Balancing the expected and the surprising in geometric patterns: an investigation inspired by Bridget Riley's early Op art

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• Neil Dodgson - University of Cambridge
• Wednesday 25 February 2009, 14:15-15:15
• Lecture Theatre 1, Computer Laboratory.

If you have a question about this talk, please contact Mateja Jamnik.

I investigate the trade-off between the expected and the surprising in certain geometric patterns. This work is inspired by Bridget Riley’s early Op art pieces, “White Discs 2 (1964)” and “Fragment 6/9” (1965). I analyse these two works and investigate a range of variants on them. This leads to hypotheses about the perceptual effects in patterns like these. I first consider adding different types of “randomness” to a regular pattern, and the effect this has on the generated artwork. I then look at the balance of the piece: for best aesthetic effect, there is evidence that the choices made cannot be truly random. Finally, the key hypothesis that arises from the investigations is that there is an aesthetically interesting range where between a quarter and a half of a regular pattern is adjusted in some way. I report on a perceptual experiment that tests and supports this hypothesis.

This talk is part of the Wednesday Seminars - Department of Computer Science and Technology series.

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