Reina Sofía, Hypatia, Bézier Game

Prelude to the workday

During the weekend an idea on a more sane way to create bézier curves came up, I think the direction is correct, but I would have to prototype it to get a feel of it. But what is the value of a technique that can't be used in the real world? An ameliorating factor is that I could use this technique in Method Draw, but it's still... not useful enough.

I had set myself to finish the Bézier Game in two weeks, and I'm on track, but this unforeseen feature would prolong the release, possible by a substantial time. I will first focus on finishing what I've started, and and the end of the week I shall decide.

I will also dedicate some time to Project Arete. As the product is used in novel ways, it asks for features which I need to incorporate in order to use them.

I've seen that, after a visit to the pool I seldom feel inclined to keep work going, so it is best that I leave it for the end of the day.

I joined a MeetUp expat picnic during the weekend, and we were speaking about the pains of going to work on Mondays. I hadn't noticed if I felt dread or pleasure starting the week. It is not pleasure, but there is an eagerness for flow and good expectations for the week, at this time at least.

Work session 1 (1h, 45m)

I came to the library of Reina Sofía, this time with my passport, and they let me through. A beautiful library, except the entrance is a hassle. This library has quite a massive selection of design and and art books, it's a pity I don't enjoy reading these subjects. Art and design books tend to be written by historians and academics, often as contract work paid by a publisher, or to pad their résumé. They are a chore to read. Books by practitioners are another thing, I shall sift through the collection to see if anything catches my eye.

I dedicated the work session to Project Arete. Nothing can be written about something that is still undercover, so I shall keep on describing what I found at this library: it has a good selection of academic journals. Since entering and exiting this building is a hassle, I thought it would be a good idea to read them during a break. So this I will do.

I picked up a feminist journal called "Hypatia", and came across an article called "Epistemic Injustice and Resistance in the Chiapas Highlands: The Zapatista Case". Coming from Mexico I thought it would be an interesting read, instead I found combative authors who make no attempt at scholarship. In fact, they spend a couple of pages making the case that an "objective worldview" is really a sexist, oppressive and capitalist view of things that has become normalized. Since they believe this is the case, it is stated that their responsibility is to push back with a feminist worldview. Oh dear, I have my issues with purely statistical/scientific ways of interpreting the world, but completely doing away with any attempt of objectivity in academia is... indoctrination.

Skimmed other articles, there is no use, I had no previous exposure to feminist academia, but it is clear that a war is being waged, and their concern is not in the acquisition of knowledge but the acquisition of power. I do not engage in warring activities, so I shall continue working.

Work session 2 (50min)

I opened the Bézier Game and took it from where I was taking it last week. I was making some example levels with my homebrewed relative SVG units and I noticed this wouldn't scale when I reached more complex paths. So I made a quick exploration into using viewBox in combination with the little known property vector-effect: non-scaling-stroke; and I saw it indeed worked. Further investigation revealed places where complexity was reduced (coordinate system) and others where it increased (stroke-dasharray), but all in all it is a win.

This is a big deal, because it will allow me to dedicate more time to the implementation rather than to creating levels. I can use any SVG path to create a level, instead of converting it by hand or investing time in a script that does this for me. Let's celebrate with lunch.

Work session 3 (1h)

Even though at the beginning of the day I said I would not come to the pool until later in the day, I was really close by and thought about working laying on the grass, as usual. However, I asked the attendant if it would be fine if I worked from the bar terrace and he said yes, so I enjoyed an hour of focused work here.

I dedicated this hour mostly to drawing the first exercises of each level. I now have 15 levels complete, with around 35 to go. They should be dispatched in about four hours of work. One thing towards which I feel ambiguity is that I haven't set my conviction if this is a game to help you learn to use the pen tool of existing apps, or a tool to demonstrate what it could be. I see Figma's implementation is way more advanced than anything out there, I can't implement vector networks just to make it justice. I'll keep on working and tackle these things if there is time at the end (read: probably never).

Afterword