Blocks are basic objects for building. Like bricks they have the potential of becoming part of a great structure but at the same time they can be used to smash 'windows'. 'Assembler' is Brent Gustafson's 'personal design playground' and consists of a collection of experimental Dynamic HTML-projects. Modelled after the 'look and feel' of the Atari 2600-JR and the blocklike look of first-generation 8-bit computer games Gustafson mainly uses blocks to demonstrate the full potential of Dynamic HTML-technology. The blocks featured on 'Assembler' can be moved, stacked, rotated, resized, accelerated and decelerated. Horizontal sliders can be applied to manipulate certain variables that determine the position of the block on the screen. Take the sliders in 'Project nr. 6' for example: they can be used to change the x and y position of a block. As simple as this may seem; the sliders trigger an immediate response with the user who is invited to participate and interact with the shapes on the screen on a fundamental level: through play. It's a very simple but effective way to communicate with the user who is actively involved with what's happening on the screen in front of him though there is no storyline, no set content, no course and no goal. The Assembler project represents a form of pure and fundamental research in a way that is not often seen in net.art. The real beauty of 'Assembler' however is hidden just beneath the surface. There resides the clean and clear-cut code that constitutes Assembler's very foundation which was built from scratch by Gustafson using a simple text editor. The code can be viewed using the browsers 'view source' option and is available for all to download and make their own.
– Remco Vlaanderen |
Brent Gustafson, 1976, Sturgeon Bay, WI (USA)
Lives and works in Minneapolis (USA)
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