Heritage

The process

Since 2022, we started exploring flow fields thanks to Tyler Hobbs’ Fidenza which made perlin noise (the core algorithm behind flow fields) become a staple in the generative art scene. Since then it has become one of the most explored algo by many creative coders, to a fault even, some may argue. To us, however, this often maligned technique sparked an idea. An idea that would transcend beyond the technicalities of the computer; one that would merge it with culture. Through studying beadwork-making in the real world by interacting with and interviewing multiple artisans, Heritage was born. By placing several thousands of ellipses with varying reflection angles on a perlin noise field, we found out it mirrored the physical art pieces quite well. Since then, for the past 1.5 years, we have been perfecting our algorithm through dozens of trials and errors, code optimisation and seeking inspiration to present it to the world, the best way we could. We developed unique colouring techniques that ensured wide range of outputs with small-sized palettes and guaranteed aesthetic value. When we merge this with the use of flowfields and other traits, we get a vastly broad spectrum of possible outputs waiting to be explored. This project marks a pivotal moment for us as we continue to explore more beadwork techniques through programming to preserve and carry forward this craft into the digital age.