TITLE: Starfish
MATERIALS: Pigmented inkjet print on canvas
DIMENSIONS: 30" x 20"
DATE: 2003

DESCRIPTION
Starfish 2 is the latest iteration of an eight year computer graphics project. The software is neither creative nor intelligent, and I have made no attempt to make Starfish draw or paint like a human being would. Instead, the system is based on structures familiar to a computer, carefully balanced to produce results that will please a human viewer.

STATEMENT
Natural processes create patterns human beings find beautiful: the curving parallels of an eroded sandstone canyon wall, the paired spirals in a sunflower's seeds, the rippled sand-drifts on a shallow streambed. In Starfish I have taken mechanisms familiar to nature - waves, tesselation, transparency, and others - and combined them with formulas natural to the computer to create an engine for artificial patternmaking. The images are rhythmic and sometimes beautiful; clearly artificial, but they can also resemble natural textures such as wood, stone, and water. I am fascinated by self-driven software systems and by the complex behaviours that arise from interactions of simple phenomena. I wrote all of the pieces Starfish uses to assemble its patterns, but its combinations can still surprise me.

BIO
Mars Saxman is a computer programmer with a lifelong interest in the graphic arts, particularly photography and illustration. His career has ranged from screen savers and streaming video to filesystems and programming tools; his current job involves a cross-platform Basic compiler. With more interests than time to pursue them, Mars frequently finds himself developing software tools to automate his creative work.

CONTACT
Mars Saxman
Seattle, WA