Project #5 CLOCKWISE or ANTI-CLOCKWISE?

Reference

Description

For this assignment, I experimented with the Traditional Chinese Water Pattern. I took out the blue arcs/curves as visual elements and rearranged them in a circular layout. I played around the position and spacing between each shape and made them move or rotate at a certain pace to create an optical illusion. In the end, I adjusted the speed of their movements. I encountered this unexpected phenomenon which makes it hard to see or decide whether the shapes are rotating clockwise or counterclockwise.

Reflection

To me, this assignment feels completely different from the previous ones. Since I think in the previous assignments, I felt like I was complicating the process of sketching and design using code. I felt like I could make things, especially drawings, in other softwares, such as Illustrator and Photoshop, much more easily and efficiently. Maybe it was because I was not proficient in p5.js., I found the whole process of transfering an idea or sketch into p5 very tedious and frustrating. It was really hard to precisely make things into what I wanted them to be. However, the assignment gave me a completely different experience since it was really easy to generate patterns using "for loop". I could also adjust the pattern very quickly, thus, I have more room to experiment with layouts. This process seems to be much more efficient than drawing out the pattern in Illustrator and trying to adjuct there. As a result, I am happy to learn this method of drawing using codes. Moreover, I am also surprised that I created an optical illusion by "accident." In general, this assignment feels very satisfying and rewarding.