time is funny

Did you ever wonder how the emotion hidden in words could be transferred into the one caused by a picture? How do reading impressions look like? Is there a synesthesia-like abstract connection, hidden code, thread or a string, between poetry and painting? If yes, gather around, and let me tell you more about a new project of mine, about Synesketch.

Synesketch (Synesthesia + Sketch) is a bridge between words, images, and code. It is a computer program, free software library, interactive animation, and a creative open project for textual affect sensing and creative visualization of it.

Integrating several rather divers fields – natural language processing, affective computing, algorithmic visual art and design, animation, psychology and color theory – I have constructed a Java-based toy which scans a written conversation in real time (e.g. chat session), analyses emotional manifestations, and visualizes it via interactive algorithmic animated Processing graphics. Emotion types which can be recognized are the basic ones by Ekman: happiness, anger, fear, surprise, sadness, and disgust (on the picture you can see representative frames of these types, done by a demo visualization system, from left to right, top to bottom). One of the concrete Synesketch applications is the visual chat: while we talk, colors and shapes are being generated.

Besides being a new media experiment, an “automatic illuminator” with “artificial synesthesia”, Synesketch is also an open source free library, so that other Processing designers and artists can create their own text-based interactive works.

But, this is only a glimpse of the whole project. A lot, lot more on Synesketch later. For now, take a look at my thesis, where all of this is explained in detail:

http://www.krcadinac.com/papers/synesketch_rad.doc (in Serbian)

Da li ste se ikada zapitali kako se emocija skrivena u rečima može pretvoriti u onu izazvanu slikom? Kako doživljaju tokom čitanja zaista izgledaju? Postoji li apstraktna veza nalik na sinesteziju, skriveni kod, između poezije i slikarstva? Ako da, poslušajte nekoliko reči o mom novom projektu, projektu Synesketch.

Synesketch (Synesthesia + Sketch) je most između reči, slike i koda. To je kompjuterski program, softverska biblioteka, interaktivna animacija i kreativni otvoreni projekat za prepoznavanje i vizuelizaciju emotivnog sadržaja teksta.

Integrišući nekoliko solidno udaljenih oblasti – procesiranje prirodnog jezika, afektivno računarstvo, algoritamsku vizuelnu umetnost i dizajn, animaciju, psihologiju i teoriju boja – napravio sam Java igračku koja čita tekstualne razgovore u realnom vremenu (npr. čet sesije), prepoznaje manifestacije emocija i vizuelizuje ih interaktivnom algoritamskom animiranom Processing grafikom. Tipovi emocija koji mogu biti prepoznati su osnovni Ekmanovi: radost, bes, strah, čuđenje, tuga, i gađenje (na slici se vide reprezentativni frejmovi ovih tipova generisani od strane demonstracionog sistema za vizuelizaciju, s leva na desno, od gore ka dole). Jedna od konkretnih Synesketch aplikacija je vizuelni čet: dok mi razgovaramo, boje i oblici se generišu u obližnjem prozoru.

Pored eksperimenta u oblasti novih medija, „automatskog iluminatora” sa „veštačkom sinestezijom”, Synesketch je takođe i open source besplatna biblioteka kojom svaki Processing dizajner i umetnik može praviti svoje interaktivne radove bazirane na tekstu.

No, ovo je samo najava. Mnogo, mnogo više o Synesketchu kasnije. Za sada, možete pogledati rad u kome je ovo opisano u detalje:

http://www.krcadinac.com/papers/synesketch_rad.doc

Ako vas put navede u Berlin, ne tražite znamenitosti i ne gledajte u mapu. Za razliku od ostalih prestonica jasno omeđenih u vremenu i sa definisanim simbolima, prestonica koje možete zamisliti gledajući im razgledice, Berlin postoji isključivo između redova svoje istorije: u pauzama, prećutkivanjima, u neuglednim ćoškovima, u prljavim labudovima… Upravo zato, ovaj grad vas ne proziva, ne očekuje ništa, a postepeno vas osvaja cele – nalik na ružne i harizmatične ljude – svojom bezmernom lakoćom. Tri utiska:

(1) crnoplave ptičice, brojne poput vrabaca i golubova (čemu tražiti ime kad je tu olovka);

(2) ljuljaške kod Mauer parka, dok ulični bend u mrklom mraku svira jezivo dobar Jazz a naokolo se puštaju zmajevi i skupljaju drangulije sa obližnje buvlje pijace;

(3) naši Couch Surfing domaćini, Claudia i Romina, koje su nas obe primile kao da smo stari prijatelji.

Četvrti i ostale potražite ovde i ovde.

ASCII portrait of my J.

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“Code is poetry.”

