Marcus Brownlow

For Helma, 2016

Digital print. 30 x 30 cm.

An exploration of generative process that uses live weather data to influence the form of the final work

This work is an early foray into making an image without using a camera. More importantly, perhaps, it represents a conscious attempt to combine my two professions: data science and visual art. Previously, I'd kept these two worlds entirely separate but in this work they have been deliberately combined.

I generated an animated spiral using Processing and a basic colour palette of red, white and blue. I introduced a stochastic element driven by a data feed from the local weather office, so the form of the animation changes depending on the air temperature at the time. The final printed work is a unique single frame from the animation, unable ever to be repeated because of random elements in the program's logic.