What are those mefi artsy types up to now?

October 17, 2006 6:09 PM

First, interrobang got the ball rolling with his cool illustrations that can be shuffled in any order to create a new continuous panorama. Cortex added some coded widgetry to automate the process, creating a neat little toy. Then taz and iconomy joined in with their own creative spin. It's nice to see a contemporary techno version of the polyrama, a fine creative tradition dating back to the mid 1800s.
posted by madamjujujive (39 comments total)

Wow, missed interrobang's work the first time around. Love it.

I like the new apps, too, but particularly crazy about the original illustrations.
posted by dreamsign at 6:17 PM on October 17, 2006

Old-timey diversions are so interesting, especially when resurrected like this.

Neat stuff!
posted by rocketman at 6:19 PM on October 17, 2006

Hot shit! Just got the word on the wire. Thanks, mjjj!

When John first started posting this stuff on flickr, I thought, hey, neat—but the ball has started rolling this week, with taz and iconomy creating their own brilliant sets on zero notice, and John working on a second hotel-themed set.

The contrast between John's and taz's and iconomy's sets really please me. A nice line from old-school to digital tomfoolery.

I've got a couple of potential photographic ideas of my own, as well, but I haven't really had any photography time this week to collect the specimens.

Anybody with a hankerin' to create their own polyorama is encouraged to do so—I'd be happy to expand the current catalogue with more mefite art.
posted by cortex at 6:22 PM on October 17, 2006

Thanks for the post, madamjujujive! The Myriotel is here, and will continue to be added to for a couple of days.
posted by interrobang at 6:25 PM on October 17, 2006

Oh, also here.
posted by interrobang at 6:26 PM on October 17, 2006

These are really, really cool and very well done. Good work, y'all!
posted by LeeJay at 6:31 PM on October 17, 2006

OK, this is frippin' rad. Nice work, kids.
posted by gleuschk at 6:45 PM on October 17, 2006

best of the web.
posted by carsonb at 7:13 PM on October 17, 2006

[this is good]
posted by monju_bosatsu at 7:33 PM on October 17, 2006

These are really fun. Nice job, y'all.
posted by diddlegnome at 7:54 PM on October 17, 2006

I don't think I've ever had the opportunity to tell interrobang that I really dig his artistic style, so now's my chance.

interrobang, thanks.
posted by muddgirl at 7:58 PM on October 17, 2006

Awesome timing -- I just wrote to interrobang to buy a set and I'm glad I got in before the rush! So many of the MeFites whose talents I adore are involved with this, and so to have it posted with historical background by the sublime madamjujujive is like getting a pretty red ribbon on top. Thanks to all of them for doing this fantastic work and to you too, dear madam!
posted by melissa may at 8:10 PM on October 17, 2006

Wonderful stuff from all involved. Thanks to everyone for their art and expertise.
posted by sleepy pete at 8:55 PM on October 17, 2006

I love these polyramas. interrobang is amazing.
posted by luckypozzo at 8:58 PM on October 17, 2006

Very cool. Thanks OP, and thanks postees!
posted by owhydididoit at 9:04 PM on October 17, 2006

You filthy polyramaists.

Brilliant job!
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 9:09 PM on October 17, 2006

Yay team MefiArt. See! Mefi makes you talented.
posted by peacay at 10:59 PM on October 17, 2006

I fell over when I saw interrobang's set, and cortex's presentation idea was too delicious; I got polyorama fever, and had to do a test drive to see if I could even figure out how to work one.

I think interrobang has blazed a trail, because so far I haven't found anyone else doing contemporary polyoramas (poloyoramae?) on the net, and now I'm dying to see more, more, more, in all sorts of different styles - so if anyone has a yen to try one on, I really hope they go for it.

We've also tossed around the idea of a collaborative set, which could be interesting. If we figure out the details of how that would work, we'll post it at metachat.
posted by taz at 1:18 AM on October 18, 2006

Wow, these are loads of fun. Great work, great post!
posted by miskatonic at 3:35 AM on October 18, 2006

metafilter: I love these polyramas
posted by hypersloth at 4:09 AM on October 18, 2006

Very nice! For some reason I especially love the hotel, but then I love old hotels with wooden banisters and cracks.

