Many, many years ago, I came across gorgeous animated GIFs and the website they were inspired by: Canvas Cycle: True 8-bit Color Cycling with HTML5. (Sound warning: may be loud!)
For years, I wondered how this internet magic was done, but viewing the source of the HTML provided no solution. I couldn’t make heads or tails of the code. Was it done only with HTML5, or was there some form of complicated JavaScript sprinkled in to confound curious searchers like myself? I resigned myself to just wondering and never learning.
A few days ago, on a whim, I looked it up again… and found that the creators had released the source code. It still reads like black magic, but I’m willing to sell my soul to learn how it works.
If you want to go deeper, you can read about the art process by Mark J. Ferrari, who’s still enjoying a fruitful career to this day.
If you want this little piece of digital wonder to live on your own device, you can purchase the Living Worlds app. Or you can read up on its history and envy the people who got to enjoy the original 90s version. (I would have adored something like this on our old family Gateway.)
I’d write and share more right now, but it’s crunch time in grad school land. Two crucial assignments require my dedication for the next few days: an art research presentation made up of many pieces, and an art exhibit critique where I will attempt to be academically professional and not lose my mind.
I invite you to enjoy the Living Worlds. I might need a few of them myself.