It is not yet officially summer, but it is distinctly starting to feel like it in my part of the world.  Thoughts of film, chemicals, and sunshine are rising in my blood, and visions of mutilating Polaroids occupy my thoughts.  When the summer sap begins to rise, that little packet of plastic calls to me like a siren.

"Polaroids"

I have just completed my second fx(params) project.  The journey from the first to the second was comprised by a single month, from April’s Fool to May Day.  A month full of learning, deep thought, and meaningful conversation within the community.  My first project was completed against a mental backdrop of a dazzling cockpit ablaze in knobs, dials, and switches. My second could not be more minimal.  What changed?

Params The Second

Not being a web developer but rather someone who has learned enough p5.js to get by, I will share here how I implemented my first fx(params) WYSIWYG project.   My hope is that my approach will be useful to others in a similar situation.  Use at your own risk, but please share any mistakes or improvements you find so that I can post a correction. The example used is my recent project, "Polaroids".

Params & WYSIWYG - How I Did It

“Polaroids” is my first fx(params) WYSIWYG project.  As such, it is an experiment on several levels.  It is not an inputs and sliders project, and this may confuse, frustrate, or delight depending on your view of params in general.  As the minter, there are only two ways for you to impact the output.  You can add a personalized label - it's a little summer keepsake after all -  and you can pick the output you want to mint.  Otherwise, the project is traditional long form genArt.  On each iteration, a unique output is generated using a random seed and a hash, and neither you nor I can anticipate, despite our knowledge of the design space, precisely what that output will be.  I have not invited you to become a co-CREATOR, I have given you the opportunity to co-CURATE  the collection.  I see this as an interesting direction to take.  Will you?

"Polaroids", Favs From the First Forty

With the project, “Polaroids”, I forged a new path for my genArt.  Using fx(params), in particular the ability to craft WYSIWYG outputs, the “Polaroids” collector may fully explore the design space in all its random quirkiness and yet select the output of their choosing to mint.  I set out to create a call and response, a dance, between me and the collector, but it didn’t take me long to realize that I had also opened a new opportunity for me to share my creative vision.  I could mint my own favorites to the collection.  Like a Director’s Cut, here then is the Creator’s Dozen, presented as a zine of sorts.

The Creator's Dozen

THIS WALLET IS UNDER MIGRATION.  Please see my alternate account, under the same name, for current creations and collections.


"Polaroids"

Example seed

Context

Params