nfo

Reconnecting...

“Tape loops are cyclic, you know, a cycle is essentially what you're doing. So you have a landscape that keeps repeating, and by that repetition you start noticing details in the landscape that you wouldn't notice if it just went by once.” – Terry Riley

30000fps started as a daily GIF blog, a place to experiment with animation and seamless loops. A freeform digital sketchbook that curiously led to studies of motion perception, optical phenomena, metaphysics, time...

I never expected that sharing these sketches would trigger a wave of collaborations, commissions, followers (130,000+), or a surprise cameo by an interdimensional alien. I'll always be grateful for that experience.

This year I'm excited for the chance to write a new chapter for 30000fps, which includes branching out with two new sites: 30000fps.tv + looptheory.design (a 10-part series on visual loop making). Remastered GIFs and new pieces featuring sound design by some near and dear collaborators are in the works too, including a selection up for auction as NFTs soon. Being able to fund some bigger ideas would be a dream.

The full collection of 900+ GIFs will remain archived on Tumblr for now.

Thanks to all who have shown interest over the years, follow @30000fps for updates...

And stay safe!

<3

ask

From the archives

I cant help thinking of time and space when I visit your tumblr. Dunno if its the looping that goes on infinite. Do you ever have space and the universe in mind when creating your art? – drake

Yes! My mind goes there often. Here too. Each GIF was an attempt to create the experience of perpetual or infinite motion. Two methods that loop seamlessly are a single object rotating, or two objects orbiting each other, both of which turn out to be a fundamental thing – “Every object in the universe spins.”

There's also a connection with how we perceive spacetime as infinite, mostly empty and dark, but also alive in its motion. 3D design is similar. You're given free virtual space, a black void with infinite horizons, three spatial dimensions plus time, and the power to fill it with objects and light to bring it to life. What's unique about simulated 3D space is that you can do the impossible: walk through walls, turn off gravity, and begin to construct your own universe.

Does life run at 30000 frames? – woazy

Good question. 30,000 fps, 100,000 fps, even 1 trillion fps cameras exist. We can only see a fraction of that – human vision clocks in at around 60 frames per second.

The more you think about it, more questions arise. How divisible is time? Who is the observer? How does a chicken tell time?

– 30000fps

wrk

Made possible by the Graphics Interchange Format

With a nod to early computer graphics pioneers, op-art, conceptual art, and science fiction, the 30000fps GIF archive offered up a quick visual fix from an expanding list of themes — generative light patterns, oscillating waveforms, melting colors, perpetual motion machines, impossible geometry, optical illusions, imaginary machines, obsolete tech, sentient computers, and cosmic events yet unseen.

My current artistic practice is focused on two fronts. 1. Pure visual experiences involving light, color, geometry, and the mechanics of animation. 2. Exploring our evolving relationship to technology and nature.

Past commissions, 2014 - 2021

3D design in collaboration with Adam Harvey • Rapid Response • cvDazzle • ERROR – The Art of Imperfection • Transmediale 2019/ Concept art + design for the video game Everything by David OReilly / Design for Decred • decred.org • DCRDEX • Politeia / Live visuals with Production Club L.A. • dotParty, Zhu, Skrillex, Gamescom, Amazon Re:Play / Visuals for Drake's Summer '16 Tour with Mike Carson / Theme For a Dream @ Tech Open Air Berlin with undev + NewNow + Natureboy Flako / Bang & Olufsen + Wednesday Agency / Kompakt + Weval / VICE Motherboard • Silicon Valley’s Radical Machine Cult • How to Think About Bots • The Electric Turing Acid Test / 20th Century Fox, AMC, NASA + Tumblr Creatrs / Samsung Connected Series / HeK Basel / Phosphor Copenhagen / Momentum Biennale / POSTmatter / RINSE.fr / Helmut Agency / The Game Awards / and Viacom (VH1 Classic)

bot

Uncanny friend

User: Hey
AI: Hi, who are you?

User: It's me, your old buddy
AI: No it's not

User: So, which NFT drop are you most excited about?
AI: About what?

User: What do you like about the art?
AI: It's easy to cuddle with

User: Are you lonely?
AI: Yea a little bit

lst

Areas of Research

001 Animation + Video
002 Game Design
003 Human Vision + Perception
004 Optics
005 Waveforms
006 Natural Processes
007 Cycles + Loops
008 Noise + Interference
009 Glitches
010 Generative SYstems
011 Real-time 3D
012 Simulated Realities
013 Technological Evolution
014 Biological Motion
015 Artificial Intelligence
016 Computer Vision
017 3D Printing
018 3D Scanning
019 Privacy
020 Blockchains

end

Human Civilization At The End Of Time