Rose Code

I have always been drawn to rose windows for reasons unexplored. Fascinated by the structural mastery and craftsmanship of these detailed objects, I look upward, enthralled by the sheer magnitude of their presence. In recent travels abroad, I have found myself tracing the patterns found in these physical objects, contemplating how these formal influences may be brought into the digital realm. I’ve continued to ask myself, “how can that be coded?”

I am a tourist of my personal faith, a weekend window shopper for salvation. Faith has always been a personal struggle of mine due to the strict religious upbringing I experienced at a young age. Throughout time, I have continually questioned the basis of foundational Christianity and theology as a whole. The peaks and valleys of my frequent personal convictions have brought me to a place of truly not knowing ‘what’ I believe.

Rose Code centers on the idea of creating highly detailed and visualized forms with code only. By utilizing HTML5 (left wall) and CSS3 (right wall) code as the medium, numbers and letters are utilized to create visual forms, the result is the rose window shown in the center.

The rose window, a focal point, is symbolic of my current religious outlooks. There are times when the light is full, and others when dim. Just as there are patterns within the design of the window, there are similar patterns I am drawn to in coding as a process. Within this systemic practice lies a detailed set of rules, many that are objective in determining logic through formulas that hinge upon experimentation and expectation. Through this process, patterns define the work by a means divisible by seven (the number in Christianity to indicate perfection). Rose Code is based on this numerical system as a means to divide, classify and program specific, structural visual elements into frameworks of code. These organized, coded relationships define and categorize classes in the same manner as a church divides social classes within its congregation to perform certain tasks. Reflecting deeper, the nature of Rose Code emulates my personal belief cycle in building, pausing and dissolving. This number also references the Holy Trinity as well as birth, life and death.

Religion, after all, is just an organized system, isn’t it?

Scope

HTML5 / CSS3
Digital Installation

Group Exhibition

10th Biennial MSU Denver Art Department Exhibition
Center for Visual Art, Denver, CO