An Image in Mind
– VISUALIZING PERCEPTIONS –
Visual Studies Thesis 2020
Darija Geissendoerfer
(Digital Video)
Houdini – Nuke – Premiere
Ideas can range from small new thoughts to grand epiphanies. An accumulation of ideas can lead to inventions and innovations. Theories are formed when the subject in question is limited to abstraction. Despite the exhaustive numbers of studies that have been done, the human brain still largely remains a mystery to us. The more we try to understand it, the more we learn about the extreme neurodiversity across humans, as well as a singular brain’s unfathomable plasticity throughout one’s life.
“An Image in Mind” focuses on words we all know and understand but often have no clear physical representations for. My aim was to create a diverse series of vignettes in which specific characteristics of each word is reflected using particle based simulation program SideFX Houdini.
Finding creativity in a complex, logic based program is a challenge in and of itself. Houdini is a powerful program with a steep learning curve. Its heavily node based procedural approach is unlike most programs I have used in the past. Through the course of this project, I challenged myself to find ways to express my vision within the boundaries set by the Houdini paradigms.