Generative Art

Installation on floor 5 of the Milstein Center

Project Code:

Linked here

Artistic Vision:

This installation took place on February 13th. Due to its proximity to Valentine’s Day, I decided to lean into the theme of love. The display features a red heart which goes between being a full red heart and an outline of a red heart.

Below the heart is text which displays:

“TO RESIST IS TO LOVE WHAT COULD BE”

I chose this text to help share my friend’s project by the same title (toresististolove.com). This organization reimagines what it means to come together as a community with a shared mission of activism. As a very simple explanation, they sell t-shirts and donate to a variety of mutual aid funds; the shirts and funds correlate!

Considering this installation took place at Barnard’s Milstein Center, I thought it would be the perfect place to uplift a project based in love, so close to Valentine’s day. This project was started and run by Columbia/Barnard students and is mainly targeted to that audience.

However, I felt restricted by the size of the TTGO’s display. Unfortunately, the display is very small. As such, it can be difficult to communicate such a large message on such a small screen. I chose the heart imagery and the organization’s main title as a succinct way to communicate the emotions and intentions of the project.

Another drawback of this installation is the fact that it is short-lived. Due to the small size of the envelopes, only a battery of a certain size could fit inside. Additionally, the envelope could not be very heavy as it was hung from the ceiling by only a popsicle stick and string. In order to make a longer-lived installation, the engineer would have to consider alternative ways to display the device which may permit the TTGO to be attached to a larger battery.