Documentation Plan
Documentation Review
To get up to speed on what similar artists/designers do for documentation, I've chosen two adjacent artists: Luke DuBois and Kelli Anderson.
Luke Dubois: Dissertation
Accompaning Luke's whopping 164 page Dissertation are several videos and and a short description. According to the description, music was recorded to be interpreted by an L-system and turned into visuals (likely by using turtle graphics). It seems that different variations were made, and the respective audio and visuals were compiled on a computer to record the videos. All of these materials are delivered through Luke's website, which sort of feels like it was put up in a rush. The videos lack summaries and the project itself is not broken down in parts in the way that other portfolios from digital artists often are. What's nice about this format is that the content is right there for you and the summary is pretty good if you already know a little bit about L-systems. I'm also willing to bet that much is explained in the dissertation itself, but of course most people wouldn't try reading that.
Kelli Anderson: RISO Animation
Kelli uses a brief description and a combination of images and gifs cascading down the page to showcase her Risograph work. The result of her process is shown first as seamless gifs, and alternate between still and moving frames. Though I'd prefer a little more description of what's going on, for me the longer gif at the end was explanatory enough, since I have prior knowledge of the RISO printing. This case study page, and her website as a whole feels polished, extensive, yet simple. You get the sense that Kelli knows people hate reading as everything is illustrated with dozens of images and videos per page, not just of the works themselves but also her process.
After reviewing several portfolios, I've decided that my documentation will:
- Showcase the final result.
- Explain L systems.
- Provide context, illustrate thinking.
The showcase component will be the most visually-dependant, and should be front in center or at the top of the document: stills, seamless gifs of my favorite iterations (Kelli Anderson style), and eventually the 1 minute video.
For those that want to dig a little deeper, I will both illustrate and explain my process for the project, while also giving an lesson on L-systems and their implications for art and society.
The 1 minute video will try to do all 3 at once. In brief, the video will capture the installation, provide a 1 or 2 sentence description of the work, and show clips of me setting up the CRT TV, plugging in the program, and watching it work.