Gridcosm
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gridcosm is a collaborative art project of the online art collective SITO, in which artists from around the world contribute images to a compounding series of graphical squares. Each level of Gridcosm is made up of nine square images arranged into a 3-by-3 grid. The middle image is a one-third size version of the previous level. Artists add images around that center image until a new 3-by-3 grid is completed, then that level itself shrinks and becomes the "seed" for the next level. This process creates an ever expanding tunnel of images, the newest level a direct result of the previous level which is a result of the previous level... and so on.
To date, over 270 artists have contributed more than 2600 levels (21000+ images) to the project.
Contents |
[edit] Gridcosm origins
The Gridcosm was started March 30, 1997 by founder of SITO, Ed Stastny. The project built upon the ideas and experiences with previous SITO collaborative projects ("Synergy" projects), many of which were grid-based.
There have been many changes to the infrastructure of the Gridcosm since its 1997 inception.
- Process of generating new level changed from manual to automatic after the first few levels
- Software rewrite and move to database: mid-2000
- After 8 years, the background color of the Gridcosm page is changed from black to white: July 2005
- The ability for users to add "tags" to current and past levels: April 2006
[edit] Gridcosm Activity report
The details of the Gridcosm are captured with every piece added to the level and information about the work and the participants can be viewed using the Gridcosm Activity Report. A report can be viewed on the Gridcosm as a whole, with such information as the number of levels, the overall number of artists and much more.
There are also Individual artist reports which break down the contributions any given artist into categories such as number of pieces, average time between pieces, position popularity and much more.
[edit] Significant Gridcosm firsts
- First use of coordinate as graphic element: User AUS[1], Level 1 [2]
- First use of old reservation box as graphic element: LEN[3], Level 10 [4]
- First use of old red reserved square as graphic element: KYT[5] Level 24 [6]
- First use of grid location (Gridmap) as embedded graphic element: OED[7] Level 49 [8]
- First appearance of Netscape broken image icon as graphic element: KYT Level 65 [9]
- First grid hog or hijack: SNY[10] Level 66 [11]
- First visual reference to the Brady Bunch: MRD[12] Level 131[13]
- Current Forum Debut: 2000-01-12 03:12:17[14]
[edit] "Fly-through" animation
Since early in the project, there was discussion of creating an animation of the levels of Gridcosm growing or shrinking, one after another. Eventually, Lenara Verle produced a high quality animation of the first 1000 levels of Gridcosm, which was scored with a soundtrack made by SITO artists. In 2005, this animation won an International Media Award [15]. A DVD of this animation will be released soon. [16]
