AGAR
Agar is a generative art project inspired by abstract expressionism, pixel art, and the grid rules I studied as a graphic designer. Color, the essential element of pixel art, gives life to simple shapes and defines a composition. Playing against the rigidity of a pixel grid, Agar exuberantly uses 100 different color palettes—each one appearing exactly once in the 100 outputs.
100 outputs, 100 color palettes
The series embraces the aesthetics of pixel art while reimagining its formal constraints. Instead of using only squares, Agar introduces circles as another basic shape.
Only two shapes are used: squares and circles
Compositions start with layers of squares.
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Each layer’s squares can be any of the 8 sizes, and can have squares removed, revealing the layer below.
Circles are placed in the corners of each layer. As the layers are placed at increments of the grid, circles stay in their corners so that all shapes align no matter their size. Circles can change in size, color, and probability.
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The squares and circles are arranged on a regular grid, but they vary in size—within a fixed set of eight dramatically varying scales—to create dynamic compositions. Each size increment is double that of the previous one, so that elements always align on the grid.
The show translated the elements of Agar into three dimensions
The show opening for Agar was a big, inclusive celebration at Bright Moments New York. Collectors got to name their color palette by writing all over a giant wall of printed palettes, and then saw their piece revealed in front of hundreds of guests.
The space displayed test outputs in small and intimate ways that beckoned viewers closer, and large floor-to-ceiling fabric prints that drew people in from the outside and created temporary walls throughout the space.
A double-story tape installation wove around walls, ceiling, and a bar, forming a grid to represent the structure of Agar.
The title ‘Agar’ comes from a gelatinous substance, derived from seaweed, that is used to grow bacteria and other microorganisms in petri dishes. It relates to the idea of cellular life forms growing on the matrix of a pixel grid, and the diversity of shapes and colors that can be found in nature. Agar asks: what if squares and circles are the building blocks of digital life?
What forms might evolve to live on the screen?
Agar is a celebration of the beauty possible within constraints. Through color, it invites us to imagine new forms of life and art on the digital canvas.
100 palettes