Jason Ting (b. 1986, Johor Bahru, Malaysia) is an American new media artist. He uses creative coding tools to create abstract animated visuals that explore the interaction of form, color, and motion. His work is inspired by forces found in nature, geometric patterns, and light. Ting is a graduate of the University of California, San Diego’s Interdisciplinary Computing and the Arts program. He lives and works in New Haven, Connecticut.
Origins
IO: I'm excited to delve deeper into your process and chat about the most recent pieces you've released with Infinite Objects :) I remember stumbling upon your work through Instagram of all places and immediately wanted to see it on an Infinite Object. The way you integrate light, motion, color, and texture with code... how did you find yourself creating art with software? Do you come from a fine art background or did you start from the engineering side?
JT: A bit of both! I did an interdisciplinary computing arts program in college which was a fine art major with technology as its creative medium. After graduating, I worked as a software engineer for more than a decade, focusing on web and mobile frontend development. In 2020, I found myself wanting to pursue something creative again, which is when I took the deep dive into creative coding.
Creative Process
IO: I'd love to know a little more about your process when you create. How do you decide between the interplay between different elements of color... light or dark, or texture...smooth or sharp? Do you have a vision or idea of the composition before it's created or is it iterated on as you go? Can you elaborate on your choice of color palettes and how color contributes to the emotional resonance of your pieces?
JT: It depends day to day. Sometimes I have a clear idea of what I want to create; other times I discover something new while exploring a technique or style. I'm fascinated by natural phenomena like rushing water, cloudy skies, flocking birds, and all things outer space. These influence the color, texture, and motion in my work which work together to create the different mood (e.g. calm, playful, mysterious) in each piece.
Technological Influence
IO: It's clear the code itself plays a significant role in your art. Are there specific platforms, libraries, or communities that got you started or that significantly influenced your work? Do you consider software to be more of a medium or more of a tool, and do you think it contributes to your aesthetics or concepts, or is it simply a means to realize a vision?
JT: My creative coding journey started with Processing and Daniel Shiffman’s The Nature of Code. Since then, I dabbled with p5.js, Matt DesLauriers' canvas-sketch, openFrameworks, and more. However, it was when I started learning GLSL shaders and TouchDesigner when I finally felt I found the right tools to express my artistic style. Being able to iterate in real-time has given me more control and flow in the creative process.
Physicality
IO: Scrolling through your content on Instagram, there's something so ephemeral/dynamic about how they live on the platform, what are your thoughts on balancing that with the permanence of something like an Infinite Object?
JT: I think IOs are great for bringing artwork to life in the real world, outside of small phone screens that we use for all kinds of things. And on Instagram, there is no guarantee when the algorithm will choose to show the artwork. Does the artwork exist if it’s not shown to anyone? 😅
Future
IO: What new directions or themes are you excited to explore next? Let us know if there's anything you want to share or highlight that you have coming up :)
JT: I’ve been exploring programmable LEDs lately which has been another fun way to bring my work into the real world. I’m looking forward to researching and developing more with the hope of building large-scale light sculpture installations.
Thanks again, Jason! Check out pieces available by Jason Ting on our site here:
