Project #4: Exquisite Corpse
Description
In this project, I explored an interesting art activity, exquisite corpse, through code. The class is divided into groups of 3 and we each created an illustration with head, body and legs. We then exchanged body parts from our group members and integrated them into one project with p5.js. I mainly experimented with user defined functions in this project.
Technical components that I explored in this project:
- User-defined functions
- Arguments and parameters
Design Process
I started this project by creating an illustration of a creature with a head, upper body and lower body. I drew a sad little demon who broke his horn during a fight, and I used ProCreate on my ipad for my illustration. After that, I shared the png file with my groupmates(Austin Bailey & Zhijun Song). In exchange, I am using the upper body which Austin drew and the legs which Zhijun drew to complete my figure. I love seeing my classmates' illustrations, I think they were really interesting and each with their unique artistic styles. I really enjoyed the uncertainty of this project and the final result, it reminded me of decentralized storytelling where multiple people can contribute to one story.
My Illustration
The Upper Body That I'm Using from Austin:
The Lower Body That I'm Using from Zhijun:
Reflection
When transferring the illustrations into p5.js, I used the loadImage() function to load the png files into my project. I originally intended to recreate their illustrations by code, but I decided not to do so because I think it is really interesting to see a mix of illustration styles mixed together, and recreating their illustration with code will cover that bit of playfulness in this project.
To add my own functions into this project, I reflected back to the background story of our characters, and the unique qualities of my groupmates body parts. The little demon is sad as his horn is still broken, so I added the functions to make him cry and bleed from his horn. The upper body I got from Austin looks really strong, which is surprisingly related to my story where the little demon wanted to become strong so he won’t be bullied anymore. This is a cute addition to the background story of this project that the little demon finally became strong after being bullied. The legs I got from Zhijun inspired me to make my final character walk because she considerately shared all her body parts in separate png files, which gave me the freedom to animate movements.
After relating to the background story and respecting my groupmates’ art style, I created a final figure which is still a sad little demon, finally gained muscle but is still sad for his broken horn, walks without pants angrily to seek revenge. I learned a lot during this project, especially when there are limitations to our creating process. How do we utilize what we have on hand? How to evaluate the unique quality of each design element and create something out of that? These are the main lessons I learned from this project.