https://larswander.com/ Recent content on Lars Wander Hugo -- gohugo.io en-us Fri, 11 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000 https://larswander.com/writing/graphs-embeddings-and-llm-generated-jokes/ Fri, 11 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000 https://larswander.com/writing/graphs-embeddings-and-llm-generated-jokes/ I started Recurse Center last week as a part of the Spring 2 2025 batch and am having a blast so far. This was my first mini project of the batch. Ever since GPT-2 was announced, I’ve been curious whether or not LLMs can be funny. Somewhat surprisingly, the latest reasoning models are outclassing the majority of humans at mathematical problem solving, but at least anecdotally, they struggle with writing jokes and assessing humor. https://larswander.com/art/observation-and-interaction/ Wed, 13 Nov 2024 00:00:00 +0000 https://larswander.com/art/observation-and-interaction/ A study in the intersection between light, matter, and perception. Where is the line that separates observation from interaction? https://larswander.com/writing/spectral-ray-tracing/ Sat, 13 Apr 2024 00:00:00 +0000 https://larswander.com/writing/spectral-ray-tracing/ I’m sharing this to give some background on my recent artworks exploring light, color, and perception through spectral ray tracing. This ray tracer that I’ve written has shown up in a few of my series, and I wanted to explain what “spectral ray tracing” even is. I have shared some outputs at the end of this writeup. In computer art, the artist builds both a scene and a camera to capture it out of code. https://larswander.com/writing/archiving-generative-work/ Fri, 05 Apr 2024 00:00:00 +0000 https://larswander.com/writing/archiving-generative-work/ Recently I was given the opportunity to display some of my older works in a large, printed coffee-table book. The publishers were eager to see some of the drafts leading up to these pieces and even wanted to include prints of them as well. Unfortunately I had only rendered these at roughly 2,000px per side, which at the requested 400dpi would print at a measly 5 × 5 inches. Despite keeping my source code in version control, I had not been creating a commit (saving a snapshot of all the code) for each image I rendered. https://larswander.com/art/rhythm-and-the-machine/ Thu, 24 Aug 2023 00:00:00 +0000 https://larswander.com/art/rhythm-and-the-machine/ Exploring the threshold where repetition meets randomness, revealing the universe’s penchant for both design and disarray. https://larswander.com/art/full-spectrum/ Fri, 12 May 2023 00:00:00 +0000 https://larswander.com/art/full-spectrum/ Generative light and color. Physics re-imagined through the lense of the computer. https://larswander.com/art/7-factorial/ Wed, 12 Apr 2023 00:00:00 +0000 https://larswander.com/art/7-factorial/ All 5040 ways to sort 7 items. An exploration in enumerative art, or, what is randomness in generative artwork? https://larswander.com/writing/spectral-paint-curves/ Mon, 03 Apr 2023 00:00:00 +0000 https://larswander.com/writing/spectral-paint-curves/ Kubelka-Munk (KM) Theory models the color of a mixture of paints by using their spectral properties. As a computer artist, this is really interesting to me because it allows one to mix colors in a way that appears “natural”. For example, mixing blue and yellow paint produces green, but mixing blue and yellow RGB colors produces grey. However, applying KM requires knowing the absorption (K) and scattering (S) curves along the visible frequency spectrum for each paint involved. https://larswander.com/art/light-doesnt-bend-that-way/ Wed, 01 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +0000 https://larswander.com/art/light-doesnt-bend-that-way/ Using simulated light and physics to explore the surreal, in a way only possible with a computer. https://larswander.com/writing/centering-and-scaling/ Tue, 27 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://larswander.com/writing/centering-and-scaling/ The function I’m sharing here is probably my most used piece of code when it comes to making generative art. It shows up in practically every project I’ve worked on, and originated from my plotter practice. Most of the time, I use it to center and set margins for a piece after it’s generated during rendering (but there are many other scenarios where it’s useful as well that I’ll show below). https://larswander.com/art/perry-merry-and-lars/ Thu, 18 Aug 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://larswander.com/art/perry-merry-and-lars/ Debut Solo Show focusing on my plotted works from 2020-2022. Exhibited by Verse and curated by ARTXCODE. https://larswander.com/art/how-you-see-me/ Sat, 23 Jul 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://larswander.com/art/how-you-see-me/ Computer-generated, human-curated series of 19 generative gestural works. https://larswander.com/art/lines-walking/ Wed, 09 Feb 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://larswander.com/art/lines-walking/ First long-form plotter series. Each edition plotted and shipped once free. Released on Plottables. https://larswander.com/art/geode/ Fri, 14 Jan 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://larswander.com/art/geode/ Packing shapes edge-to-edge, and exploring the patterns they create. Released on fx(hash). https://larswander.com/art/unfolded/ Sun, 12 Dec 2021 00:00:00 +0000 https://larswander.com/art/unfolded/ Patterns made by folding, and then unfolding a sheet of paper. Released on fx(hash). https://larswander.com/art/gossamer/ Sun, 28 Nov 2021 00:00:00 +0000 https://larswander.com/art/gossamer/ First long-form generative series. Released on fx(hash). https://larswander.com/art/rubber-band-folds/ Wed, 24 Nov 2021 00:00:00 +0000 https://larswander.com/art/rubber-band-folds/ How many ways can you fold a rubber band with N bends? https://larswander.com/writing/watercolor-plots/ Fri, 12 Nov 2021 00:00:00 +0000 https://larswander.com/writing/watercolor-plots/ Pen plotter artwork has gained a lot of traction these past few years, with many, great, resources published on how to get started. Personally, having been fortunate to WFH during the pandemic, I found pen plotting to be a great distraction from the rest of 2020. In the process, I discovered Licia He’s work, and process writeup using watercolor with her plotter. Immediately inspired, and wanting to try this myself, I dove right in. https://larswander.com/writing/annotated-pen-plots/ Thu, 04 Mar 2021 00:00:00 +0000 https://larswander.com/writing/annotated-pen-plots/ I’ve posted pictures of my plotter-annotated pieces before, and have gotten some questions about what is being written to the back of each piece. I’ll use this post to describe what’s being annotated in a little more detail. Hopefully you can incorporate some of these tips into your own work! Organizing physical media After several months of pen plotting I’ve managed to accumulate quite a thick stack of plots: There's a few hundred plots here; maybe every 1 in 20 or so is actually worth sharing, but they're all a part of the process. https://larswander.com/writing/plotter-heatmaps/ Mon, 15 Feb 2021 00:00:00 +0000 https://larswander.com/writing/plotter-heatmaps/ Pen plots can fail for a variety of reasons: a pen can run out of ink, paper can be misaligned, the servo lifting the pen can break… but the most nailbiting is watching the plotter repeatedly cover the same spot in ink until the page tears! Circled in red you can see where the paper tore while plotting this pattern. Bits of ink-laden paper trail the pen's path leaving the tear; the result is an ugly plot! https://larswander.com/art/ribbons/ Tue, 01 Dec 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://larswander.com/art/ribbons/ Pen-plots of virtual “ribbons”. https://larswander.com/writing/guitar-voicings/ Sun, 10 May 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://larswander.com/writing/guitar-voicings/ As I was working my way through Melbay’s Complete Book of Harmony, Theory & Voicing, I realized that I had no way to verify solutions to the exercises the book prescribes. So I built a tool to help. Usage: $ ./gchrd --help usage: gchrd.py [-h] [--chord_name CHORD_NAME] [--chord_voicing CHORD_VOICING [CHORD_VOICING ...]] --root ROOT [--drop DROP] [--invert INVERT] Guitar voicing finder optional arguments: -h, --help show this help message and exit --chord_name CHORD_NAME Chord name (no root), e. https://larswander.com/writing/infinite-macaroni/ Sat, 12 Aug 2017 00:00:00 +0000 https://larswander.com/writing/infinite-macaroni/ Browsing /r/perfectloops I came across this fun animation: Not only is it fun to watch, but you quickly start to wonder what it looks like on the inside after a few loops. It’s constantly being distended, so whatever the walls of this infinite macaroni are made of keep getting thinner. Does the cross section change? If so, what’s the pattern? Let’s assume that when the animation starts, the macaroni ring we see is completely solid. https://larswander.com/about/ Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000 https://larswander.com/about/ I’m a programmer and computer artist. My practice focuses on the intersection between computation and perception. I write code to explore ideas that are best handled computers. You can find me on twitter, and sometimes instagram. Some of my work is hosted on lars.computer. Contact I’m represented by ARTXCODE. Please reach out to toni [at] artxcode.io for commissions, shows & bookings. I occasionally check lars.wander.art [at] gmail.com as well.