Sendas
Sendas is a generative art project by Daniel Aguilar (protozoo) with The Generative Art Museum that explores how our choices shape paths: every decision opens some possibilities while closing others, many of them unknown.
About the project
Every path taken is a universe of paths left behind. Every choice—whether conscious or accidental—closes doors while opening others we never imagined. In art, as in life, we navigate a landscape of decisions, hesitations, and surprises. Sendas is a meditation on this struggle: the impossible task of choosing "right" and the realization that, often, the path chooses itself.
Concept & Inspiration
At the core of Sendas lies the almost intractable challenge of choosing the "right" path—both in art and in life. Every decision eliminates countless possibilities, yet each opens new doors we could not have anticipated.
But how much of this process is truly ours? Are we really making decisions, or are we simply following a course shaped by accidents, subconscious impulses, and external circumstances? The path isn't fully in our control—it unfolds through an interplay of intention, randomness, and discovery.
This tension manifests as both struggle and exhilaration—the stress of decision-making, the paralysis of doubt, but also the thrill of surprise, the joy of curiosity, and the awe of watching something unfold beyond one's expectations.
The Collection & Its Aesthetics
The Foundation: A System of Random Walkers
Sendas is a system of random walkers—simple agents that navigate a two-dimensional space, leaving a visual trace as they move. However, instead of the traditional Cartesian grid, Sendas unfolds within a hexagonal grid, where each position, or cell, can be either active or inactive. Walkers can only traverse active cells, shaping their journey through a blend of structured rules and randomness.
Before the walkers even begin, the grid itself is defined: the scale, the distribution of active/inactive cells, and the initial positions of the walkers—all set at the start, ensuring that each variation has a unique evolution.
How the Visuals Emerge
As each walker moves, it leaves behind a segment that carries distinct visual properties:
- Line attributes: thickness, solid/dashed, presence of a border
- Color palette selection: from seven predefined sets, ranging from vibrant to subdued
- Rendering rules for cells (hexagon vs. circle, filled vs. outlined, varying opacity or invisibility)
These properties are rarely assigned purely at random. Instead, they emerge from a set of patterns and rules—some deterministic, some chance-based—that shape the composition.
The Six "Regions" of Sendas
Capturing all possible outcomes is neither feasible nor desirable. Many paths lead nowhere, and while we discard the majority, some still take us to intriguing places. Thus, rather than limiting the project to a singular outcome, I created six different but related collections. Each one shares the same algorithm but is confined to a particular parameter space that I discovered and found worth sharing.
Agitada
Energetic, chaotic, with gravity-induced distortions and bright, playful colors.
Boba
Thick, bold strokes with an almost cartoonish quality, evoking youth, passion, and authenticity.
Cifrada
Dense, convoluted patterns in monochrome, reminiscent of ancient scripts or labyrinths.
Diversa
Elegant, structured compositions, evoking abstract roadmaps full of detail.
Escrita
Resembling handwritten text or figures, with horizontal alignment and interwoven connections.
Franca
These outputs carry an aura of solemnity and trust, perhaps due to their resemblance to seals or stamps that denote authenticity.
Exhibited at
About Daniel Aguilar
Daniel Aguilar (b. 1978, Barcelona) is a visual artist exploring computer code as a medium. He developed a career as a freelance designer and developer encompassing creative coding, interaction design, and data visualization. His work explores the potential of algorithms and generative processes for creativity.