VectMandala

Recently, Eric Souther (Philosophical Tools on Patreon) released his latest Touch Designer TOX network for video processing called "VectMandala" - here is a sample of something I generated using it: 

(turn up audio)

Psychedelic Shaders - Introduction

Another project I've been working on is the development of some GLSL shaders (in Touch Designer) with the help of Anthropic's Claude AI. (Use of an AI coding assistant is another whole subject best left for discussion over a bottle of beer...)

I got interested in seeing what sort of psychedelic procedural patterning could be created after coming across trippy artwork by @848elle on Tumblr (848ellie.tumblr.com). She's making use of an AI rendering engine (not sure which one) to create wonderful multi-faceted patterning. A few samples of her work appear below.

Before posting some processing tests on my own video footage, I wanted to show samples of what the underlying GLSL pattern generators can produce for use when compositing and mixing final FXs. (These samples are snapshots of what are evolving (animated) outputs from the GLSL components with specific pattern settings and colorizations applied. All of this is adjustable in my set of components.)

Here are a few examples of initial testing the psychedelic patterns on existing footage from my video library. Note that in both cases, only one level of patterning has been applied. (See later postings herein for greater pattern layering depths...)

Using Re:Struktr app: Prayer Wheels

This new app from Signal Culture allows very interesting wave-form driven flicker-based transitions between two channels of video. Very powerful. In these example, sine/triangle wave driven transitions, frame buffering, and  color tinting features have been utilized. (Turn on audio!)

A Wobbulator of My Own - Part 2

So once the Wobbulator unit itself has been constructed and successfully tested, that's only the first step in the larger journey... as discussed in the (previously posted) Wobbulator documentary by Blaire Neil, the device's coils need high power (at least 75 Watts per channel) audio to control the individual deflection coils (H,V, "S" coils). So that means the setup requires at least 3 separately controllable channels of audio power amplification (in my case, I made use of a pair of Sony home entertainment system receivers/amps found on EBay). And you need three sources of audio control. I decided to make use of a software emulation of a Eurorack setup, customized with three channels of oscillators and output gain controls. (The free PD software is "VCV Rack 2".)  These VCV synthesized signals are fed out of my computer via a set of USB audio interfaces (Behringer U-Control units), to the audio power amps, and thence to the Wobbulator coils inputs. Of course, you also need a camera to rescan the Wobbulator's screen. (I found an old Hi8 camcorder on Ebay that does the trick. But there are a lot of video recording possibilities - the only limitation being the ability to manually focus and zoom!)

Below are a couple of examples from my Wobbulator at work in my studio. I have tuned the "H" coil frequency to create accentuated scaliness, and the "S" coil frequency to create the raster wobble.

Haiku Variations: Self Portrait As Thai Buddha

Haiku 120 Self Portrait As Thai Buddha #1 (00:15)

Haiku 121 Self Portrait As Thai Buddha #2 (00:15)

Haiku 122 Self Portrait As Thai Buddha #3 (00:15)

Haiku 123 Self Portrait As Thai Medicine Buddha (00:15)

Sample Haikus from Buddhaverse Variations ©2020-21

[Please turn on audio to hear chant/soundtrack] 

--- WATCH FULL SET OF HAIKUS AT HOME --- 

https://vimeo.com/showcase/7916179 

Select thumbnails to view on Vimeo Showcase page, or click thumbnail title (ex: v001) to watch & enable autoplay.

Bon Self Portrait Variations

Haiku 116 - Bon Self Portrait #1 (00:13)

Haiku 117 -  Bon Self Portrait #2 (00:13)

Haiku 118 - Bon Self Portrait #3 (00:13)

Haiku 119 Bon Self Portrait #4 (00:13)

Sample Haikus from Buddhaverse Variations ©2020-21

[Please turn on audio to hear chant/soundtrack] 

--- WATCH FULL SET OF HAIKUS AT HOME --- 

https://vimeo.com/showcase/7916179 

Select thumbnails to view on Vimeo Showcase page, or click thumbnail title (ex: v001) to watch & enable autoplay.

Haiku 90 - Merkaba Yantra with Meditating Buddha

Haiku 90 - Merkaba Yantra Meditating Buddha (00:14)

Sample Haikus from Buddhaverse Variations ©2020-21

[Please turn on audio to hear chant] 

--- WATCH FULL SET OF HAIKUS AT HOME --- 

https://vimeo.com/showcase/7916179 

Select thumbnails to view on Vimeo Showcase page, or click thumbnail title (ex: v001) to watch & enable autoplay.

