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EnglishWhat themes and practices does Olivia Jack work with?
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Olivia Jack is an artist and programmer whose practice centers on browser-based software, live coding, and the intersection of drawing and code. Her work spans creative tools (most notably the Hydra video synth), audiovisual performance, computer vision, data visualization, and workshops. The themes below are drawn from the project list on ojack.xyz.
Core practice areas
Browser-based software and creative tools
Jack builds tools that run in the browser, often released as open, live-codeable environments rather than finished products.
- Hydra video synth (2023) — a live-codeable video synth and networked coding environment that runs in the browser. It is the anchor of much of her other work.
- PIXELSYNTH (2016) — a browser-based synthesizer that generates sound from images and drawings, inspired by the ANS synthesizer built by Evgeny Murzin in 1937.
- uniquemagicalbrowserobjects.com (2021) — a web gallery of collectible code sketches, auto-generated for each donation to Hydra video synth.
- videoface (2020) — a hybrid code and graphics editor.
Drawing and code as hybrid interfaces
A recurring thread is treating drawing as an input for live programming, rather than a separate medium.
- fubbles // function scribbles (2020) — research into drawing as an interface for creating live-codeable functions in real time.
- Hybrid Interfaces: drawing and code (2022) — a workshop held at Algopolis, ljudmila hacklab, Ljubljana, Slovenia, exploring the same drawing-plus-code territory.
Live coding, performance, and visuals
Jack performs with code in real time, often pairing Hydra visuals with sound.
- code sketches (2020) — Hydra live performance with Ali Santana at The Living Room Project.
- hiperfragmentación (2019) — described as "the dreams of a machine as it falls apart," a live coding, performance, and visuals piece.
- Rarefacció listening cycle (2022, hangar.org, Barcelona) — drawings create a live visual score for clarinet and control the pitch and rhythm of looped audio.
Sound, visual scores, and installation
Work that crosses into sound and scored performance, including visual scores that drive audio.
Computer vision, data visualization, and cartography
Her listed tags include computer-vision, data-visualization, and C++ cartography, alongside drawing, installation, media-design, museum, and workshop contexts.
How the themes connect
| Theme | Representative project | What it demonstrates |
|---|---|---|
| Browser-based tools | Hydra video synth | Live-codeable, networked, runs in browser |
| Drawing as interface | fubbles // function scribbles | Drawings become live-codeable functions |
| Sound from images | PIXELSYNTH | Images and drawings generate audio |
| Live performance | code sketches; hiperfragmentación | Real-time coded visuals with collaborators |
| Visual scores | Rarefacció listening cycle | Drawings control pitch and rhythm of audio |
| Teaching / workshops | Hybrid Interfaces (2022) | Sharing drawing-and-code methods |
If you want to explore her work directly, start with Hydra video synth for the tooling side, and the performance and workshop entries for how the practice is applied and taught.