[SISEA 1990] Poster: John Sherman — Digital Romance

Abstract

Many of my images are visual ideas that I have written down in the PostScript Page Description Language. I find it exciting that these images can only be created by writing a PostScript program. Creating an image in this way is a romantic endeavor for me, much as a composer finds writing a musical score a romantic endeavor. I use image-making about music as a direction because I find an analogy in music notation in the work I do. Music notation is a rich language that gives the composer the means to document and write a musical idea heard in the mind. Digital Craft is one of my languages. The greater the depth of understanding and experience in any language, the greater the vision of what is possible. These different languages allow different realities to exist.

I will present images in black and white as well as in color that can only be achieved with the aid of computers and high resolution printers. I feel the images have a magic about them that goes beyond their being only a technical achievement. In creating these images, I have learned that numbers and logic can create emotionally satisfying images. I have discovered algebra is capable of both documenting organic form or a pattern. Seeing the threads of all disciplines more intertwined than once imagined is a new way of thinking for me – I may get inspiration for a design from an equation as well as a painting, poem, or song.