This is the closest thing I have to a hobby. I started experimenting with design apps on iOS in 2010, and for years, it was how I would unwind before bed at night. I would start with an image, sometimes a photo, sometimes a design made on the device, and then process that image repeatedly until it morphed into something else.
Some would grow in interesting ways, while others didn’t have the right mix of characteristics to produce anything distinct. Watching the evolution was a kind of surprise machine meditation, and revealed something to me about possibility and probability in general. It felt educational.
Many of the apps I used were wonderfully unique. Most were discovered on the iOS mobile platform, though some did port a version to desktop. Unfortunately, over time, many have disappeared. Apparently, for small developers, keeping up with Apple’s relentless system upgrades and code requirements often proves to be unsustainable, and some apps are eventually abandoned. Our loss.
The above video is an opportunity to turn the language part of your brain off and feed it a stream of new raw material. Consider it an experiential crash course in relationship, pattern, and change.
