That Was The Week That Was – 16th March 2025

I've been continuing to explore more ideas using the Axidraw plotter, looking at various algorithms for generating possible prints. One of the places I got to was using Craig Reynolds's Boids flocking algorithm to generate a pattern which I then turned into a print called Flocks, Herds and Schools after Reynold's original paper title.

I tried a few different variations. One used very large type using the Roslindale typeface, which I printed out on my laser printer and then plotted over via the software I had written in Processing. I really did like this but to be honest I couldn't make out the line enough and figured it might be good to have some avoidance in the system, so instead I took the same lettering, did a different composition and had the flock avoid the type. The entire thing was then plotted out on the Axidraw. This is the one I finally went with, making them available through Produced for Use.

Incidentally, to drive the plotter directly from Processing I'm using a RESTful interface via the excellent cncserver – a Node.js server that can be used to control a plotter from a web interface or via an API, which is how I use it.

I'm always wanting to craft the Produced For Use brand, including what extra items I can put in with each purchase. Having bought a pile of various bits of paper ephemera – much of which I will use at some point – there were included data entry punch cards from the giant mainframe computer days. I took these and now they act as a kind of compliment slip, where I can write a note on the back and also paperclip stickers to the front. It speaks to the idea of reusing found things, especially these often discarded items from our early digital past, notwithstanding the beautiful minimalist design of the cards themselves.

Alongside the piles of paper flotsam and jetsam I also bought How it works... The Computer - a Ladybird book I remember from my past. I may use it for a future idea somehow, but at the very least it's a reminder of just how far computing has come in such a short space of time.

Charlotte Kent wrote a great piece for the Brooklyn Rail on AI in Art and all it's problems and opportunities, citing mine and others work in the recent Christie's auction.