The image you see above is of an XBox 360 game controller. It’s not a bull-alien or a skull or a cyborg. In fact it’s purely digital. All of us see something different when looking at the gamepad from this angle.
Art isn’t always “planned out” to the finest detail. Sometimes, with just an idea and Apple’s Photobooth for a MacBook, happy accidents can lead to something interesting and beautiful. Sometimes the method of creation is the driving force, and the output is discovery. Using simple camera technology as my method I’ve been able to create unique images out of objects I interface with on a daily basis.
The image above is of crumpled tinfoil. Below, I’ve taken that image and sketched and painted over it, interpreting the mess as the face of some devilish beast. I think you can still see some of the tinfoil in the brow.
If you look at both images, you can see the resemblance quickly. If you only looked at the tin foil image, you may have seen a completely different beast waiting to be born. That’s part of the magic of visual reference: our point of view, our influences, allow us to perceive things differently, especially in images. That’s one of the reasons you may be more attracted to Mona Lisa’s smile and I to her eyes or the background.
These images were first created using Photobooth for the Apple Mac using the mirror filter. Initially we had used the filter to create cycloptic faces or sexually suggestive body parts (you’d be amazed at what the crevasse between your thumb and fore-finger looks like when mirrored) but soon we started using objects for more variety. It wasn’t until I heard of others using the technique for quick idea generation that I decided to get a bit creative myself. In fact I named the article “Turning Game Controllers into Art” for both the reason that I was creating artwork and that I was turning the controllers around in front of the camera.
I began by grabbing all of the game controllers I had sitting around. Wii, XBox, PS3… everything was fair game. I wanted to find interesting forms in all of them. Some attempts were terrific, some boring. The forms that worked began to look like alien heads or body armor.
The XBox controller images have a sort of biomorphic quality to them. They are much more organic than the others, often appearing to mimic animals or skeletons.
The PS3’s black Dualshock 3 controller lends to a decidedly robotic, almost evil alien appearance. The shapes remind me of the Borg, and even include some aggressive-looking spaceships.
The white Wii controller images look like dry bone structures, possibly due to all the visible screw holes. The cords give the appearance of breathing tubes.
It is interesting to see some of the faces that are appearing in the images, and how extremely varied they are getting. With minimal work, I was creating some monsters and aliens, space ships and body armor. The entire process took a few short minutes; I’m sure that if I spent enough time getting just the right angle then I’d have even more possibilities. Overall I had created nearly 50 images.
The next step will be to take a few of these images and begin sketching and painting over them. The XBox may become a face or an entire body (or nothing at all). The Wii may glow or shoot lasers. Or, overlaying a few of the images together may create even more exciting variations. I’d like to also try a few more controllers from past systems, and even the consoles themselves.
Until then, though, the gallery below will show some of the more promising of the images that were created, and may perhaps allow you to see some faces as well.
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