Plot Party: Embracing Short-Term Challenges for Long-Term Learnings
Short-term challenges often serve as a powerful way for experimentation, learning, and creating new stuff in unexpected ways. This principle was vividly illustrated in our recent participation in this fun, artistic adventure known as Plot Party.
ok, first: what is Pen Plotting?
Pen plotting is a fascinating intersection of art and technology. It involves a machine that precisely moves a pen or similar instrument to create detailed and complex designs. At Odd Experiments, we've integrated a pen plotter for rapid prototyping, enabling us to bring complex digital designs into the tangible world. We used an off-the-shelf Cricut machine with custom pen adapters, but the most popular option is the AxiDraw or DIY options.
The Plot Party Experience: A Week of Thematic Artistic Challenges
Organized by @penplotart on Instagram, the Plot Party is a week-long challenge dedicated to a specific theme each day. Participants are tasked with creating art that resonates with these themes. Here’s a glimpse into our creative journey through each day’s challenge:
Day 1 | Black Paper: The theme evoked in us some memories of those old-school CAD software. We took an innovative approach by 3D scanning our colleague,
, using Luma AI with gaussian splatting. The resulting data was then imported into Blender to achieve this low-poly-deliciously-crunchy aesthetic, and the final artwork was plotted on elegant black cardstock using a Sakura white gel pen.Follow us on @odd.exp for more experiments!
Day 2 | Collaboration: For day two, we invited Isaque, a talented Brazilian architect, artist, and great friend known for his stunning portraits and abstract architectural designs. We tried our best to turn Isaque's work into code by developing a building block generator inspired by his designs. This allowed for the creation of endless personalized posters. We then plotted the base layer with water-based markers and applied water manually, resulting in a unique watercolor effect.
Day 3 | Musical: In this prompt, we engineered a tool that uses Spotify's audio analysis data and represents it through a simple visual. The tool searches for the song data, and each line in the plot represents a segment of the track, with bumps indicating musical keys. The bump's height depicts a key's frequency in a segment.
Day 4 | Text: our first FAIL — we skipped that day, unfortunately. Daily work got the best of us, and we were out of creative juice. Should we revisit it? What would you generate with text/letters?
Day 5 | Layers: Our exploration continued with creating a tool for layering. We experimented with color blending and CMYK halftone effects by plotting some images on transparent materials. Transparent materials brought a whole new challenge since ink from most pens doesn't stick to it while still letting light through so that we can have a nice color blending. This technique allowed us to play with how different angles and positions of the layers affect our perception of the interaction between colors. Later, we applied this to photographs by dithering each layer, getting this visually stunning piece.
Day 6 | Postcard Exchange: Our Plot Party journey culminated in a global art exchange. We transformed our week's artwork into personalized postcards, sending these unique pieces to friends and followers worldwide. This exchange wasn't just about sharing art; it was a testament to the universal language of creativity and the joy of connecting with others through artistic and, I dare say, mechanical expression.
Our Learnings and Outputs
This principle of embracing short-term challenges for long-term learning is deeply rooted in our hands-on philosophy at Odd Experiments. We believe the true test of creativity is not just in imagination but execution under varying circumstances. The Plot Party Challenge presented the perfect arena to test this belief.
As we navigated through this week-long artistic adventure, we discovered the depth of possibilities that pen plotting offers. We must experiment to learn how and when to break the rules. From the tactile experience of choosing the right paper to the rhythmic dance (and even frequent, the inexplicable Cricut software bumps) of the pen plotter, every aspect of this experience was a perfect example of the beauties — and the headaches — of combining technology with traditional art forms.
One thing that made us very excited about our Plot Party experience was the development of a series of playful and innovative generative tools. These tools were the heart of our creative process, controlled by various adjustable parameters that allow artists to craft unique and beautiful artworks.
By tweaking these personalized settings, artists can explore a vast landscape of artistic possibilities, each creation reflecting their individual style and vision. We plan to make this tool available to everyone soon and keep adding generative experiments to it.
Join Our Odd Creative Odyssey
Are you curious about how we develop these generative tools, or are you eager to delve deeper into the world of pen plotting and experimental projects? Follow us at Odd Experiments on Instagram, where we continuously explore the intersection of art, technology, and creativity.
Odd Experiments is a team of makers that believes in the power of thinking with our hands. We build playful prototypes and many other odd stuff, helping artists, companies, and creative ecosystems do the same.
 | A guest post by
|
 | A guest post by
|