Don Relyea – artist

I’ve just found this site a sort of online portfolio of work by Don Relyea. http://www.donrelyea.com/

Some of Relyea’s art projects focus on the use of a few basic geometric shapes. The combination of these shapes and the vibrant colours produces some interesting pieces. I really like them and think it is striking enough to make the viewer want to dismantle all the geometric components and examine them as individual parts.

The still image above is a view of what you would see once you have generated the design as the user (click the image to have a go). Relyea uses Shockwave applets to present his work. It is usually in the form of an interactive project and requires the user to take an initial action. For examle when the user clicks on the red blank box the design quickly starts printing itself from the top left corner all the way around the box in a clockwise spiralling motion until the whole box is covered with the pattern.

Relyea has variations of these pieces – some even allowing you to choose the combination of colours and the randomness of the generation of pattern. See the Space Filling Curve Art Generator

The technical background to his work is explained on his site. Here is an excerpt from the Artist Information page:

Relyea’s tools are script editing windows and compilers. Relyea’s schooling in traditional printmaking (under Lawrence Scholder) left him with a strong consideration for the process of image creation. Relyea loosely defines new digital processes by creating works manually first, he then transforms the processes into programming routines with parameters. The parameters can be dynamic data from the network, mathematical algorithms or number generators. The routines are repeated with parameter variations to generate designs of similar aesthetic quality.

I think I might try contacting him and ask him a few questions about his work and how much of it he considers to be influenced by the world of geometry. hmm wonder if he’ll reply – will keep you posted.