– wordpress.org

Our frisbee club has a good old tradition of writing frisbee-philosophy oriented haiku poems. (See one of the earlier posts, in Serbian.) But, using words is just one way to write it. You can also draw, film, compose or even program your haikus. Draw and film OK, you say, but program – it just sounds weird. Well, wait till you hear about Processing, a beautiful programming tool for visual artists and designers. But first, let me say something about these little drawings in grayscale, my visual frisbee haiku.

Seeing your dear flying disc getting entangled in the branches and leaves can be painful sometimes. Yet, sometimes it can strangely become a game of it’s own, enjoyable for you and hopefully the tree. Imagine your friends and you throwing discs through some old grapevine, laughing, running, climbing, again and again… I’ve tried to capture the contours of such an adventure on my first helloworldish Processing sketch, also making a haiku wordplay with an old soul classic.

And HERE it is.

As you can see, these digital drawings are computer generated: shapes and shades are nothing more then a plain old Java code. A little random number here, a little ellipse function there, and – here you have a little applet-based visual haiku poem: haikapplet! I must admit I watched it for about half an hour, being hypnotized by it’s ever-changing pictures and generative design that is always different.

Yet, this little haikapplet is nothing compared to what can you create with Processing. In short, it is a tool for programming visual art. An open project initiated by two great designers, programmers and MIT students, Ben Fry and Casey Reas. See some of the projects made by Processing here. Personally, I was always being skeptical about computer generated art – it just looked too cold, precise and non-human to me. But seeing certain personal, warm, even touching works by some brilliant artists, such as Jared Tarbell or Jonathan Harris, made me change my mind and give Processing a chance.

Besides the art making, I believe it could make a revolution in science education. Imagine elementary school girls and boys using basic physics laws and mathematical functions to create marvelous, colorful and inspirational drawings, animations, and interactive graphics! I see some pretty artworks as presents, new teenage loves and well-deserved first kisses. If teachers could see the potential of Processing and alike, in twenty years we may have more scientists and artists then Big Brother fans…

Yes, I know, but let me dream…

The Tale of a Town, a short animated film of mine created four years ago, is now part of the HDFEST, digital cinema festival online. In past years, film won several awards and took part in domestic and international film festivals. You can see it’s HDFEST page here.

Marisa Cohen, representative of the festival, stated:

“The Tale of a Town really is of extremely high quality and everyone in HDFEST thinks it would be a great fit. We were extremely impressed with your work.”

The film shows a poetic creation of the city of Pančevo, a small town near Belgrade in Vojvodina, Serbia, with 850 years tradition. But, much more then that, it is a tale of the timeless joy of creating and not letting anyone be your guide except yourself. Just like the sunflower in the film, you should not follow the Sun – you should become the Sun instead.

On the other hand, the film implicitly speaks about the thing it doesn’t show: in reality, Pančevo is an immensely polluted town with incapable politicians and depressed citizens. The contrast of the warmness and fairytale-like colors of the film and the sorrowful, gray and dangerous reality gives it a bitter-sweet aftertaste, yet more bitter then sweet…

“I like my town, with a little drop of poison…”

– Tom Waits

Every end of winter, my secret favorite season, brings me few shades of a reminiscence.

This winter’s most beautiful day was one of those when Sun is as hot as in late spring afternoons and snow is as white as in tales of our grandmothers. On that day, Srdjan, Vuk and me brought some fruits, vegetables, and cameras, and we played for many hours. On a big sparkling-white plane we sculptured a fragile yet handsome snowlady, with a wild hair and smooth round breasts. Sunset brought the cold and made us go…

Only few minutes passed. A pig-like boy showed up and destroyed our little goddess, pushing and kicking her snowbody in meaningless rage. And so, he learned a lesson or two about messing with other people’s artworks, while we learned a lesson or two about the necessity of loving the ephemeral.

End of the day: “Šaran” tavern, mulled wine, long talks, and a little beggar gypsy girl, approaching our table.

“Coin or two, please…” “Would you ever destroy a snowman, little one?” “Uhm.. no…” “Take this then… and good luck!”

(See more photos on Srdjan’s flickr page or visit my Facebook album.)

Animacija (lat. animatio) oživljavanje, oživljenje, davanje duše; živost, životna svežina; vatrenost, žestina, ljutnja; trenutak od koga se zametak u utrobi smatra živim; kod crtanog filma oživljavanje slika.

– Leksikon stranih reči i izraza, Milan Vujaklija

Kad sam imao četiri godine i prvi put me upitali šta želim da budem kad porastem, rekao sam: Želim da pravim crtane filmove! Kakav astronaut ili superheroj, ma nikako. Sada sam veoma ponosan što pripadam retkim ljudima koji su zaista i postali ono što su želeli da budu u detinjstvu!

