live code
dyptych with Marius Watz
for Compositions in Code: The Art of Processing and p5.js

Museum of the Moving Image, New York
Mar 6 — May 4, 2025
curated by Regina Harsanyi

‘Returns’ depicts Aleksandra Jovanic’s ongoing exploration of human psychology, algorithms, data visualizations, and the tendency to create connections and discern meaningful patterns in otherwise unrelated or seemingly random elements. In this work, a sequence of bands emerges, “walking” pseudorandomly in homage to Jovanic’s favored random walk algorithm. They bounce off screen edges and eventually decay, yet the cycle is renewed with each new birth. Meanwhile, graphical elements in the background further enrich the depiction of periodic trends, the cyclic nature of life and time, and variations that unfold seasonally, annually, monthly, or daily.

‘Returns’ is part of ‘Compositions in Code: The Art of Processing and p5.js’, curated by Regina Harsanyi, fourth series of media art installations for MoMI’s Schlosser Media Wall presented in partnership with the Tezos Foundation and in association with the Processing Foundation.

“Aleksandra Jovanić and Marius Watz reveal two distinct expressions of generativity and temporality utilizing Processing and p5.js. In Exploder, a Processing sketch is transformed into a large-scale wall drawing executed with artist tape. Here, the installation acts as the index—a tangible trace transcribed from the real-time program, projected onto a surface. As viewers shift their distance from the original projection point, the tape’s configuration appears to transform. Each time the work is installed, it changes; the projection interacts with a specific space, creating a tape arrangement that is never exactly repeated. This singular inscription highlights the iterative, ever-changing nature of generative work, where time and context continuously redefine the outcome.

Returns, created with p5.js, explores cyclical patterns of time through layered, looping forms that eventually circle back to an origin. Elongated lines meander according to a random walk algorithm, a process in which each step is determined by chance rather than following a fixed path, generating illusions of depth and perspective as forms overlap and shift. By echoing the recurring rhythms of days, seasons, and historical cycles, the work highlights how viewers project meaning onto repetitive events. The self-renewing flow challenges assumptions about linear progress, revealing a subtle interplay among code, psychology, and the quest for patterns in chaos.

Watz’s indexical installation distills fleeting digital projections into singular, transient artifacts, while Jovanić’s real-time looping lines give form to dynamic cycles that transform ephemeral algorithmic gestures into enduring, ever-evolving patterns. Together, these works form a diptych that reflects a spectrum of transience and stillness in generative work.” – Regina Harsanyi