{"id":696,"date":"2025-01-22T15:25:08","date_gmt":"2025-01-22T15:25:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swannymouton.com\/shop\/?page_id=696"},"modified":"2025-01-23T09:38:20","modified_gmt":"2025-01-23T09:38:20","slug":"about","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/swannymouton.com\/shop\/about\/","title":{"rendered":"About the artwork"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns alignwide is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-af0f7b69 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\" style=\"margin-bottom:80px\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:80%\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-3a88641f wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-right:50px;flex-basis:50%\">\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Hi. I&#8217;m Swanny Mouton, I&#8217;m a designer and art director, and for the past couple years I have been exploring generative art and pen plotting, thus creating cards and posters like the ones that are presented here in this shop. So let me tell you more about the process.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-right:0px;padding-left:50px;flex-basis:50%\">\n<p class=\"has-secondary-color has-text-color has-link-color has-medium-font-size wp-elements-c4998548cfc2448c013591d2d64e6431 wp-block-paragraph\">Je suis Swanny Mouton, designer et directeur artistique, et depuis quelques ann\u00e9es j&#8217;explore l&#8217;art g\u00e9n\u00e9ratif et l&#8217;utilisation de traceuses. Je cr\u00e9e des cartes et des posters comme ceux pr\u00e9sent\u00e9s sur cette boutique. Voici quelques infos sur mon processus de cr\u00e9ation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-3a88641f wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:75%\">\n<figure style=\"margin-top:30px;margin-bottom:30px\" class=\"wp-block-video\"><video height=\"1080\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1920 \/ 1080;\" width=\"1920\" controls poster=\"https:\/\/swannymouton.com\/shop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/03_IMG_5146.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/swannymouton.com\/shop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/teaser_1.mp4\"><\/video><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-3a88641f wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-right:50px;flex-basis:50%\">\n<p class=\"has-large-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Creating the visuals<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Every visual creation begins with an original idea. By drawing initial sketches by hand, my goal is to figure out the recipe, the building instructions, step by step, that I need to establish so that this drawing can be executed. I then translate all these instructions in a programming language, thus writing an algorithm in charge to draw a specific kind of drawing. This is like writing a handbook for someone else to follow (like Sol LeWitt).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">However I don&#8217;t want that program to do the exact same drawing every time. Using code permits access to complex calculations and decisions from the computer. At specific moments in the program, I will ask for a random value to be chosen, in order to determine a distance rather than another, an angle, a color, the presence of a square, rather than another, something rather than nothing at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">From the same code, and the same defining structure, hundreds, thousands of random decisions will generate, at each run of the program, a different version of this original idea, creating every time an absolutely unique output in its series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">I do not use any form of AI for this. Just plain code. Ideas and writing are all product of my own creation. Each algorithm demands hours, days, sometimes weeks of writing, tests, and iterations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Once generated by the program, the image exists, and I can see it in a digital format. Some of my creations also exist as an animation, and every image can be seen as one of its frames. I can see all these images and either establish I still need to iterate on the code, or curate the results to keep only the ones I find the most interesting and diverse.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-left:50px;flex-basis:50%\">\n<p class=\"has-secondary-color has-text-color has-link-color has-large-font-size wp-elements-35a9d53705aee15eeab4c7fb07c7d5dd wp-block-paragraph\">La cr\u00e9ation des visuels<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-secondary-color has-text-color has-link-color has-medium-font-size wp-elements-92b4839dc58652d8597a1d7838c0b835 wp-block-paragraph\">La cr\u00e9ation du visuel en lui-m\u00eame commence par une id\u00e9e originale. En r\u00e9alisant des premiers croquis \u00e0 la main, mon but est d\u2019\u00e9tablir quelle est la recette, quelles sont les instructions, \u00e9tape par \u00e9tape, que je dois \u00e9tablir pour que ce dessin puisse \u00eatre r\u00e9alis\u00e9. Je traduis ensuite ces instructions dans un language de programmation, cr\u00e9ant ainsi un algorithme charg\u00e9 de r\u00e9aliser un visuel sp\u00e9cifique.