Deciphering Quarantine Samples
October 25, 2021

Quarantine is my second Art Blocks project and while it's intended to be light-hearted fun, it's also a reflection on the period of time we all faced during the initial outbreak of COVID-19. Governments and medical professionals around the world have worked tirelessly to try and keep people alive, identify the viral weaknesses, and develop vaccines so we may all return to a healthy life. All the while, an unprecedented amount of misinformation preaching anti-science conspiracies continues to spread like wildfire. It's been frustrating but I hope that this collection will inspire personal reflection & gratitude, while providing a touch of humour to aid in mental releif.

Quarantine Thumbnail
Quarantine Thumbnail
Quarantine Thumbnail
Quarantine Thumbnail
Quarantine Thumbnail
Quarantine Thumbnail
Quarantine Thumbnail
Quarantine Thumbnail

Breaking a Raymarch Algorithmn

While learning how to develop a fragment shader for the first time - aiming to draw 3D geometry using signed distance functions via a raymarching algorithm - my curiousity was piqued. What would happen if I reduced the number of rays? What happens if the raymarch always returns a cummulative value, even when missing geo? After testing many "what if" thoughts, I discovered a "broken" raymarch function and set of variables that would produce what I call an "unwrap" function for SDF geometry. Exploring the creative bounds of this function eventually lead me to this project. Below is an illustration of how the art is constructed and finally unwrapped.

To learn more about the techniques used in this project, I've written an interactive article which gives more information on the creative process of experimentation behind it: https://observablehq.com/@owenmoore/unwrapping-signed-distance-functions

Features Breakdown

While developing the artwork there were many obvious technical features that produced interesting visual results - scaling equations, tinting colors, polar reflections, adding noise, etc - but the real challenge was constraining them to a consistent range and mapping a subset to mint features such that they help tell the story. Each set of features describes both the visual attributes of the artwork and the categorization you, as the scientific observer in this story, would determine by studying the sample.

Quarantine Raymarch Step
Quarantine Raymarch Step
Quarantine Raymarch Step
Quarantine Raymarch Step
Quarantine Raymarch Step
Quarantine Raymarch Step
Quarantine Raymarch Step
Quarantine Raymarch Step

Hazard

What is the origin of the hazard causing the global quarantine?

The predominant shape and type of patterns generated.

Quarantine Hazard Nanotech
Nanotech
Quarantine Hazard Biological
Biological
Quarantine Hazard Chemical
Chemical
Quarantine Hazard Alien
Alien

Stage

What is the condition of the patient from which the sample was collected?

Which colored tone is applied on top of the randomized base colors.

Quarantine Stage Mortem
Mortem
Quarantine Stage Acute
Acute
Quarantine Stage Spreading
Spreading
Quarantine Stage Invasive
Invasive
Quarantine Stage Exposure
Exposure
Quarantine Stage Recovery
Recovery

Risk

How much risk of permanent health effects or death does this pose to humanity?

The amount of visual noise and subliminal reflections.

Quarantine Risk Low
Low
Quarantine Risk Medium
Medium
Quarantine Risk High
High

Variant

How many mutations / transformations have occured since first observance?

How many polar rotation reflections are used? (2 to 10)

Quarantine Variant Beta
Beta
Quarantine Variant Gamma
Gamma
Quarantine Variant Delta
Delta
Quarantine Variant Epsilon
Epsilon
Quarantine Variant Zeta
Zeta
Quarantine Variant Eta
Eta
Quarantine Variant Theta
Theta
Quarantine Variant Iota
Iota
Quarantine Variant Kappa
Kappa


Never miss a blog article by joining my newsletter!