This project was begun by undertaking a simplified automatic writing exercise where we chose text from a specific periodical. We then arranged our chosen fragments into an order that was intended to describe a world. The prose thus became a curated arrangement of phrases that generated imagery specific to each person’s intent.

For my triptych the left image extracts data from the prose based on syllable count, number of words per sentence, and the page number each phrase was found on. This data is superimposed into a digital 3-dimensional space and a line was then drawn through the points in the sequence they appear in the prose. I chose to make the sequence curve textured to reference the influence of surrealist thought on the generation of the prose itself. The fur being meant to imitate works such as Oppenheim’s Fur Lined Teacup. The nature of the seemingly arbitrary yet highly curated sequence became the theme of the triptych. I chose to echo this sentiment with the right image by presenting several films that notoriously deal with nonlinear storytelling. I see similarities in both this method of film making and the method used to generate the text.

[Automatic Writing Triptych]
ARCH 527 Design Tactics: Prof. Brian Ambroziak

[Porto Steps]
Digital photograph taken in the river district of Porto, Portugal. Selected for display in the UTK student art competition in Spring 2018.