Haiku 77 - Prayer Wheel with Energy Emerging & Meditating Buddha Faces (3 panel)

Haiku 77 - Prayer Wheel with Energy Emerging & Meditating Buddha Faces (3 panel)   (00:18)

Sample Haikus from Buddhaverse Variations ©2020-21

[Please turn on audio to hear chant] 

--- WATCH FULL SET OF HAIKUS AT HOME --- 

https://vimeo.com/showcase/7916179 

Select thumbnails to view on Vimeo Showcase page, or click thumbnail title (ex: v001) to watch & enable autoplay.

Haikus 82 & 84 - Prayer Wheel with Emerging Energy Field

Haiku 82 - Prayer Wheel with Energy Field & Emerging Rutt-Etra Buddha (00:20)

Haiku 84 - Prayer Wheel with Energy Field & Emerging Flying Dakini (00:17)

Sample Haikus from Buddhaverse Variations ©2020-21

[Please turn on audio to hear soundtrack] 

--- WATCH FULL SET OF HAIKUS AT HOME --- 

https://vimeo.com/showcase/7916179 

Select thumbnails to view on Vimeo Showcase page, or click thumbnail title (ex: v001) to watch & enable autoplay.

Meditating Medicine Buddha in Golden Frame - 4 Haiku variations

 

Haiku 46 - Meditating Medicine Buddha in golden frame #5   (00:10)

Haiku 45 - Meditating Medicine Buddha in golden frame #4  (00:10)

Haiku 44 - Meditating Medicine Buddha in golden frame #3  (00:10)

Haiku 42 - Meditating Medicine Buddha in golden frame #1  (00:10)

Sample Haikus from Buddhaverse Variations ©2020-21

[Please turn on audio to hear 'OM' mantra] 

--- WATCH FULL SET OF HAIKUS AT HOME --- 

https://vimeo.com/showcase/7916179 

Select thumbnails to view on Vimeo Showcase page, or click thumbnail title (ex: v001) to watch & enable autoplay.

Haiku 41 - Growing Lotus Emerging Buddha

 

Haiku 41 - Growing Lotus Emerging Buddha    (00:18)

Sample Haikus from Buddhaverse Variations ©2020-21

[Please turn on audio to hear didgeridoo soundtrack] 

--- WATCH FULL SET OF HAIKUS AT HOME --- 

https://vimeo.com/showcase/7916179 

Select thumbnails to view on Vimeo Showcase page, or click thumbnail title (ex: v001) to watch & enable autoplay.

Haiku 28 - Witnessing Buddha in Energy Matrix

 

Haiku 028 - Witnessing Buddha in Energy Matrix  (00:22)

Sample Haikus from Buddhaverse Variations ©2020-21 

[Please turn on audio to hear chant soundtrack] 

--- WATCH FULL SET OF HAIKUS AT HOME --- 

https://vimeo.com/showcase/7916179 

Select thumbnails to view on Vimeo Showcase page, or click thumbnail title (ex: v001) to watch & enable autoplay.

Buddhaverse Variations - Meditating Buddhas

 

Haiku 011 - Multi Buddha Crystal Field (00:22)

Haiku 013 - Meditating Buddha Face in Matrix (00:22)

Haiku 018 - Multi Meditating Buddhas in Matrix  (00:22)

Haiku 019 - Multi Meditating Buddhas with Water Ripples (00:22)

Sample Haikus from Buddhaverse Variations ©2020-21 

[Please turn on audio to hear chant soundtrack] 

--- WATCH FULL SET OF HAIKUS AT HOME --- 

https://vimeo.com/showcase/7916179 

Select thumbnails to view on Vimeo Showcase page, or click thumbnail title (ex: v001) to watch & enable autoplay.

Haiku 06 - Buddha Expanding OM Rings in Matrix

Buddha Expanding OM Rings in Matrix (00:22)

Sample video (Haiku #006) from Buddhaverse Variations ©2020-21 

[Please turn on audio to hear chant soundtrack] 

--- WATCH FULL SET OF HAIKUS AT HOME --- 

https://vimeo.com/showcase/7916179 

Select thumbnails to view on Vimeo Showcase page, or click thumbnail title (ex: v001) to watch & enable autoplay.

