Canon makes the connection between colour and the ability of its high-speed equipment to create a stunning effect. Call it art or product demonstration. It doesn’t matter. This is a tight, intelligent idea.
What’s really inspirational is that the outcome was destined to be random. They had the tools and the talent to try something without knowing how it would end. This kind of courage is rare in the world of strict guidelines and tight budgets. But it should encourage us all to look for creative ways to bring stories to life. To entertain. To reward people for spending a few minutes with our brands.
It’s like this machine is reading the minds of the audience as someone reads a PowerPoint presentation word for word.
The four-letter word machine has four units made of fluorescent lights which can be manipulated to display all 26 letters of the alphabet. That means, they can create any four-letter word. The piece displays an algorithmically generated word sequence, derived from a word association database developed by the University of South Florida between 1976 and 1998. The algorithms take into account word meaning, rhyme, letter sequencing, and association.
The algorithm’s tendency towards scatological or “dark” subject matter is influenced by a variety of language and perception studies, especially Elliot McGinnies’ 1949 study “Emotionality and Perceptual Defense.”
About the artist:Rob Seward is an artist and programmer. His work has been exhibited at the Blanton Museum, Austin; CVZ Contemporary, New York; Center For Opinions in Music and Art, Berlin; and Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, Halifax. He has lectured at the Centre Pompidou, Paris; Columbia University; and Location One, both in New York. He holds a master’s from the Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP) at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Before getting his master’s, he worked in collaboration with composer Fred Lerdahl creating software based on the Generative Theory of Tonal Music. Rob lives and works in New York City.
We’ve seen a lot of our colleagues replaced by technology over the years. Typesetters and plate makers come to mind. $1,000 buys 160 hours of copywriting in India. But ministers? Really? A Tokyo couple were married recently by I-Fairy. If this trend takes hold, who knows where it will stop.
I-Drunk Uncle puking in the parking lot?
I-Cheap Cousin who places two tattered twenties in an envelope to cover her, her husband and four kids who weren’t on the invite?
I-Regifter.
I-Wedding Singer who won’t let go of Neil Sedaka or your sisters ass?
I-Videographer who makes the men reenact the Resevoir Dogs slow-mo scene?