would look on the screen, and how it would translate over onto a physical object. Overall, I’m happy with my result. I think the laser cutting on the wood veneer was successful, although there definitely could be a few more tweaks and maybe more detail/decoration.

I couldn’t get good video of the laser cutter doing my code because the cover on the laser cutter is dark to protect your eyes. The camera brightness never adjusted right, but you can still see a bit.

 

Here’s a picture of the laser cutter in action.

Here are inspiration and sketch pictures.