Haiku 08 - Buddha Psychedelic Flower of Life

Buddha psychedelic flower of life (00:22) 

Sample video (Haiku #008) from Buddhaverse Variations ©2020-21 

[Please turn on audio to hear chant soundtrack] 

--- WATCH FULL SET OF HAIKUS AT HOME --- 

https://vimeo.com/showcase/7916179 

Select thumbnails to view on Vimeo Showcase page, or click thumbnail title (ex: v001) to watch & enable autoplay.

Upstream Gallery 'NEW BEGINNINGS' 2022

My newest series of short video haikus (Buddhaverse Variations ©2020-21) is on view at the Upstream Gallery this month: 

Annual National Juried Small Works Exhibition

‘NEW BEGINNINGS’ 2022

January 6 thru January 30th, 2022

Location: 

8 Main Street, Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, 10706 

www.upstreamgallery.com 

Gallery Hours: 

Thursdays & Fridays: 12:30 - 5:30 pm

Saturdays: 10 am to 5:30 pm

Sundays: 12:30 - 5:30 pm

Self Portrait as Thai Medicine Buddha (00:15)

Use QR code to watch my newest set of short video animations entitled Buddhaverse Variations in my Vimeo Showcase.

https://vimeo.com/showcase/7916179

Online access to the complete set of 125 video haikus. Select thumbnails to view on Vimeo Showcase page, or click thumbnail title (ex: v001) to watch & enable autoplay.

Buddhaverse Variations: Medicine Buddha

I created a number of "static" versions of the Medicine Buddha in the past. I especially liked the use of the golden frame with imprints of herbal remedies used on the square formatted Medicine Buddha portrait. I decided that this could serve as the framework for some video haikus in my Buddhaverse Variations series. 

The square Medicine Buddha is shown surrounded by Dakinis and other protective beings. In front lie a number of offerings, some typical (such as the 'good luck' balls and medicine urn), others more esoteric  and shamanistic (skull, mushroom, merkaba) included with a nod toward Tantric practice and its Bon roots. The offering items shown here have been used as visual elements throughout the new haikus.

Medicine Buddha With Offerings

haiku 42

haiku 123

Buddaverse Variations: In The Beginning

As I began to work on my new set of Tibetan inspired digital glitch animations ('haikus'), it seemed like a natural starting point to harken back to some of the Forest Guardian anims from last year as a starting point. Below are a couple of early Buddhaverse Variations haikus paired with examples of the Forest Guardian anim(s) that they derived from.

haiku 2

haiku 6

Forest Gods 11

haiku 18

Forest Gods 12

What Comes Next?

After showing samples of my first batch of digital glitch animations at the Upstream Gallery last fall, I was asked what was next? Since I had just completed jungle animals, nature spirits, and forest guardians (so called 'gods' and 'goddesses') as subject matter, why not try something with Tibetan Buddhist imagery which so much of my art work has been based upon? I thought that made sense, but just couldn't get my head around exactly how to approach this... 

It was months into the pandemic playing with various IOS apps before I hit upon with a visual approach of image glitching of the source material that actually excited me. I thought it embodied the sense of energy auras that is illustrated in Tibetan art, esp. protective / wrathful entities.

Charnel ground skeletons

Playing around further with other apps, I hit upon this preset that provided blue auric flames and variable glitching. This was exactly what I had been looking for! Here are a couple of examples:

Buddha

Tara

Ultimately, this got my creative juices unblocked and I decided to build up a library of glitch-processed 'components' (figures, objects, backgrounds drawn from my previous static Thangka and Mandala work) which could then be composited together in a Photoshop timeline along with audio tracks (chants and other meditative sounds) to form the basis of a new series of short digital animations.

After working on the first 20 or so animation 'haikus,' I decided to name the series "Buddhaverse Variations" as it became apparent that one visual idea was naturally leading to another variant, sort of like a digital sketchbook. Currently I have 125 haikus (short animations) which collectively run to about 49 minutes of program time (including short interstitial titles for each haiku). I plan to exhibit these using a wide-format digital frame (capable of playing 1080p format resolution videos) as I did previously at the Upstream Gallery last year.

More Glitch Tests

I wanted to play around with a larger, more complex image to apply the various glitch processing upon. I chose a Jewel Tree image as the base with the following results:

This is the original unmodified image: