computers

Posts tagged
with computers

Craft Design

Reboot Your Nostalgia: Make Your Own Paper Models of Retro Computers and Games

Designer Rocky Bergen folds us back into the world of dialup and floppy disks with a delightfully retro collection of paper computers and gaming systems. His DIY models faithfully recreate classic technology like the first Apple II complete with Oregon Trail or the more obscure IMSAI 8080 system and multiple Commodore platforms. Print, score, cut, and reconnect with bygone tech using Bergen’s 20 free downloadable templates. (via Present & Correct)

 

Art

Thread Recreations of Famous Paintings Produced by Mathematical Algorithms

Moscow-based programmer Ani Abakumova uses algorithms to organize lengths of colored thread into the style of classic paintings. Although the mathematical formulas for the placement of each thread are created on her computer, Abakumova performs the labor of attaching each string in the correct order and pattern. She works exclusively on circular hoops, narrowing her focus on the subject of each painting such as the Mona Lisa or the Girl with a Pearl Earring. You can see more of Abakumova’s threaded recreations on Instagram. (via Design You Trust)

Art

A Programmable 8-Bit Computer Created Using Traditional Embroidery Techniques and Materials

The Embroidered Computer by Irene Posch and Ebru Kurbak doesn’t look like what you might expect when you think of a computer. Instead, the work looks like an elegantly embroidered textile, complete with glass and magnetic beads and a meandering pattern of copper wire. The materials have conductive properties which are arranged in specific patterns to create electronic functions. Gold pieces on top of the magnetic beads flip depending on the program, switching sides as different signals are channeled through the embroidered work.

Illustration

Meet Tatsuo Horiuchi, the 77-Year-Old Artist Who ‘Paints’ Japanese Landscapes With Excel

For over 15 years, Japanese artist Tatsuo Horiuchi has rendered the subtle details of mountains, cherry blossoms, and dense forests with the most unlikely tool: Microsoft Excel. The 77-year-old illustrator shunned the idea of paying for expensive painting supplies or even a basic drawing program for his computer, saying that he prefers Excel even over Microsoft Paint because it has “more functions and is easier to use.” Using simple vector drawing tools developed primarily for graphs and simple shapes, Horiuchi instead draws panoramic scenes of life in rural Japan.

Great Big Story recently visited Horiuchi at his home for a brief interview and a behind-the-scenes look at how he works in the video above. If you’re even slightly skeptical, here’s two of his earlier Excel artworks you can download and explore yourself:

— Cherry Blossoms at Jogo Castle (2006)
— Kegon Falls (2007)

You can explore more of Horiuchi’s Excel drawings on his website and at Spoon & Tamago.

Art

“2001: A Space Odyssey” Viewed Through Picasso’s Dreams

Photographer Bhautik Joshi has managed to make the film 2001: A Space Odyssey into something even more terrifying, turning the 1968 Sci-Fi hit into an animation fueled by Picasso. Joshi ran the film through Google’s neural network, Deep Dream, a program that finds and enhances patterns within images through algorithmic pareidolia. This process often leads to the hallucinogenic appearance of even simple images due to the extreme over-processing that occurs in the network.

Joshi took this program a couple of steps further by teaching the system to interpret the cult favorite as a series of Picasso paintings, making it lean more expressionist than trippy. If you like Joshi’s edit of the film, check out more of his work with DeepDream (including an interpretation of Blade Runner) on his Vimeo. (via Sploid)

Craft Design

New Winged Insects Constructed from Video Game and Computer Components

Before old circuit boards find their way to the landfill, Portsmouth, UK-based artist Julie Alice Chappell gives them new life as winged insects. Tearing the boards from old computers and video game systems she cuts and sculpts them into crawly creatures that resemble butterflies, dragonflies and even cockroaches. The upcycled bugs are further adorned with other electrical components that form various appendages. Each piece is one-of-a-kind and she sells them through her Etsy shop.