Event 1- Gerald De Jong DESMA9

         I had the privilege of attending Gerald De Jong’s showcase of his tensegrity art on April 7th. De Jong’s structures beautifully showcased week two’s theme of the relationship between art and math. De Jong’s background is not in art at all, but in computer science. He drew inspiration from others in this field like Kenneth Snelson [3]. His computational background is perhaps what enables him to make the complex systems that compose the framework of his art form [1]. 
     The essence of tensegrity structures is the tension of pulls and pushes within the system as a whole [5]. De Jong displayed how using a network of cables combined with floating struts and joints, he was able to construct large, standing structures that seem to defy the integrity of the materials. For his especially large structures, it is imperative for him to plan and design them virtually rather than by hand.
[4]

 With his background in computer science and software development, De Jong created a program, Elastic Interval Geometry, which allows him to render his models in a 3-D virtual space, with the real life forces of push and pull applied to his structures. This is how he is able to configure his large-scale art, like my personal favorite piece, the Headless Hug.
[2].
Using his app/website Pretenst, viewers can see how his tensegrity structures are generated within his software. I found De Jong’s work to be fascinating. I was surprised that I had not heard of his work before, as I thought his melding of computation and art was groundbreaking; and deserving of widespread praise. I also appreciate how topical it was to the material we covered in class.

Works Cited

[1] “Geralddejong - Repositories.” GitHub, github.com/geralddejong?tab=repositories. Accessed 23 Apr. 2022.

[2] “Headless Hug.” YouTube, uploaded by Gerald de Jong, 16 July 2021, www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tdtzilc1Uwk.

[3] “Kenneth Snelson.” Kenneth Snelson; Art and Ideas, Kenneth Snelson, kennethsnelson.net. Accessed 23 Apr. 2022.

[4] “Tensegrity Jelly.” YouTube, uploaded by Gerald de Jong, 29 Nov. 2015, www.youtube.com/watch?v=QO0mDWWGdvc.

[5] “Welcome!” Pretenst, Gerald de Jong, pretenst.com. Accessed 23 Apr. 2022.

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