Wesley Bull – Portfolio

Major, Graduation Year

Wesley Bull is a sophomore majoring in interdisciplinary sculpture at Maryland Institute College of Arts. His skills range from traditional mediums like drawing, printmaking, wood, and metal to digital fabrication. His concentration focuses on a theoretical explanation of the evolution of the universe; by relating the topic of time and space through the context of art as a material (time) and a technique (space). 



Writing

Reading Responses

Week one “Cybernetics” response

Week two “Game” response

Week three reading response

Week four reading response

Week eleven discussion response

Week twelve reading response

Week thirteen reading response

Week fourteen reading response


Exhibition Response Essay

In this essay, I responded to the exhibition “Designs for Different Futures”. I commented and critiqued a specific component from the show. I explored the reasoning behind this element of the show from design, curatorial, and artistic perspective.


Final Research Paper


Skill Building

A series of technical exercises build and demonstrate skills in writing algorithms with Grasshopper and related tools.


Project I: Plotter drawings

For our first project, we were assigned to build an equation in grasshopper and manipulate it four times. Then taking those four manipulations and create drawings by using the plotter. A plotter is a machine that uses a marker to draw out files that contain 2-D lines/ vectors. In my project, I create 5 drawings that evolved into complex designs by using the array tools in grasshopper.



Project II: Data mapping


For our second project, we were assigned to use data about a specific subject and turn it into an art piece with the skills we acquired in grasshopper. By taking the information and placing it into an excel sheet we were able to plug it into grasshopper so we could translate the information into a physical form. For my project, I studied the R, G, B, (red, green, blue) values in pixels from an image. By using the plugins from Aviary I extracted the R, G, B values in the pixels and transformed them into frequencies of sound. The tones of the sounds fluctuate with the amount of R, G, B that consist in each pixel. I then projected the series of pixels that coordinate with the audio over a piece of paper that has been print on with the image I was referencing in a grid format. The projector uses R, G, B light to create color and the printer uses C, M, Y, K (cyan, magenta, yellow) ink to create color; creating a conversation between the physical and digital realm.

Project III: Gcode Drawings

In our final project were assigned to use components that we created through either python script or a collection of native grasshopper components that were built to function together to create geometry. Then we were able to process our 2d geometry into a slicer component that created Gcode. The Gcode would then be sent to a 3d printer that has a pen attached to its tip, it would draw out the image based on our code on a 5×7 in a piece of paper. My drawing is based on interweaving and overlapping lines that were created in grasshopper by rearranging list components, a series of weave components, and duplicating the lines by using a sweeping command.

More Information

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