Pathfinder

As a response to limitations in dance, »Pathfinder« aims to contribute to the creative process of choreography. Algorithms create a vast number of geometries morphing in a sequential and logical manner. »Pathfinder« inspires dancers to explore physical language to create any number of expressions and configurations. It is a generative tool to create visual inspirations for the conceptual research of physical movements. The system produces logical transitions between geometric shapes to guide and inspire the user to compliment continuously transforming human states. The algorithms generate graphic patterns to stimulate the creativity of dancers and open new perspectives.

Choreographic development often implicates the spontaneous embodiment of visual imagination. Inspired by William Forsythe’s Improvisation Technologies, the smooth transition between configurations creates a seamless path for the dancer to follow from point to line to plane. The installation is an iteration of the concept, and is comprised of a projection onto the floor where geometric shapes fluidly appear. Many performers imagine lines, patterns or abstract processes in order to improvise physical interpretations. »Pathfinder« is intended to be a part of this process, by continuously generating geometries. With a progressively transforming visual language, it allows the dancer to generate limitless embodiments. Choreographers can also adjust certain parameters of the algorithm - such as speed, complexity, or the geometry of objects - in order to define a desired type of animation without the ability to define the exact output. The concept acts as a generative approach for the conceptual research of choreographed movements.

»Pathfinder« investigates the process of progression between geometric forms. By breaking down each object to its polygons, the algorithm calculates the most logical sequence of transformations from one shape to another, including those of its individual polygons that shift from point to line to plane. The complexity of Pathfinder does not lie within its elementary patterns, but in the countless possibilities of evolutions among them.

While improvising movements, many dancers have the tendency to get caught up in repeating loops of trained concepts. Improvisation with »Pathfinder« inspires the user to make simple adjustments to disciplined movements, enabling them to connect new paths and permutations of their physical language. By generating forms that morph into each other in a logical and sequential manner, »Pathfinder« is an experimental tool aiming to create visual inspirations.