TypeIs

Travis Kirton
Masterarbeit, 2017
Interface Cultures

TypeIs exemplifies the possibility for non-linear typesetting through original artistic software as well as exhibited artworks that challenge fundamental concepts in the field of typog- raphy. TypeIs utilizes two fundamental elements that separate it from modern commercial typesetting software.
Foremost, a weighted baseline is used to determine the look and feel of individual characters. Second, a custom system for manag- ing text allows for the individual retrieval of characters for render- ing in real-time. Rather than setting a line, copying text, adding it to the line, then performing a variety of typesetting functions in a step-by-step manner, the artist can draw letters directly onto the canvas. Pressure, speed, angle, and direction are all mapped directly to each character which appear individually as the artist draws through any kind of text.
In particular, software applications are presented herein as a series of ongoing media-art research projects which can be thought of as digital canvases, such that the artist plays a predominant role in the creation of artworks, rather than submitting to generative or computational techniques. The artworks presented in this thesis show not only working proofs of concept, but also exhibited pieces that attest to the proficiency of the canvas as a medium for creative exploration and artistic expression.
Finally, this thesis classifies TypeIs as a media-art-research project, which is an initial attempt to define a term which encom- passes a practice that grounded in both artistic and technical approaches. This practice takes on aspects of artistic research, art-based research and technical research while attempting to do so in equal weights. Furthermore, the products of this practice are exhibited in both technical and artistic contexts. For instance, parts of the work are published in scientific conferences, while others are exhibited as artworks in contemporary artistic settings. A crucial point in this definition is that both sides of this practice, the art and the research, inform and influence one another.