Animation

Spiral 5 PTL (Perhaps The Last) 1979

Dan Sandin, Tom DeFanti and Mimi Shevitz - Live recording of performance before a small studio audience

Spiral 5 is in the inaugural collection of Video Art at MOMA [Museum of Modern Art] in New York. It was the fifth in a series of performances of a piece called Spiral. Most of the Spirals were performed live in front of audiences by people controlling digital computers and playing on the analog image processor (IP), with musicians jamming along. The GRASS digital system combined with the IP formed the digital visual instrument used in the performance. Spiral 5 was performed in front of a studio audience and the music was re-recorded later. It is an abstract, mathematical animation based on the linear spiral, in something you might call the visual music tradition.

A Volume of 2D Julia Sets 1990

Computer Animation and Programming: Dan Sandin
Original Music and Audio Effects by : Laurie Spiegel
Algorithms & Ray-Tracer: John Hart
Mathematical Research: Louis Kauffman
Visual Leadership: Tom DeFanti

“A Volume of Julia Sets” is a ray traced abstract mathematical animation of fractal forms created by iterating the equation Z = Z^2 + K in the complex plane. The “Volume” is created by stacking up the 2D Julia sets while smoothly varying K. This animation is part of a series of art works and research publications based on the collaboration of the Electronic Visualization Lab (EVL) with Prof. Louis Kauffman from the Department of Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science at UIC and Prof. Daniel Sandin from the School of Art and Design at UIC. The ray tracing method was developed by John Hart as part of his Computer Science Master's thesis at UIC. The rest of the fun is lighting, timing, camera control and music composed by pioneering electronic musician Laurie Spiegel.

A Study of 4D Julia Sets: Iterations of Z = Z2 +K in the Quaternions 2005

Animation: Dan Sandin
Algorithms: John Hart, Yumei Dang
Programming: Dan Sandin, Shalini Venkataraman
Mathematical leadership: Louis Kauffman
Music Composition and Performance: Stephan Vankov
Visionary Leadership: Tom DeFanti
Produced at the Electronic Visualization Laboratory, UIC, and Calit2, UCSD