Substrate: perpendicular growth of cracks

Work and historical context

This entry for Jared Tarbell is dated 2003-06, under the original title Substrate. Work page read; later p5.js ports are not dated as the 2003 original, and the original Java environment was not reproduced.

Section sources: Substrate — Gallery of Computation

Process and material

Tarbell’s original page identifies June 2003 and Processing. A simple perpendicular growth rule produces city-like structures, with linear, curved and coloured experiments shown separately.

Section sources: Substrate — Gallery of Computation

Viewing the work and its documentation

Compare Substrate’s dense, city-like structures with individual cracks. The original page documents several experiments; images and explanations remain useful when its Java environment no longer runs, without equating a later port with the original program.

Section sources: Substrate — Gallery of Computation

Art-historical significance and comparison

Editorial interpretation: The work demonstrates complexity from concise rules, while its experimental page brings artwork, explanation and learning material together in creative-coding culture.

Section sources: Substrate — Gallery of Computation

Sources for this account

Work page read; later p5.js ports are not dated as the 2003 original, and the original Java environment was not reproduced. Read over the original HTTP endpoint; the HTTPS endpoint has a certificate error and its availability remains unresolved. The account and translation are AI-assisted, pending independent human review. Section references identify evidence without claiming independent verification of every historical statement.

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