Machindrian I app for iPhone and iPad

Piet Mondrian [03/07/1872 - 02/01/1944] was the quintessential Modern. A leader in that 20th century art and architecture movement, his images are perhaps the most iconic of the bunch. His bold squares of primary colors are instantly recognizable. You may not know the man’s name but you know his art.

Curiously his earlier work was purely representational. I was surprised by its beauty and strong inner geometry. However, as the years go by the representational becomes subsumed by the geometric and the seeds of his more abstract works become evident. As early as 1912 he escaped natural reality entirely. (except for a brief visit in 1918)

Machindrian I is an homage to a great artist.

With Machindrian I you can create your own Mondrian-like creations. The default mode is to generate a new image at a set time interval, making for an attractive and varying screen saver. Or you can pause (double-tap) the production and with a simple swipe explore on your own. A single tap brings you to a set of controls allowing you to change the color palettes and other parameters of the image. Perhaps you prefer thinner lines or larger or smaller blocks. The complexity setting will generate deeper and more complex images, limited only by the block size. When you find an image you like, press the home and power button simultaneously to save the image to your Photos.

Please, download, play, explore. If you do anything interesting with the images please drop a line to [email protected] and let me know!

In his early career Mondrian made side money copying paintings by other artists. So perhaps he wouldn’t be too upset with my little tribute.

Some references you might enjoy:

1) "Natural Reality and Abstract Reality: An Essay in Trialogue Form 1919-1920" - Piet Mondrian

2) "Artists of the 20th Century: Piet Mondrian" - KULTUR (DVD)

3) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piet_Mondrian

4) an image search on “Mondrian”.