Web preview of Gestalt Synthesis, Software Art, D.W. '22. Download the video.

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Gestalt Synthesis

Desolate Plain of Figures and Portents

When I was reading The Castle of Crossed Destinies by Italo Calvino1, I had a very precise image of dark, windswept plains. The convening travellers would constitute an island of tranquility in this desolation.

I wanted to explore this contrast with my algorithmic video Gestalt Synthesis. It is conceived as a moving woodblock printing, set in a dark metallic landscape of procedural thorn bushes and castle ruins. A lone humanoid enacts theatrical contortions - in fact all possible permutations of human posture2.

The video adapts to any screen resolution with perfect fidelity. Futuristic blackletter captions of my own design reference the great Arcana3. This is Tarot in reverse, in that new cards are minted from stories instead of the other way round.

The work imagines life in terms of Gestalt4, as a tangled knot of foreboding and miraculous symbols that only make sense when woven into a story. It is also a celebration of the inner strength to make the arduous journey to the The Castle of Crossed Destinies.
An abstract, green humanoid, leaping in front of two giant, green seashells. A blackletter caption reads -A Stranger-.

Digital Video | D.W. '22

Still from Gestalt Synthesis #1

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An abstract, dark blue humanoid twisting with outstretched arms in mid-air. A sparse yellow and violet forest in the background. A blackletter caption reads -North Star-.

Digital Video | D.W. '22

Still from Gestalt Synthesis #2

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An abstract, purple humanoid in fighting stance in front of a jumble of brickwork. A blackletter caption reads -A Choice-.

Digital Video | D.W. '22

Still from Gestalt Synthesis #3

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An abstract, golden humanoid in a low sidestepping motion in front of two huge, green chalices. A blackletter caption reads -Tranquil Motion-.

Digital Video | D.W. '22

Still from Gestalt Synthesis #4

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Footnotes

  • 1↑ In this novel from 1969, mute travellers convene in the eponymous castle and a way station to share their life stories through the medium of tarot cards.
  • 2↑ The figure is an androgynous study I made after consulting Simblet's Anatomy for Artists. I originally intended the posture code as a tool to help with composition. I think the finished program can still do this.
  • 3↑ Compare the Tarot de Marseille, especially the Waite cards have inspired me in their austerity. I recommend all artists to grapple with Tarot, as the cards are carriers of unconscious, half-remembered stories and signs.
  • 4↑ Gestalt is a cognitive term roughly denoting how we make sense of what we see.