LISSAJOUS SERIES: LIS35-1

When I was at the Electronic Visualization Lab (EVL) at the University of Illinois at Chicago, there were oscilloscopes and waveform monitors throughout the lab. I became intrigued by the Lissajous figures sometimes displayed on the oscilloscopes. Having made an animation with the cardioid equation, I decided to experiment with creating images based on the Lissajous equations. I could understand these equations, but the visualization of the corresponding electronic signals was new for me.

Once I had programmed my first few Lissajous images using the ZGRASS language, I thought that, due to their pixelated surfaces, they would work better as drawings on paper than as computer animations. I worked with another graduate student to program the plotter to draw the images line by line from left to right and top to bottom, like a slow-scan video device. This method gave my drawings a texture that felt both woven and native to a video screen.

Created September 1983.
7580A Hewlett-Packard Plotter with archival inks.
ZGRASS