“Not Even Love Will Tear Us Apart is a generative artwork composed by digital artist Lia. The film is composed of continuously evolving forms that, through rotation, movement and mirroring, suggest the symbol of love: the heart. As within relationships between lovers, permanent change happens in the details while the overall aesthetic remains the same.
Each pair of rotating shapes remain connected at a shared point, even as the forces implied by their movements threaten to tear them apart. New shapes overlay the old structures, adding ever-increasing depth to the resulting image, and building up a history that is in turn a base for fresh shapes.”- (extract from Sedition).
Lia is an Austrian digital artist and one of the early pioneers of software and net art. Her work also spans generative film, live visuals, installation and sound works. She is a founding member of the media-label Crónica, based in Portugal.
We spoke to Lia about her inspiration behind the work.
“With the selected shape I wanted to suggest the heart as the symbol of love. The idea was to show the possible ‘walking together through life’ of lovers who always stay connected, no matter what happens around them or with them.”
“The development of the work goes through many rounds of testing and evaluating. First I write some code, then I let it run and see if it looks and feels the way that I thought it would. If yes, I continue, if not, I have to tweak the code until it does what I want. For creating the right shapes I always need to draw them with a pencil on paper, this is the only way i can “feel” if it is the right shape..
..Then I make a photo of the paper and re-draw the shape in a vector graphics programme, then I use the coordinates of the shape inside the programme that I use to make the animation. At the moment the two programmes that I am using are Processing and openFrameworks.”
The 5 minute film is available to buy from an edition of 200 on the Sedition website, a platform for collecting digital artworks.
“I am very happy that I was asked by Sedition to put some of my works there! In the mid 1990′s the Internet was the first ‘place’ to show art aside the established art market, it offered the possibility to an artist to create something and let the people, the users, decide for themselves if it was good or not (instead of some curator or gallerist). Sedition works on two levels, on the curated level and on the level where people can choose what they like most. At the end I want that as many people as possible can enjoy my art, that has always been a driving force for me.”
‘Not Even Love Will Tear Us Apart’ is hypnotic, abstract and almost anatomical, like real pulsing hearts. The animation is a beautiful exploration into the possibility of communicating intangible concepts like love into code. With the new option of owning and experiencing the artwork in your own home, barriers melt away leaving only the true essence of the artwork.
“I truly believe that art does not need to be understood only with your brain. I actually think that art should not necessarily be understood, but experienced. It can touch you on several different levels and you might not be able to describe this to someone else. If art touches you, then it will be part of you in the future, it will shape who you are, even if you don’t know how and why.”
Not Even Love Will Tear Us Apart by Lia
Pick of the Week #96
“Not Even Love Will Tear Us Apart is a generative artwork composed by digital artist Lia. The film is composed of continuously evolving forms that, through rotation, movement and mirroring, suggest the symbol of love: the heart. As within relationships between lovers, permanent change happens in the details while the overall aesthetic remains the same.
Each pair of rotating shapes remain connected at a shared point, even as the forces implied by their movements threaten to tear them apart. New shapes overlay the old structures, adding ever-increasing depth to the resulting image, and building up a history that is in turn a base for fresh shapes.”- (extract from Sedition).
Lia is an Austrian digital artist and one of the early pioneers of software and net art. Her work also spans generative film, live visuals, installation and sound works. She is a founding member of the media-label Crónica, based in Portugal.
We spoke to Lia about her inspiration behind the work.
“With the selected shape I wanted to suggest the heart as the symbol of love. The idea was to show the possible ‘walking together through life’ of lovers who always stay connected, no matter what happens around them or with them.”
“The development of the work goes through many rounds of testing and evaluating. First I write some code, then I let it run and see if it looks and feels the way that I thought it would. If yes, I continue, if not, I have to tweak the code until it does what I want. For creating the right shapes I always need to draw them with a pencil on paper, this is the only way i can “feel” if it is the right shape..
..Then I make a photo of the paper and re-draw the shape in a vector graphics programme, then I use the coordinates of the shape inside the programme that I use to make the animation. At the moment the two programmes that I am using are Processing and openFrameworks.”
The 5 minute film is available to buy from an edition of 200 on the Sedition website, a platform for collecting digital artworks.
“I am very happy that I was asked by Sedition to put some of my works there! In the mid 1990′s the Internet was the first ‘place’ to show art aside the established art market, it offered the possibility to an artist to create something and let the people, the users, decide for themselves if it was good or not (instead of some curator or gallerist).
Sedition works on two levels, on the curated level and on the level where people can choose what they like most. At the end I want that as many people as possible can enjoy my art, that has always been a driving force for me.”
‘Not Even Love Will Tear Us Apart’ is hypnotic, abstract and almost anatomical, like real pulsing hearts. The animation is a beautiful exploration into the possibility of communicating intangible concepts like love into code. With the new option of owning and experiencing the artwork in your own home, barriers melt away leaving only the true essence of the artwork.
“I truly believe that art does not need to be understood only with your brain. I actually think that art should not necessarily be understood, but experienced. It can touch you on several different levels and you might not be able to describe this to someone else. If art touches you, then it will be part of you in the future, it will shape who you are, even if you don’t know how and why.”
https://vimeo.com/67591920
Lia’s website can be found here
Check it out on the Sedition website here