in flow #6

What got me addicted to program visual art?
It's the feeling when your current level of expertise hits a challenge that just about exeeds your comfort zone. You set of in a valley of despair where the problem ahead seems 'too hard'.
You begin to inform yourself and learn from others who were stuck at a similiar problem.
You try things and a solution to the issue appears – your mind flies.
Hours later a warm tickling feeling spreads. Serendipitous bugs shift your trajectory.
Your body isn't present anymore, it's only brain, code and screen.
Suddenly the parameter space that grew over the last hours produced a first fully satisfying outcome. You did it!
Hectic explorations of the parameters follow, screenshots, exuberant git commit messages, dms to friends – until you realize it's 4:21 am and you fall into a short but deep, happy sleep.
On the way you follow 7 tweeps, read 3 papers, watch 11 tutorials, spend 48 hours on stackOverflow, learn about Goethe's color theory, tangent space, and The John Frum movement.