FLUXIONS is an image processing system that visualizes video sequences as changing configurations of pixels.

 

 

The system segments the original video into short clips and applies a motion tracking algorithm to produce a vector description of their movement.

It then stores the first image of each clip as a key frame, and gradually shifts the values of its pixels based on the vector descriptions of the subsequent frames.

The result can be seen as an abstract visualization of the variation in the original movie.

Viewers can also try to recognize or infer the missing objects and events. This tension between figuration and abstraction, between presence and absence, is the heart of this project.

The idea was inspired by video compression methods, which often store only a few selected key frames out of a longer sequence and then rely on motion vectors to represent the missing frames.

The techniques of digital representation thus subvert our traditional concept of a “frame”. Whereas an analogue film is composed of a sequence of still images, a digital movie “frame” is not always a complete image. It is often an abstract, quantitative representation of a relationship between images.

This project is a poetic reflection on the changing meaning of the frame in a digital context.

This software is also used to produce digital prints.