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-secondary-color has-text-color has-link-color has-medium-font-size wp-elements-3d9ad01674693569917f01d2dbb63a67 wp-block-paragraph\">Cependant, je ne veux pas que ce programme ne fasse que redessiner le m\u00eame dessin \u00e0 chaque fois, alors qu\u2019utiliser du code permet l\u2019acc\u00e8s \u00e0 des calculs complexes. \u00c0 certains endroits pr\u00e9cis dans le programme, je demande qu\u2019une valeur al\u00e9atoire soit choisie, dans le but de d\u00e9terminer une distance plut\u00f4t qu\u2019une autre, un angle, la pr\u00e9sence d\u2019un carr\u00e9 plutot qu\u2019une autre forme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-secondary-color has-text-color has-link-color has-medium-font-size wp-elements-be1031f60863e6d7bf1b45c120eae24f wp-block-paragraph\">\u00c0 partir du m\u00eame code, d\u2019une m\u00eame structure de d\u00e9part, ces centaines, ces milliers de d\u00e9cisions al\u00e9atoires vont engendrer \u00e0 chaque lancement du programme une version diff\u00e9rente de cette id\u00e9e, cr\u00e9ant ainsi \u00e0 chaque fois un visuel absolument unique dans sa s\u00e9rie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-secondary-color has-text-color has-link-color has-medium-font-size wp-elements-93877a914d62ad97acd262eda0bc2228 wp-block-paragraph\">Je n\u2019utilise pas d\u2019IA pour tout cela. Les id\u00e9es, l\u2019\u00e9criture et les calculs sont tous \u00e9tablis par mes soins. Chaque programme aura demand\u00e9 des heures, voire des jours, des semaines d\u2019\u00e9criture, de tests et d\u2019it\u00e9rations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-secondary-color has-text-color has-link-color has-medium-font-size wp-elements-08bcc349cd47b58e54bc8b5cb15ebfb6 wp-block-paragraph\">Une fois g\u00e9n\u00e9r\u00e9s par le programme, l&#8217;image existe en format num\u00e9rique. Certaines de mes cr\u00e9ations sont \u00e0 la base des animations, et chaque visuel peut \u00eatre vue comme une des images la composant. Je peux ensuite voir tous ces r\u00e9sultats, et d\u00e9terminer si je dois faire des it\u00e9rations sur mon code, ou si les visuels g\u00e9n\u00e9r\u00e9s sont satisfaisants, auquel cas je proc\u00e8de \u00e0 un tri pour ne conserver que les r\u00e9sultats les plus int\u00e9ressants et vari\u00e9s.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-3a88641f wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:75%\">\n<figure style=\"margin-top:30px;margin-bottom:30px\" class=\"wp-block-video\"><video height=\"1080\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1920 \/ 1080;\" width=\"1920\" controls poster=\"https:\/\/swannymouton.com\/shop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/IMG_0575_edited-scaled.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/swannymouton.com\/shop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/teaser_2.mp4\"><\/video><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-3a88641f wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-right:50px;flex-basis:50%\">\n<p class=\"has-large-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">From digital to physical<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Rather than sending these images to a printer, I choose to use a pen plotter. It can trace a drawing with a pen-like tool of one&#8217;s choice, on any flat surface. If some build their own pen plotter, mine is an AxiDraw, created by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.evilmadscientist.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Evil Mad Scientist<\/a> (now part of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bantamtools.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Bantam Tools<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">The main constraint by a pen plotter is that it will only understand vector drawings, composed only with lines and curves, without any fills of color nor gradients. I shall keep this constraint in mind during my creation and writing process, whenever I&#8217;m considering the use of the plotter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">In respect to the process, consisting on potentially creating an infinite number of versions of drawings in a series, I have no interest in replicating the same drawing. Every plot is absolutely unique. When you purchase one, no one else will ever have the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Though mechanical, and tethered to the computer, the end result is very much analog, tangible, and requires knowledge and many trials with pens, inks and papers and so on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Plotting can take anywhere from 10 minutes and several hours, depending on the size and complexity of the visual, and the chosen speed for the plotter to operate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">The first pen plotters go back to the 1960s, used by architects or urban planners for instance. The entire process I&#8217;m here describing is very similar to the pioneers of generative and procedural art, who go back to the same period.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-left:50px;flex-basis:50%\">\n<p class=\"has-secondary-color has-text-color has-link-color has-large-font-size wp-elements-74e861b0f4e0633029121f6b07b84f65 wp-block-paragraph\">Du num\u00e9rique au tangible<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-secondary-color has-text-color has-link-color has-medium-font-size wp-elements-6f7a34bada1b0b751e18da2f5bf7b82a wp-block-paragraph\">Plut\u00f4t que d\u2019envoyer les images \u00e0 un imprimeur, je choisis d\u2019utiliser une traceuse (pen plotter en anglais). Elle permet de tracer un dessin avec un outil de son choix, sur n\u2019importe quel support plat. Si certains construisent eux-m\u00eames leur traceuse, celle-ci vient du commerce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-secondary-color has-text-color has-link-color has-medium-font-size wp-elements-ef5cb1650bfba8b1c5e2cad64ea83d16 wp-block-paragraph\">La contrainte principale d\u2019une