Tense
A generative drawing that visualizes the evolving tension within a network as it grows, collapses, and self-organizes over time.
Tense is the first piece in the Tension Series—a set of software-based explorations that combine dynamic drawing with network processes to examine self-organizing behavior in complex systems. This initial work focuses on the aggregated signals produced by the growth and decay of a networked structure.
The software uses a physics-based simulation to organize the network. As nodes and edges are added, the network grows; as nodes are removed, connections break and the network contracts. During this process, nodes exert force on one another, generating varying degrees of tension across the edges.
These tensions are visualized through color:
- High tension produces saturated color
- Low tension appears in darker tones
- Stabilized areas fade to black
The result is a generative visual composition—an abstract landscape painted by the shifting forces and evolving structure of the network itself.
