DATA DRIVEN ART CREATED BY REAL-TIME EARTHQUAKES

His nose just one foot from a screen magnified at 200%, AwfulEye redefines what it means to be a visual artist. Born with a rare genetic mutation leading to juvenile glaucoma, he has full blindness in one eye and 20/400 limited vision, which he playfully refers to as “awful”, in the other. The past year, he’s embraced creative coding to broaden his self taught artistic horizons which includes digital painting.

Despite being legally blind, AwfulEye transcends his physical limitations using technology to strengthen artistic expression. With the collaborative aid of AI, he’s devised an iterative process to craft the vibrant visions from his mind’s eye into the tangible world. His latest piece, “Fault Lines,” is a data-driven, dynamically responsive, generative artwork, translating the unpredictable rhythms of seismology into a dazzling, colorful spectacle.

While the buzz around AI in art has crescendoed this year, AwfulEye distinguishes himself by proving how such technology can be a transformative tool in more ways than one. Through his work, he demonstrates that when paired with the human spirit, technology can augment abilities, empowering those facing challenges, turning potential limitations into boundless possibilities.

—Matt Kane, Artist

Faultlines are interactive, You can use your mouse wheel to scroll back and recreate the artwork for different quakes. Depending on your piece, it will have data for a certain period of time (see above image) some piece will have data for a week, some a month, some only a single day! then there are the ones that i thought were the most important, the magnitude 4.5+! (Week & Month)

Each Faultline has 400 colors! The colors change on a scale of 0.1 in magnitude, ranging from 0.1 magnitude earthquakes all the way to 10.0 magnitude!

Each piece having 400 colors ensures that each piece is it’s own, but also apart of the broader collection!

As much as i would love to say I am, I’m not some great programmer! I use AI to assist me when coding Faultlines! I do have some background of basic coding back in the day from my geocities and myspace layout days.

Faultlines isn’t a tech project, Faultlines is a way for me to adapt to my situation. I am going blind, I have a very rare eye condition called Axenfield-Riger Syndrome that caused Glaucoma. Theres no surgery or anything, I’m going blind.

It’s not all that bad though, I’m an artist! I will continue to create art! That is the goal of Faultlines, It’s a way for me to continue creating artwork when my eye sight is gone completely. because i can already type blindfolded!

EXPLORE FAULTLINE #27