Print Run V, viridian version
O=C=O O=C=O O=C=O O=C=O O=C=O O=C=O O=C=O O=C=O O=C=O O=C=OGreen Storm Sundown is an art project that requires some explanation. If you (the audience) were able to view the entirety of the project all at once, it wouldn't require explanation, but since you can't (and that's partly by design), I, the artist, have to explain how the pieces that you can see fit into the whole. There are also some instructions to be followed. So if you're interested in my artwork, please take a moment to read the following explanation and introduction.
The GSSD project comes about as a result of three major influences:
The first is the work of Sol LeWitt , particularly the piece 132, A Grid Covering the Wall, Two Crossing Lines in each Module using Arcs from Corners and Sides, Straight and Not Straight Lines, Systematically in the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. I saw it there while I was attending AGU (the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union), and I was really taken by the patterns and symmetries in the piece. I studied it over and over, trying to ferret out all the interlocking structures within the sequence of elements, and it just fascinated me for a good long time.
The second influence is the idea of ephemeral art. We often think of art as something lasting, but some truly wonderful pieces, artworks like sidewalk chalk drawings and crop circles, vanish upon completion. I think that ephemerality is one of the uncapturable features of live performance that makes it so compelling -- more compelling than a recorded version of the same performance. As well, transience is a key part of the natural beauty of a good sky, or ocean waves, or falling leaves; all these are here, seen, and then irretrievably gone.
Finally, there's the Viridian movement. I didn't realize that this project was Viridian until I was about halfway through it, but I think it qualifies. When I started thinking green about it, I had already chosen to create the elements of the project by transiently juxtaposing natural forms. The Viridian aesthetic helped me to choose the subjects of the base images -- leaves, electricity, sunsets -- and the planned evanescense of their confluence.
There are 6*7*7*7 = 2058 images total, and each is fleeting. When you press the Submit button, the image is created and sent to your machine. Soon afterwards, it is erased from the server. There may be other images like it, but that particular image, displayed on your machine, is the only one that will ever exist. When you close that window, it is gone forever. (Of course, I realize that you can save a copy of the image. But I view it as like photographing a sunset; it's not really the same thing anymore.)
When the entire sequence has been generated, that's it. It's done. No more elements will be made. The artwork is finished. Nobody will ever see the entire thing (not that you'd want to); each viewer is limited to their little sub-sequence of the whole. In this way, it's sort of like life.
So, if you should desire to see one element in the sequence, then you must enter some text in the box below and press "Submit". It needs to be original text. (I did work to make the art, you can do some to look at it.) You are welcome to look at as much of the project as you like, but please keep in mind that it is a finite and nonrenewable resource. The more of it you look at, the less there will be for others to see in the future.
The image is a 600x600 pixel JPEG in 16-bit color. As it is generated dynamically, it may take some time to download to your browser, especially if you are on a slow connection. The image files are generally less than 100kb in size.
The base images from which the art is constructed have been generously provided by the following:
If you have thoughts about this piece, I'd love to hear them. Send mail to: seth.mcginnis@colorado.edu.
Thanks.
--Beemer / Seth McGinnis
