We talked on Monday about code as creativity, as a way for us to render complex and abstract information in numerical form, and as a way for us to imagine new ways of interacting with data and with one another. Computers are just math — but they’re powerful and poetic math. Today’s uses basic math, geometry, and code to produce art.
We’re using a tool called TurtleStitch that allows you to use code to design embroidery patterns. This process of code embroidery allows us to think about the role of computers and code as translators between the abstract and the tangible, the digital and the material.
- Visit www.turtlestitch.org and click the Run button at the top of the screen. (Optional: create an account if you want to save your work.)
- Get familiar with the interface.
- On the left, you have your list of possible commands. These are broken down by type. The most useful types for our purposes are:
- Motion commands, which let you move the turtle and therefore create shapes;
- Embroidery commands, which let you choose the stitch type and therefore how the shape will be created with thread;
- and Control commands, which allow you to automate aspects of the process.
- The middle pane is where you enter your commands. You can drag and drop items from the left pane into the middle and move them around as needed. You can also customize the commands (for instance, specifying a number of steps or repeat loops).
- The right pane shows you your resulting embroidery.
- On the left, you have your list of possible commands. These are broken down by type. The most useful types for our purposes are:
- Try making a star.
- Add these three commands so that your visualization starts fresh every time, on command:
- “when [green flag] clicked”
- “go to x: 0 y: 0”
- “reset”
- Now try out some of the motion commands and see if you can figure out what combination you’d need to make a star.
- Add these three commands so that your visualization starts fresh every time, on command:
- Discuss — what steps did you take to solve this problem in an unfamiliar platform and unfamiliar language? What sorts of stars did you make?
- Tinker with your embroidery design further — maybe add some elements that personalize it to your aesthetic.
- Export your final design as a PNG, and upload it to the website as a blog post.
