TI

C.B. Reas

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Co-workers & Funding
REAS
http://www.vam.ac.uk/microsites/decode/exhibition/code
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Description
C.E.B. Reas lives and works in Los Angeles. His work focuses on defining processes and translating them into visualisations. Since 2001, he has developed Processing, an open-source programming environment, with Ben Fry. Both Reas and Fry have received multiple awards for their work with Processing. These include the 2008 Muriel Cooper Prize from the Design Management Institute, the 2005 Prix Ars Electronica Golden Nica award and the 2005 Interactive Design Prize from the Tokyo Type Directors Club. Reas is a Professor of Design Media Arts at the University of California, Los Angeles and has exhibited his work internationally.
Keywords
  • genres
    • digital graphics
  • subjects
    • Body and Psychology
      • movement
    • Technology and Innovation
      • software manipulations
  • technology
    • interfaces
      • body sensors
        • motion capture
    • software
      • Softimage
Technology & Material
Software
Processing (2001)

Processing was designed for the context of dynamic visual work. It has a carefully designed graphics library for the construction of 2D/3D visual form and color. Processing is written with Java and therefore draws more slowly than Flash and calculates slower than C++. Processing is free and open-source and is therefore extremely accessible. Processing was used as the primary language for the project because it is easily viewable over the Web and the code is fast to write and easy to read.


Flash MX (1996)

Flash is an environment originally developed for efficient Web animation and it has been improving its programming functionality since 1998. It draws much faster than Processing, but calculates much slower. Flash was built for creating 2D graphics and is able to render flat graphics and typography of an extremely high visual quality. Software with hundreds of elements all performing intense calculation (e.g. Software Structure #003) runs so poorly in Flash that the intent of the work is destroyed. A different structure with intense drawing and without excessive calculation would run excellently in Flash.


C++/OpenGL (1979/1992)

C has been an extremely popular language for computer scientists since its origin in 1970. C++ is an object-oriented version developed since 1979. OpenGL is a graphics library originally developed as IRIS GL by Silicon Graphics. Using an OpenGL accelerated graphics card in a computer (the kind used by video game enthusiasts) allows an outstanding resolution and speed in comparison to Processing and Flash. C++ programs using OpenGL are not able to run over the Internet. The speed of C++ gives the software structures a fidelity which far surpasses the structures in Processing and Flash.
Exhibitions & Events
Decode: Digital Design Sensations
DECODE
Bibliography
8 publications