[HN Gopher] Generative art using C++ printer commands and a rece...
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       Generative art using C++ printer commands and a receipt printer
        
       Author : DanBC
       Score  : 134 points
       Date   : 2022-05-18 17:30 UTC (2 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (twitter.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (twitter.com)
        
       | pengaru wrote:
       | For when you weren't satisfied only wasting electricity with your
       | graphics hacks...
        
       | TheDesolate0 wrote:
        
       | Tao332 wrote:
       | He'd better stop that thing, it's almost as big as a CVS receipt.
        
       | b3morales wrote:
       | Looks nice, but is there more to this than the one shaky video of
       | the printer?
        
       | ericbarrett wrote:
       | I'd recommend gloves to anybody who's going to handle thermal
       | paper receipts more than casually:
       | https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/health/turning-heat-therma...
        
         | curiousgal wrote:
         | OP seems to have used phenol-free paper.
         | 
         | https://twitter.com/flockaroo/status/1527603279907127296
        
       | [deleted]
        
       | DeathArrow wrote:
       | Generative something. Not sure about the art part.
       | 
       | Art is beautiful, timeless and has something to say.
        
         | creativenolo wrote:
         | Duchamp's Urinal pops to mind. It had something to say, at
         | least about your point of view.
        
           | DeathArrow wrote:
           | That tells a lot about your mind.
        
             | seabird wrote:
             | I think art like Urinal is dumb, but I wouldn't say it's
             | not art. Trying to define "real art" is a fools' errand.
             | It's "I know it when I see it" that doesn't achieve
             | anything. There's plenty of art that isn't beautiful or
             | timeless that pretty much nobody other than a contrarian
             | would claim isn't art. Having nothing to say is saying
             | something. The only thing that even comes close to defining
             | art is somebody presenting the artwork as such, and you can
             | probably find plenty of counterexamples to that. Avoiding
             | saying that some piece of art lacks value/impact by
             | claiming it's not art is a lazy way people try to avoid
             | others pointing out that their assessment of that art's
             | value/impact may be wrong, and that their gripes with the
             | work are pretty much purely subjective.
        
             | uoaei wrote:
             | That comment says volumes about yours.
        
         | hnlmorg wrote:
         | I'd argue all 3 criteria have been met (though, to be clear, I
         | also don't agree with your definition either):
         | 
         | - beauty is in the eye of the beholder
         | 
         | - this has been enshrined both in paper and digitally on the
         | internet. That's far more resilient than most peoples personal
         | backups.
         | 
         | - and it's generated discourse. From you in fact.
        
         | junon wrote:
         | ... according to your own subjective tastes...
        
         | beanders wrote:
         | Hmm, I'm pretty sure the most general definition of art is
         | exactly the opposite: subjective, immediate, and representing a
         | private communication between the artist and their
         | context/environment.
         | 
         | If anyone external to that communication gets some value from
         | it as well, that's a nice side benefit!
        
           | Agingcoder wrote:
           | I don't know about the immediate part. Some works of art I
           | saw didn't trigger anything, until I realized the next day
           | that I kept thinking about them (films or contemporary art
           | usually). It also seems like these specific works tend to
           | have had a more profound effect on me than the immediate
           | ones.
           | 
           | In the end, they maybe triggered some kind of immediate
           | subconscious reaction, but the actual communication was
           | delayed.
           | 
           | Still, I like your definition very much.
        
         | JKCalhoun wrote:
         | Fine art, commercial art, pop art ... the concept of art can
         | take on many guises.
         | 
         | I suppose the history of art has been nothing if not people
         | asking what can be called art -- your comment contributes to
         | that ongoing dialog.
         | 
         | To you I would suggest maybe there is "hard" art and "soft" art
         | (the latter allowing for architecture, design, etc.).
         | 
         | This one is on the softer side.
        
         | mdh wrote:
         | IMO, art may have those characteristics - good art will often
         | obviously have >1 of those.
         | 
         | Art in its most basic form is anything that engages you beyond
         | a strictly functional level.
        
         | scyclow wrote:
         | That's a needlessly rigid, and depressingly simple definition.
         | Art is just the thing that people refer to when they use the
         | word "art".
        
         | can16358p wrote:
         | For me it is beautiful.
         | 
         | For you it might not be. That's why art is subjective.
        
       | sva_ wrote:
       | Reminds me of Jackson Pollock.
        
       | bowsamic wrote:
       | This is gonna get a hell of a lot of pushback from the HN crowd
        
       | astroalex wrote:
       | I'm a huge fan of this. There's something magical about receipt
       | printers. I love the idea that there is a long, infinite canvas
       | which can flow from the printer. And part of the allure is the
       | clunky slowness of the printer and the rough analog quality of
       | the print. That rendering of the mountains works very well for
       | the medium!
       | 
       | Sorry for the self promo, this is just too relevant not to share:
       | I created a generative art piece using receipt printers in which
       | the printers "print themselves to death" over a tub of water.
       | Video here: https://vimeo.com/336939272
        
         | thih9 wrote:
         | > Video is not rated. Log in to watch.
         | 
         | I don't have a vimeo account; is there a mirror on a site that
         | doesn't require an account?
        
           | astroalex wrote:
           | Strange. I'm able to view the video in an incognito window.
        
           | bombcar wrote:
           | Maybe it's my adblockers but I was able to see it directly.
           | 
           | Nice idea, reminds me of the aliens from Half Life somehow.
        
         | jerpint wrote:
         | "existence is pain!" That printer, probably
        
         | dementik wrote:
         | > the clunky slowness of the printer
         | 
         | I understand what you mean, but e.g. Toshiba TCx thermal
         | receipt printer (6145-1TN) prints 406mm/sec (125 lps at 8lpi).
         | I think that is very very fast.
        
           | astroalex wrote:
           | Wow, good point! I suppose the thermal printers that I've
           | hacked around with are probably very dated in comparison.
        
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