Tune In

This is an art piece exploring the concept of Effective Complexity, an idea that proposes that the relevant variable in defining complexity is non-random information. At some point, a sufficiently complex system becomes so complex that it effectively becomes random noise and can be reduced to a single element. Some examples of this would be modelling atoms of oxygen, or modelling TV static.

I was inspired by this idea to create an art piece which explores where the line is between procedurally-generted artistic "signal" and purely random "noise". The piece starts on a TV displaying static. The user can use the scrollwheel to turn dials on the TV set, then press a button to collapse the static into certain images, arranging the agents into a number of lines. When does this stop becoming noise and start becoming art? I hope it raises interesting questions.

This was created using p5.js for CS 383 at the University of Waterloo.