In the multifaceted world of iOS apps for iPhone, iPad and the iPod Touch, artists are beginning to carve a niche in the crowded landscape of Apple’s Appstore. One trend amongst software artists is to repurpose work that was originally written for desktop computers into small, compact versions that run smoothly on these mobile devices. Although some of these artist-designed apps utilize the location-aware and networked capabilities that these devices offer, several artists are revisiting the interactive and non-connected aspects of their art. One such piece is “Yellowtail” by Pittsburgh-based media artist, Golan Levin. Reexaming his project “Yellowtail”, originally released in 1998 as part of his “Audio-Visual Suite” of applications for the desktop computer, Levin has recreated the piece specifically for the iPhone. From his description: “Yellowtail repeats a user’s strokes end-over-end, enabling simultaneous specification of a line’s shape and quality of movement. Each line repeats according to its own period, producing an ever-changing and responsive display of lively, worm-like textures.” The experience of using Yellowtail is a fluid reminder of what made software-based art such an immersive experience back in the day. Also revisiting his old screen-based work from the 1990s was Scottt Snibbe‘s who has released several apps for the store that have even made it to Apple’s top download list. Maybe as Golan has said in the past, it’s about time for Apple to introduce an “Art” category to the store. Current artist apps are automatically put into the “Entertainment” category of the store which is true to some degree, but hardly does most of these apps justice as a designation.

At its core, Yellowtail it is an interactive software system for the gestural creation and performance of real-time abstract animation. Using a playful animated transformation of the user’s gesture, the software produces an ever-changing and responsive display of lively, worm-like textures. More general information about Yellowtail is available here, and a whole heap of really technical and historical context is here.

Yellowtail was originally developed as a skunkwork project at Interval Research Corporation (1998) with support from Michael Naimark, and later at the MIT Media Laboratory (1999-2000) with support from John Maeda’s Aesthetics and Computation Group (ACG). The iOS ports were developed in openFrameworks and were created with the assistance of Max Hawkins, Lee Byron, Jonathan Brodsky, and enabling support from the OF iPhone crew (Memo Akten, Zach Gage, Theo Watson, Zachary Lieberman, and many others).

Yellowtail can be experienced (with source code) in this interactive Java applet.

or

Download Yellowtail (Full-screen PC .exe, 2000)
This is the full-screen, sonified version of Yellowtail, the first instrument in the Audiovisual Environment Suite (AVES). [196k zip file, for Windows2000/XP. Requires 700Mhz+ CPU; an nVidia geForce or other OpenGL graphics card; and a Soundblaster-compatible sound card.]

Platform: iPhone/iPad (Universal)
Version: 1.0
Cost: $0.99
Developer: Golan Levin

Carbon is a piece of software for Mac and PC created by Tabor Robak that looks at the transition between the real and the virtual.

While some true qualities of physicality are lost in digitization this is made up for by creating new ways to communicate and new opportunities to use material and scale expressively. The digital landscape shares the same potential for abstraction as a dream while remaining more tangible. As we spend more time online and digital content increases in value the line between fantasy and reality becomes increasingly blurred. This is heightened by the use of smart phones, natural interfaces, and mixed reality technologies that we eagerly and easily incorporate into everyday life. With this piece I am considering the conflict and collaboration between the real and the virtual as well as the brief moment when consciousness travels between them. (source: STATE)

STATE is an online exhibition platform that features new projects and statements by artists who use the internet as a primary element in their work. The goal of STATE is to engage a more substantial online viewership and initiate critical dialog.

Download

I’ve been following Manny Tan‘s for about 10 years now or so and it’s a great pleasure to introduce him to CA readers. In case you missed his work, Manny belongs to the generation of early creative code flash developers alongside people like Joshua Davis, Lia, Yugop and others. His site, uncontrol (the old version you can see here) was flooded with beautiful flash experiments that I and many other downloaded and played with over and over again. Most if not all experiments have download code button meaning Manny was always about sharing. In the recent years, Manny got a little quiet, focusing on his work at Method and most recently at Microsoft, working on projects most of you have heard of. Recently, Manny has been playing with Processing and Ballon Experiment is one of those projects, inspired by Jeff Koons.

My idea was to create a randomly generated balloon animals, looking specifically at how the joints are connected from segment to segment. Each segment  has a specific length and a specific rotation which would be nested into the next segment until the dog shape emerges. It seemed simple and straightforward enough until I started rotating each balloon segment in 3d space. I assumed all rotations would be easy to create using only the base x,y,z axis rotations but boy was I wrong. Once I started nesting the segments it became harder and harder to predict where the rotations would end up. There was no easy way to solve this and the deadline was fast approaching so I had to shelf the project until I solve the rotation issue.

Manny beautifully documents the process. Step by step, it’s wonderful to see how complex the simple things can be. Of course, the end result is beautiful and you can see each step at the time as an applet, app download for Mac/Windows + source.

Head over to balloon.uncontrol.com and have a play.

The fantastic Graffiti Analysis 3.0 application by Evan Roth and Chris Sugrue is now available for download! For those unfamiliar with the project, GA is an extensive ongoing study in the motion of graffiti. Custom software designed for graffiti writers creates visualizations of the often unseen gestures involved in the creation of a tag. Motion data is recorded, analyzed and archived as Graffiti Markup Language (.gml) files, a specifically formatted XML file designed to be a common open structure for archiving gestural graffiti motion data. GML files are saved in an open online database, 000000book.com, where writers can share analytical representations of their hand styles.

The 3.0 app includes the following new features:
- Input from iPhone + anything you can strap the light onto.
- Audio input which affects particles generated from the tag – perfect for live events
- Keyword based RSS .gml player / search for a keyword and let the app play all the tags
- 3D Printing Integration – Print your tags!!
-  ”Interactive Architecture” – allows interaction of projected graffiti with objects that receive the projection (buildings)..
- Laser Input – tag buildings from long distances.. (need  big a** monster projector)
- Stereography..

More + download at graffitianalysis.com (mac OSX only for the time being..windows/linux soon)

See also Evan Roth’s recent EyeWriter Presentation at Future Everything embedded below.

Qubicle is a standalone Windows software for creating 3D pixel-art. It combines standard 2D image editing tools with a powerfull function-set for editing 3D cube-matrices. We first wrote about it in October last year and have just received an email from the creator, Tim Wesoly, notifying us that Qubicle is now available for download (Public Beta v 9.502)!

What’s included:
Standard Image Editing Tools
The tools used in the Qubicle Constructor are familiar to users of common image editing tools like Adobe Photoshop. The pencil, the eraser, the paintbucket and other well known tools are used to “draw” the model on a 2D canvas or to sculpt it in 3D. It’s easier to learn and use than conventional 3d modelers based on polygonal meshes. And the models you create have a very original look and that retro touch we all love.

Powerfull Function-Sets for Matrix-Editing
In addition to the familiar tools, Qubicle Constructor owns many helpful functions like interpolated scaling, mirroring and texturing.

File exchange with other 3D Applications
Qubicle Constructor can export models as OBJ. OBJ can be imported by most third party 3d applications on the market. It also reads and writes the exchange Format QEF for a seamless transfer of cube models between the Qubicle Constructor and the Qubicle Maya Plugin.

More info + download at minddesk.com

Previously: Qubicle [Windows]