From Mosaics to Pixels: Reinterpretation of Selected Zeugma Mosaics

Year 2025, Volume: 6 Issue: 1, 121 - 146, 31.03.2025

Merve Akdoğan

https://doi.org/10.53710/jcode.1512877

Abstract

This paper presents a digital art project that uses contemporary computational techniques and algorithms to reimagine the rich legacy of Anatolian mosaics. The study creates a link between modern digital art and traditional craftsmanship by converting mosaic tiles into digital pixels. The aim is to recreate selected mosaics digitally by using other mosaic images as mosaic tiles. The algorithm that is used for the study works by dividing the canvas into a grid and choose suitable mosaic images for each grid in order to compose a selected mosaic as a whole on the Processing 4 environment. The selection of suitable mosaics for each grid depends on their brightness and color values. Several significant Zeugma mosaics from Gaziantep, Türkiye were successfully recreated by the algorithm, which was inspired by Daniel Shiffman's "Obama Mosaic" algorithm. This work has instructional value in teaching algorithmic art, artistic innovation and its usage in cultural preservation. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate how digital craftsmanship may redefine and maintain traditional art forms in the digital age.

Keywords

Algorithmic Art, Pixel Art, Mosaic Art, Computational Design, Digital Cultural Heritage

Mozaiklerden Piksellere: Seçilmiş Zeugma Mozaiklerinin Yeniden Yorumlanması

Abstract

Bu çalışma, Anadolu mozaiklerinin zengin mirasını yeniden yorumlamak için çağdaş hesaplama tekniklerini ve algoritmaları kullanan bir dijital sanat projesidir. Çalışma, mozaik karoları dijital piksellere dönüştürerek modern dijital sanat ile geleneksel işçilik arasında bir bağlantı kurmayı amaçlar. Amaç, Anadolu’dan mozaik görsellerini mozaik karo olarak kullanarak Türkiye'nin Gaziantep şehrinden seçili Zeugma mozaiklerinin dijital ortamda yeniden oluşturulmasıdır. Daniel Shiffman'ın "Obama Mozaiği" çalışmasından esinlenen algoritma, Processing 4 ortamında seçilen bir mozaiği bir bütün olarak oluşturmak için kanvası bir ızgaraya bölerek ve her bir ızgara için uygun mozaik görselleri seçerek çalışmaktadır. Her ızgaraya uygun mozaiklerin seçimi parlaklık ve renk değerlerine bağlıdır. Bu çalışmanın amacı, dijital zanaatkarlığın dijital çağda geleneksel sanat formlarını nasıl yeniden tanımlayabileceğini ve koruyabileceğini göstermektir.

Keywords

Algoritmik Sanat, Mozaik Sanatı, Piksel Sanatı, Hesaplamalı Tasarım

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