JK Keller

born 1976
lives & works in New York, NY
with Keetra Dean Dixon

Where We Went From (www.from)

Added: 2007 Apr 09 @ 02:35
Updated: 2008 May 17 @ 13:06
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Tags: computation, visualizations, web

Macromedia.com (2096 steps)

Carleton.edu Visualization
Carleton.edu (1631 steps)

ExploreMinnesota.com Visualization
ExploreMinnesota (839 steps)

The app I wrote visits a website and downloads the source text. It parses the text, looking for links to other web pages, links to itself, links to other file types, email addresses, etc. Based on how many links it finds, it creates a “star”. The number of links found equals the number of spines on the “star”. Thus, if it finds no links, it draws a circle.

It then goes to the first link on the page and does the same thing. Then it iterates over thousands of pages. E-mail addresses are drawn as a plus-sign, errors are an ‘x’, non-html files are squares, and a line follows the path the program took.

Another caveat: The first instance of a web page is a unique star. Anytime the app finds that same page linked to by another page, it draws a line back to the originating star instead of another star.

11 Responses to “Where We Went From (www.from)”

On November 3rd, 2006 at 20:56, Guilherme said:

Reply to Guilherme

Please explain me this web visualization project.

I can´t understand your art, although it´s very beautiful.
On December 9th, 2006 at 18:51, Kyle said:

Reply to Kyle

Very nice, I’ve really enjoyed this project. You mentioned that you printed these out at 42″ x 96″, this is surprising to me because I have never been able to find a way to output a vector file with only Director. Are these vector objects? Is this the result of Flash embedded into a Director projector? I only ask because I have never seen such sophisticated dynamic drawing, or heard of such a large output from Director alone. Once again, such a great project.
- On December 11th, 2006 at 02:20, JK said:
  
  Reply to JK
  
  I use Director to write out an Illustrator EPS file (which I reverse-engineered, since I am not a programmer), thus I am only dealing with text. No vector shapes or anything. I did use them at an early stage of the project, but as you probably know, Director only deals with them up to a very limited point. That, and even if you have the vector shapes, you can’t do anything with them outside of Director… Even Illustrator has a super hard time printing these (or maybe it’s the printer).
  
  Glad you enjoy though!
On August 4th, 2007 at 19:45, ssl said:

Reply to ssl

wow, this looks awsome! can you give some more detail HOW the images were created, perhaps can you give the sourcecode to me?
Thanks
- On August 21st, 2007 at 02:07, JK said:
  
  Reply to JK
  
  Let me first say that I wish I could give the “sourcecode” out, but it’s all in Lingo in Director and not so conducive to sharing. Poorly commented, old, hacked together and all that. Maybe if I ever port it to Processing, I’ll have the source available.
  
  But to answer your first query: how it works. The app that I wrote visits a website and downloads the source text. It parses the text, looking for links to other web pages, links to itself, links to other file types, email addresses, etc. Based on how many links it finds, it creates a “star”. The number of links found equals the number of spines on the “star”. Thus, if it finds no links, it draws a circle.
  
  It then goes to the first link on the page and does the same thing. Then it iterates over thousands of pages. E-mail addresses are drawn as a plus-sign, errors are an ‘x’, non-html files are squares, and a line follows the path the program took.
  
  Another caveat: The first instance of a web page is a unique star. Anytime the app finds that same page linked to by another page, it draws a line back to the originating star instead of another star.
  
  Hope this helps. There’s a much longer explanation I’m sure…
On September 2nd, 2007 at 03:29, pugsly said:

Reply to pugsly

not much i can say besides wow, these pictures are pretty impressive.
On November 16th, 2007 at 02:28, jamie said:

Reply to jamie

Have you ever read William Gibson’s “Mona Lisa Overdrive”? One of the characters obsseses about finding the overall shape of the net, so this reminds me of it greatly.

I have to say this is some of the most beautifull and intriguing work I’ve ever seen. Does the program only follow the first link on a webpage, or does it run multiple threads, following every link?
- On December 16th, 2007 at 20:28, JK said:
  
  Reply to JK
  
  I have not read “Mona Lisa Overdrive”, though I’m sure I’d like it. Oddly enough I haven’t read any William Gibson. Hmmm.
  
  Thanks for the compliment. To answer your query: Yes, it follows the first link until it finds a page that has no links. Following multiple threads made the image too dense, which I wasn’t a fan of.
On May 26th, 2008 at 06:43, MtB said:

Reply to MtB

u really need to read some gibson books…
On July 23rd, 2008 at 22:18, Ralph said:

Reply to Ralph

Wow! This is remarkable. It looks like you’re creating a universe, filled with stars, nebulas, galaxies, etc. Truly, I must say that you are an awesome man with a creative mind. Please, do more with more steps like 3,000 steps! Can you try google.com, youtube.com, and yahoo.com? I’m not sure it’s possible with those websites. I’ll be here 24/7 waiting for your response and your wonderful works.
On June 6th, 2009 at 15:10, uljeshura said:

Reply to uljeshura

)))))))))))

JK Keller

Where We Went From (www.from)

Projects

11 Responses to “Where We Went From (www.from)”

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