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Look at the code - the source text of any program, as a type of material. See the effects of the code as a material manifestation. “The Matter of Code” is a story about the Creative Coding practice that elimi- nates the polarisation of code and matter. It is a story of a “material” that has unique properties, a combination of physical and digital matter that does not produce a simple sum. Its emergent properties allow the creation of a unique experience, something that to designers and artists is otherwise unattainable. This “material” gives way to the creation of complex spatial installations that react to stimuli from the environment, changing the experience of space, its perceptions, and subsequently affecting human emotions. The contact of the digital and physical world has been dominated by the interaction with intermediary screens whose flat surfaces have limited the sensory experience - our understanding of the world is based on motion, action, active and bodily experience. Screens cause the observation and manipulation of symbols, that remove the person from reality. As a result any richness of touch is lost, as the hand’s natural and sophisticated ability to manipulate the object is evaded. Screens have created a distance from the environment that has shaped us, destroying the work of evolution that through hundreds of thousands of years has adapted both the mind and body to the ever changing environ- ment. However, the combination of the possibilities offered by programming, electronics and digital fabrication, will allow us to boldly overcome the barrier of the screen - as a “material” that can “blend bits and atoms” emerges. The space around us will be filled with physical artefacts of digital properties that cannot be passed by indifferently. These objects will engage us with a multi-sensory experience that encourages interaction that acts in accordance to how the world, physically and kinetically, is experienced. Every designer, artist or architect can use this “material” in his creative work- shop, without the need of a degree in technology as the barrier of entry has dropped intensely. The simplification of digital technology, open source and open hardware movements, DIY (Do-It-Yourself) culture, and the development of IDE (Integrated Development Environment) for creative coding has allowed everyone of desire to master this material through experience - in the same way as a sculptor learning to shape wood, stone or clay. This exhibition shows how Creative Coding crosses the boundaries between art, design and science. Further emphasising its presence in many areas of creation. The Creative Coding practice is a call to start thinking in an anti-disciplinary way, to forget about the stereotypical divisions between the humanistic and scientific mind and change the passive recipients of technology into its active creators. Readers become writers. In the words of Douglas Rushkoff, “Program or be programmed”, get access to the civilisation control panel, gain a voice in the discussion about our future. At the heart of our approach to Creative Coding is the permission to create something that is not needed. Accidental wandering and openness to error leads to a wonderful surprise and a creative discovery. We are convinced that this approach gives the chance to create something groundbreaking. Hack the way technology is used, find unexplored areas of code usage and explore seemingly impossible connections at the junction of the physical and digital world. The exhibition “The Matter of Code” has collected a number of works that are just such an exploration, a beginning of numerous artists and designers from Poland and abroad. As well as the best projects of the graduates of the second year of Creative Coding postgraduate studies. Wiesław Bartkowski Curator of “The Matter of Code” exhibition Move the joystick Press the button Take control over the forbidden fruit Forbidden Fruit Machine Kati Hyyppä, Niklas Roy The Forbidden Fruit Machine is based on a painting called “The Fall of Man” created by Cornelis Cornelisz van Haarlem in 1592. The painting depicts Eve and Adam in the Garden of Eden, being tempted by the serpent to eat the forbidden fruit. When Cornelis made his masterpiece, oil paintings were the hi-tech medium of the time. They featured incredible detail and ultra high resolution. Some 400 years later Kati Hyyppä and Niklas Roy decided to turn Cornelis’ artwork into today’s equivalent top-notch medium, namely, a mechatronic video game. The most essential add-on to Cornelis’ painting is a joystick with which the spectator can take over the destiny of the forbidden fruit. By moving the apple around on a biblical quest, the player can discover exciting special effects hidden in the picture. Switch the switch Touch the button Useless Machine Karol Nowak