Processing

Sophie Taeuber-Arp's Untitled (Composition with Squares, Circle, Rectangles, Triangles) is a piece of cloth woven with a large red square in the center. Along the lines of the red square are other colorful shapes such as a black square on the top left, smaller squares and a rectangle on the top right, a large light blue circle on the bottom right, and three different colored triangles on the bottom left. This piece of art was chosen to be in the MOMA exhibition because Sophie and her companion, Hans Arp, extended the boundaries of art by weaving tapestries. They made mostly decorative pieces such as painting pottery and weaving. Sophie and her companion would frame and hang their needlepoint works which resisted the traditional canvas painting and expanded the concept of art.

Here is a picture of the original composition:

I thought this composition was interesting. I liked how it had many colors with different shades. At first glance it looks simple, but with another look one can see that it is not a traditional piece of art. When closely examined, the grid-like lines of the cloth comes out. I think it would look a lot more cool if the whole thing was filled with various shapes with different colors. I think the positioning of the shapes make this piece fully open to an individual's interpretation. I don't think the aesthetic experience you have when looking at this piece is very intense since it is so simple, but this makes it more open-ended when trying to interpret.

Below is my attempt of mimicking Sophie Taeuber-Arp's work with Processing. I added an interactive aspect by randomizing all the colors with the click of the mouse. Check it out!




My code for the Processing.js file:


float w = 700;
float h = 750;

void setup() {
size(700,750);
smooth();
fill(0);
background(25, 20, 100);

fill(255, 0, 0);
stroke(255, 0, 0);
rect(w/2-100, h/2-100, 200, 200);


fill(100, 149, 255);
stroke(100, 149, 255);
ellipse(w/2+168, h/2+115, 135, 135);

fill(0);
stroke(0);
rect(w/2-177, h/2-176, 75, 75);

fill(255, 175, 15);
stroke(255, 175, 15);
rect(w/2+151, h/2-200, 50, 50);

fill(255, 255, 150);
stroke(255, 255, 150);
rect(w/2+101, h/2-151, 100, 50);

fill(255, 105, 0);
stroke(255, 105, 0);
rect(w/2+202, h/2-100, 50, 50);

fill(255, 255, 175);
stroke(255, 255, 175);
triangle(w/2-151, h/2+152, w/2-101, h/2+102, w/2-201, h/2+102);
fill(105, 105, 105);
stroke(105, 105, 105);
triangle(w/2-151, h/2+203, w/2-101, h/2+153, w/2-201, h/2+153);
fill(205, 140, 0);
stroke(205, 140, 0);
triangle(w/2-151, h/2+254, w/2-101, h/2+204, w/2-201, h/2+204);

}

void mousePressed(){
fill(random(255));
background(random(255));

fill(random(255), random(255), random(255));
stroke(random(255));
rect(w/2-100, h/2-100, 200, 200);


fill(random(255),random(255),random(255));
stroke(random(255));
ellipse(w/2+168, h/2+115, 135, 135);

fill(random(255));
stroke(random(255));
rect(w/2-177, h/2-176, 75, 75);

fill(random(255), random(255), random(255));
stroke(random(255));
rect(w/2+151, h/2-200, 50, 50);

fill(random(255), random(255), random(255));
stroke(255, 255, 150);
rect(w/2+101, h/2-151, 100, 50);

fill(random(255), random(255), random(255));
stroke(random(255));
rect(w/2+202, h/2-100, 50, 50);

fill(random(255), random(255), random(255));
stroke(random(255));
triangle(w/2-151, h/2+152, w/2-101, h/2+102, w/2-201, h/2+102);
fill(random(255), random(255), random(255));
stroke(random(255), random(255), random(255));
triangle(w/2-151, h/2+203, w/2-101, h/2+153, w/2-201, h/2+153);
fill(random(255), random(255), random(255));
stroke(random(255));
triangle(w/2-151, h/2+254, w/2-101, h/2+204, w/2-201, h/2+204);

}