traceuse est qu\u2019elle ne comprend que des dessins vectoriels, constitu\u00e9s uniquement de lignes et de courbes, sans remplissage. Je garde donc cette contrainte en t\u00eate dans mon processus de cr\u00e9ation et d\u2019\u00e9criture, \u00e0 partir du moment o\u00f9 je veux que la finalit\u00e9 passe par son utilisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-secondary-color has-text-color has-link-color has-medium-font-size wp-elements-9eeebe6c59c63ed68cf2da1db97401da wp-block-paragraph\">Dans le respect du processus, consistant \u00e0 virtuellement cr\u00e9er une infinit\u00e9 de versions d&#8217;un dessin dans sa s\u00e9rie, je n&#8217;ai aucun int\u00e9r\u00eat \u00e0 retracer le m\u00eame dessin deux fois. Chaque pi\u00e8ce est unique. Lorsque vous en achetez une, vous avez la garantie que personne d&#8217;autre n&#8217;aura la m\u00eame.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-secondary-color has-text-color has-link-color has-medium-font-size wp-elements-d4c94543c250163b2b9823859e1571ea wp-block-paragraph\">Bien que m\u00e9canique, et li\u00e9e \u00e0 l\u2019ordinateur, son usage a une fin analogue, tangible, et n\u00e9cessite la connaissance et de nombreux essais d\u2019encres, de stylos, de papiers, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-secondary-color has-text-color has-link-color has-medium-font-size wp-elements-3c3d56c0daaf4a5c6f604d73e7dd77d8 wp-block-paragraph\">Le tra\u00e7age s\u2019ex\u00e9cute entre 10 minutes et plusieurs heures, suivant la taille et la complexit\u00e9 du visuel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-secondary-color has-text-color has-link-color has-medium-font-size wp-elements-aecd9247ed850a3fdc62d0b3ad6c5e34 wp-block-paragraph\">Les premi\u00e8res traceuses remontent aux ann\u00e9es 60, principalement utilis\u00e9es par les architectes et urbanistes. L\u2019ensemble de ce proc\u00e9d\u00e9 est tr\u00e8s similaire aux pionniers de cette pratique, qui remonte \u00e0 cette m\u00eame p\u00e9riode.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-3a88641f wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:75%\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin-top:30px;margin-bottom:30px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/swannymouton.com\/shop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/02_IMG_0217-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-708\" srcset=\"https:\/\/swannymouton.com\/shop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/02_IMG_0217-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/swannymouton.com\/shop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/02_IMG_0217-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/swannymouton.com\/shop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/02_IMG_0217-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/swannymouton.com\/shop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/02_IMG_0217-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/swannymouton.com\/shop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/02_IMG_0217-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/swannymouton.com\/shop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/02_IMG_0217-600x400.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin-top:30px;margin-bottom:30px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/swannymouton.com\/shop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/stand_arttoplay-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-717\" srcset=\"https:\/\/swannymouton.com\/shop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/stand_arttoplay-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/swannymouton.com\/shop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/stand_arttoplay-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/swannymouton.com\/shop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/stand_arttoplay-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/swannymouton.com\/shop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/stand_arttoplay-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/swannymouton.com\/shop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/stand_arttoplay-2048x1152.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/swannymouton.com\/shop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/stand_arttoplay-600x338.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hi. I&#8217;m Swanny Mouton, I&#8217;m a designer and art director, and for the past couple years I have been exploring generative art and pen plotting, thus creating cards and posters like the ones that are presented here in this shop. So let me tell you more about the process. Je suis Swanny Mouton, designer et [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-696","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swannymouton.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/696","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swannymouton.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swannymouton.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swannymouton.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swannymouton.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=696"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/swannymouton.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/696\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":724,"href":"https:\/\/swannymouton.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/696\/revisions\/724"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swannymouton.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=696"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}