Who are you?
I’m Yi-Wen Lin, most people just call me ‘Wen’. I’m a freelance coder based in London.
What is your artistic background?
I don’t have an artist background. I’ve been a developer all my career. However I enjoy creative coding a lot and often make small experiments whenever I’m free.
When did you first get into generative art?
I started about 5 years ago but rarely, most of my work is still interactive. I have only started working with generative art intensively since last year.
What is the difference between a good and a great piece of generative art?
Detail.
How did you first hear about FxHash?
On twitter, there was a weekend and I saw it trending on my twitter feed.
Your Genesis mint on the platform was “Circles”. What inspired the look and color choice for this work?
It started as an experiment for brush strokes. Coming from an eastern culture background, brush strokes have always been an inspiration source.
“Threads” was your second piece on the platform. What was the goal with this release?
There’s no goal. I was playing and trying to create enough variation to support 512 editions. I noticed the composition and layout of my first project ‘Circles’ were a little bit boring, so I was experimenting on the composition with setting up features in this project.
“Excursion” is a work that stands out with the typography heavy design. What does typography mean to you and how did you combine it with generative code?
The idea comes from the famous manga Neon Genesis Evangelion. I have been inspired by its typography design since the first time I saw it when I was a kid. I like the look that it packs the whole space with bold fonts, creating a strong contrast.
Hex, Maze, and Labyrinth have similar styles and have been some of your most successful works on the site. How did these works come to be?
I’ve always been interested in the hexagon shape and different ways to break a hexagon into smaller geometries too. Also I was experimenting using small dots to draw the lines to create a bit of texture feeling.
Strand does an amazing job showcasing tension with code. Were there any roadblocks you faced while creating this generative work?
It is like you said I wanted to recreate the tension between the wires. I spent a lot of time tweaking the look and the feel of the wires being pulled.
Wondering is a gorgeous work (that can become 3d) which contains fluid simulation. What fascinates you about fluid simulation and how did you know when this work was ready for FxHash?
I don’t. I don’t think I’ll ever know if a work is ready for release. I can only do my best. The flow field is a common technique in the world of generative art and I enjoyed it a lot. However I want to try to push it a bit further. With fluid simulation it creates an even more organic look of the flow, with a lot of little swirls which is the part I enjoyed the most.
“Sketching” is one of your most recent works on the platform. How did this work change from when you initially came up with the idea to the time it was posted on FxHash?
I can’t remember anymore. The work was inspired by the line animation in the movie ‘Eternals’. And I want to experiment with setting up simple rules and let the system run to generate the visuals.
Where do you see the generative art space in 5 years time?
I can’t see that far 🙂 However I think it’ll be very very different from now. With the influence of the platform like Fxhash, it accelerates everything. There’s tons of amazing work coming out everyday and people discover new ideas and techniques all the time. I can’t imagine what it’ll be in 5 years but I’m most definitely looking forward to it.
What do you have planned for 2022?
Keep making generative work, explore and push myself further.
Is there anybody you’d like to shoutout?
Too many 🙂 I’m really grateful for all the people around me during this journey. I certainly didn’t expect any of this and I’m really thankful for all the support !
Anything else?
All good 🙂