(polyoramae?)

The Greek plural would be polyoramata.
posted by languagehat at 5:59 AM on October 18, 2006 [1 favorite]

And if John does another hotel suite, it could be a polyoramada.
posted by cortex at 6:18 AM on October 18, 2006

The Greek plural would be polyoramata.

hehe. D'oh. I guess that should have occurred to me, huh?

And if John does another hotel suite, it could be a polyoramada.

*tries to make "polyoramadan* joke, fails*
posted by taz at 6:35 AM on October 18, 2006

It's good to see this excellent thing as an FPP.
posted by OmieWise at 6:59 AM on October 18, 2006

Great work. Good post.
posted by StarForce5 at 7:10 AM on October 18, 2006

Wonderful.
posted by sveskemus at 7:29 AM on October 18, 2006

nifty!
posted by stagewhisper at 8:51 AM on October 18, 2006

And here I thought this was a polyorama.
posted by dhartung at 12:46 PM on October 18, 2006

I can say without qualification that these make up the greatest polyoramada I have ever seen in my life. Also, probably the only. But still.

Thanks MJJJ!!!!
posted by soyjoy at 2:25 PM on October 18, 2006

really good.
posted by 3.2.3 at 3:17 PM on October 18, 2006

Wow. These are great!

I used to love playing with polyorama as a kid (though I only knew them as "picture cards"). I suspect that if I'd had Iconomy's set as a kid, they'd have worn out from overuse. I was really, really into Pez dispensers then.

All of the sets so far are fantastic. Thanks for putting the work into these, everyone. I'm having such fun playing with them.
posted by aine42 at 3:23 PM on October 18, 2006

Brilliant new set by iconomy has just been posted: The Long Boat.
posted by cortex at 7:43 PM on October 20, 2006

what's the secret to making a polyorama?
as far as I can figger, you make a couple of simple horizontal patterns (foreground, horizon, sky/background) and then embellish each frame. is that it? what am I missing?

also, cortex, if you're amenable to suggestion, I don't suppose you could make a longer combination stay on one line? I just tried viewing all 12 frames of The Long Boat and it split the picture up. might be better with a horizontal scroll.
posted by carsonb at 7:54 PM on October 20, 2006

The secret to making a polyorama is having a consistent left-right symmetrical border on both sides of each panel. Nothing more.

What you do with that is totally up in the air—John's first polyorama, and taz's experiment, are both fairly aggressive in their use of the frame: they break off from the common horizon at oblique angles at times, creating nearly discontinuous movements when panel meets panel; whereas iconomy's sets, and John's Myriotel, are all more even-keeled in their use of the horizion theme. Either method works, as long as you respect the basic outer-frame for every panel.

Basically, if you can make the left and right single-pixel frames be consistent for each panel, everything in the middle is kosher. It's a good sign that a polyorama will work, at least at the most basic level, if you can paste the same perimeter of 1-2 pixel-wide art around every individual panel without causing nastiness.

As for the horizontal scrolling—taz (I think) suggested the same thing, I just haven't updated the css with the appropriate nobreak (or whatever) styling. I'll get there—probably do a bit of cleanup and de-kluging this weekend.
posted by cortex at 1:33 AM on October 21, 2006

I've never made a polyorama before, but I think the trick is to ensure that the left-most column of vertical pixels and right-most column of vertical pixels always match up. If you look at iconomy's, for instance, you can see that every individual image has the shelves at the same y-coordinate.
posted by tickingclock at 1:37 AM on October 21, 2006

D'oh -- four minutes too late! Alas.

I really like the things you make, cortex!
posted by tickingclock at 1:38 AM on October 21, 2006

I really like making things that people like! Win-win!
posted by cortex at 1:57 AM on October 21, 2006

I'll probably be starting a new polyorama later today—the setup for it requires a lot of measuring, and that's finally done.
posted by interrobang at 10:53 AM on October 21, 2006

Love the long boat! Talk about even-keeled...
posted by soyjoy at 8:35 PM on October 22, 2006