Pre nekoliko meseci sam završio novi animirani film, Autoportret, čije podatke možete naći na njegovom web sajtu. To je priča o prirodi stvaranja, stvaraoca, njegovog rada i njihovog zajedničkog odnosa. Priča o umetniku koji, slikajući autoportret, shvata da naslikani delovi lica – Nos, Oko, Uvo, Usta, Jezik i Kosa – imaju svoj nezavisni život, duh i strasti. Ta mala bića počinju da šetaju, skaču, igraju se, svađaju i ulaze u raznorazne međusobne odnose, formirajući i rasturajući veliku sliku. Na jedan način, film je bio za mene suočavanje sa svojom sujetom, slabostima, strahovima, zbunjenošću i krizama identiteta. Možete ga nazvati veselim narcisoidnim šegačenjem sa sopstvenom narcisoidnošću.

To je takođe i priča o jednoj mojoj opsesiji koja se tiče samoreferencirajućih struktura: priča koje pričaju o sebi, slika koje sadrže te iste slike, rekurzivnih funkcija u matematici i sl. „Velika matura“ je, eto, bila tema mog maturskog rada u srednjoj školi. Tako je i ovde – delovi lica koji se kreću čine sliku u filmu animacijom, dok je i film sam animacija. A dok se stvara slikarev autoportret, jasno je da je i film kao celina moj autoportret.

Konačno, ovaj film je i priča o vremenu. Svi smo mi procesi, ne statične figure, te portreti moraju uključivati i vreme. Sama slika nije dovoljna, potrebna je pokretna slika koja se menja – animacija. No, vreme je šašavo i mnogo nam čini, dobra i zla. Na kraju, to vreme – to smo mi, naši portreti jesu stvaranje istih.

Sada bih se zahvalio svim drugarima koji su mi pomogli na ovom projektu: Vladimiru Uspenskom, sjajnom dizajneru zvuka; Janji Lončar, fantastičnoj kompozitorki; Radiši Stanišiću, producentu i pravom prijatelju; Milanu Stojanoviću, koji me je jadan morao trpeti dok sam zlostavljao njegov kompjuter beskrajnim renderingom. Drugari, hvala!

Do sada, Autoportret je učestvovao u zvaničnoj takmičarskoj selekciji Balkanime, Evropskog festivala animiranog filma, gde je dobio nezvaničnu nagradu ASIFA za najbolje mlade autore. Ušao je i u zvaničnu takmičarsku selekciju Kratkog metra, koji će se održati krajem marta u Beogradu. Ako vam se dopala ova priča – ne propustite festival, te javite kako vam se dopao film!

When I was four years old and for the first time in my life asked a question: What would you like to be when you grow up? – I answered: A cartoon maker! Not an astronaut or a superhero. Now I’m very proud to say that I’m one of those rare people that actually became what they wanted to become when they were children.

You can find out more about the new animated film of mine, Self-Portrait, on it’s website. It is a story about an artist, who, while creating a portrait, realizes that the painted parts of the face – Nose, Eye, Ear, Mouth, Tongue, and Hair – have a mind and soul of their own. The film was my personal way of confronting my dear vanities, deviations, weaknesses, fears, shynesses, griefs, confusions, and identity crisis. You can call it a funny narcissistic mockery of your own narcissism.

It is also a story of the obsession of mine about self-referential structures: pictures inside the pictures, stories that speak about itself, recursive functions, and such. Moving parts of the painting makes the picture in the film an animation, yet the animation is a film itself. Moreover, one can see a self-portrait being made in the film, while the film as a whole is my self-portrait. It greatly amuses me to think about that.

Finally, it is a story about time. We are all processes, not static figures, so the real portraits must involve time. Therefore, painting is not enough, we need a moving and changing painting – an animation. But, time is funny, and it does a lot to you, good and bad. And at the end, that time – that is what you are, the portrait of you is the making of one.

Now, I have to thank all the people that helped me in this project. Vladimir Uspenski, brilliant sound designer; Janja Lončar, fantastic composer; Radiša Stanišić, producer and a real friend. I’ll add Milan Stojanović for letting me abuse his computer for redering. Thank you all!

So far, Self-Portrait entered the offical competion selection of the Balkanima, Europian Animated Film Festival in Belgrade, and it won the ASIFA non-official award for best young authors. It also entered the offical competion selection of the Belgrade Documentary and Short Film Festival, well-known as “Kratki Metar” in Serbian, and it is going to be presented there in about a month. If you found this story interasting, don’t miss it. And inform me how did you like it!