Elizabeth's Peculiar PostScript
I originally started programming in PostScript for two reasons; first,
it was the most graphics-oriented language available to me, and second,
it allowed me to use the CPU in the printer, and the LaserWriter was the
fastest computer Apple made at the time. Also, the whole concept of a
printer
job that produced different results each time you printed it appealed to
me.
Lazy as ever, and more aware than most people of the risks of
PostScript,
I'm not willing to run jobs live when you load the web page. However, you
can download the programs and burn your CPU cycles and printer pages at
will. Unless otherwise noted, the programs are set for a high degree of
randomness (which means your chances of something boring or ugly are
significant,
but your chances of being bored by multiple similar runs are low), and
are set to fill whatever the printer thinks is a whole page with a single
design. Most of them are also capable of other modes, usually including
a postcard mode that does 2 4x6 postcards per page. On the other hand,
I have not cleaned them up from their normal state, so other human beings
may have extreme difficulty comprehending or modifying the code.
Circles
This program is horribly misnamed. I started it playing with circles, as
an attempt to cheer up a friend who complained she was covered in spots.
However, it now can pile up shapes other than circles, and usually does.
Like many of these programs, this is a proof of the power of symmetry,
repetition and eye-catching color in making randomness attractive. Circles
PostScript program
Gradtri
Another variation on the trick of using repetition and symmetry to turn
random curves into attractive designs.
Gradsquare PostScript program
Quilt Squares
This program isn't directly based on quilt squares, but it uses a
system much like one used to design most quilts. The patterns are
built out of blocks, which meet certain constraints (in this case,
the constraints are determined by programming and artistic criteria,
not stitchability, which results in many blocks that would be fanatically
difficult to sew). Each pattern uses a maximum of two different blocks,
and often the blocks differ only in coloring. The blocks are then laid
out in set patterns. There are hundreds of blocks used by the program, many
of them built from smaller parts.
The program here is set to its default mode, where each run produces
4 pages of postcards, using the same blocks for all 4 pages. Every run uses
the same 8 layouts in the same places, but the coloring and the kind
of alternation (does it use 2 blocks, or one block colored two ways) are
randomly chosen. Other modes that the program supports include modes
designed for building pattern cubes and printing magnets to play with;
the constraints on the blocks make them good design toys.
Quilt squares PostScript program
Vasarely
This program is inspired by the artist Vasarely, who was fond
of experimenting with contrasting colours and tilting shapes.
His paintings "Tlinko" and "Betelgeuse" are good examples of
the kind of thing that inspired these. The program is set to
produce a page with two postcards.
Vasarely PostScript program