A Useless Machine is a device that has a function but no direct purpose. It may be intended to make a philosophical point, as an amusing engineering “hack”, or as an intellectual joke. Devices that have no function or that mal- function are not considered to be “useless machines”. The most well-known “useless machines” are those inspired by MIT professor and artificial intelligence pioneer Marvin Minsky’s design, in which the device’s sole function is to switch itself off by operating its own “off” switch. Karol’s interpretation of Marvin Minsky’s design adds reflections on the flattening of contemporary interactions with devices. Once, sensually rich interactions now become dominated by screens and smooth, flat, touchable but sensually poor surfaces. Look into the eye of the mirror Wait to be evaluated Beholder Jakub Koźniewski, Wojciech Stokowiec Imagine a situation where you do not judge a work of art, but the work of art is judging you. This is exactly what happens when you stand in front of the Beholder, a machine enhanced by machine learning seen as a subset of artificial intelligence. Beholder was trained according to aesthetics sense of its creators. The device evaluates the beauty of people interacting with work on a scale of 1 to 5. By the presented work authors ask nowadays important questions: Is it possible to make objective algorithms? Or maybe a machine only reflects the preferences and prejudices of its creator, know as a data bias? Rotate the knob and press the button Get to an empty spot Avoid the red lights RotoRing Gregory Kogos RotoRing is a circular puzzle-platformer where you use a custom hardware controller. Its display is made out of 2 orbits of LED lights. You use the dial to control the single brightest light and use the button to jump from one orbit to another. The goal is to get to an empty spot while avoiding the red lights! It’s a fully hardware game – there is no computer inside nor screen. There’s just an Arduino (a microcontroller) inside, 90 LED lights, button and knob. Though author of RotoRing is not a coder, he managed to make this thing work all by himself. RotoRing as Alternative Game Controller (alt.ctrl) was shown at ALT.CTRL.GDC San Francisco 2017. The world’s largest professional game industry event. Moreover RotoRing won the award for best game design at the Tokyo Game Show. Sing or speak into the microphone Listen to your voice played back by the pipe organ Acoustic Additive Synth Krzysztof Cybulski Acoustic Additive Synthesiser is another trial to create a fully acoustic device that could resynthesise any sound by the means of Fourier analysis and resynthesis, thus utilising basic principles of spectral music in realtime. It is in fact a small pipe organ, with pitch and volume controlled by a computer. Each of the seven pipes has a motorised slider, which, changes the pitch continuously, and a dedicated motorised air valve, which effectively changes the volume of the sound. As the sound of the organ pipes is very close to a sinusoid, this setup, together with purpose-written Pure Data patch, allows for resynthesis of voice or the creation of quasi-synthetic sounds. Alternatively, the instrument may be used as a regular pipe organ, but with ability to play glissandos or any off-the–12TET microtonal pitches. The presented work was Honorary Mention, Prix Ars Electronica 2017 and get to Guthman Instrument Competition semifinal, 2016 Bring your ear close to the picture Listen to the voice from the towers The Voice From The Towers Michał Sęk The Voice From The Towers is a generative installation honoring the 9/11 victims and is made from their last phone calls. On 9/11/2001, people trapped above the impact point could contact the outside world only through a phone call. Some of them called their loved ones, but all they heard was the sound of an answering machine. We designed a generative sound-to- image installation turning the last phone calls of six 9/11 victims into visuals symbolic of the Twin Towers. We wanted to pay them a tribute and make sure their stories will live on in a very intimate way. Each visual is unique, made with a generative code and silkscreen printed. Each voice can be heard only by getting close to the installation. Designed for the togetherness of the listener and the sound. The voice doesn’t exist without the listener. Presented work won the gold award KTR 2019 in the best of design category. KTR is the largest creativity competition in Poland. Sing or speak into the microphone Listen to your voice be decomposed and reconstructed in space Hear the echo Urban Echo Klem Jankiewicz Urban Echo is an interactive installation exploring our relationship with technology. A swarm of electronic objects decomposes human voice and reconstructs it in space. Our unique voice turns into the voice of the swarm.

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