Jerel Johnson

The Grotesque Platform explores the migration of the concept of the grotesque through time. The migration traverses three levels: subject matter, page composition, and disequilibrium in the system.

The Grotesque Platform consists of a database and an algorithm that together create multiple 18 x 24 inch posters. The database establishes the grotesque at the subject matter level. It is an archive of text, pictures of human hair,photos of the Swan Creek cemetery, as well as insect parts, skin, bone and other biological material that I scanned at RISD’s Nature Lab. The algorithm, on the other hand, establishes the grotesque at the composition and system levels. The algorithm is written in JavaScript for use with Photoshop. It randomly selects and executes a limited set of design transformations: scale, transparency, layering, rotation, reflection and position. These transformations are subject to further but constrained variation through the script.

The initial use of the Grotesque Platform resulted in 300 posters and a website which presents two different browsing interfaces for them (this collection shows a final third interface). For me, the Grotesque platform was a successful first step in developing a scripted system that carves out its own space of possibility through algorithmic means while binding formal and conceptual reasoning.

Visit Grotesque Platform