Viv Galinari
Enter the world of Part BBC Software Engineer Part Freelance Creative Coder, and our newest Coeval Instagram Filter creator Viv Galinari as she considers experimental software and what it means to look at and have a face through distortion rather than visions of beauty.
Being self-taught, what got you started working with code?
Iโve always loved technology but I spent most of my life avoiding code as in my head that wasnโt for me. It was only a couple of years ago when I graduated from a Master of Science in Innovation that I realised that to innovate I would actually have to code those innovations myself. At that point, I already had spent all my savings on the degree and had to teach myself computer science from scratch from free resources on the internet.
In a time when the tech industry is at a high, the creative intersection is something not explored through words, but more through visuals like your work. What inspired you to further explore this through freelance work (or however else)!
Because I am self-taught, I didnโt have a fixed syllabus to follow, like the ones from formal education or coding bootcamps. Therefore I made my own roadmap of technologies to learn and allowed myself space for exploring the technologies that interested me the most. Those were mostly experimental software and frameworks to make music, art and other creative coding experiments. From there, it was just a natural step to progress into making creative commercial work.
You feature a cacophony of eyes via total bodily manipulation to the point of shards hardly resembling a face, what are some of your inspirations for filters right now?
Some of my filter ideas come from seeing other imagery out there in the world, from posters, photography or art. However, most of them come from exploring certain features and iterating them over and over. One of my favourite things to do is to single out features of oneโs face and rearrange them back in unusual ways, or turn them into accessories. I like the playfulness of reinventing the face and the weirdness of filling in the negative spaces in the face with more eyes or mouths.
When creating a filter, how do you allow for error and digital excess in a code that may allow for imperfections (blurring the entire face on an app that prides itself on recognition, etc)? In other words, how do you allow distortion in an otherwise perfect code?
I think distorting is a big part of my creative process, and in many ways, I must distort it all in order to start fresh and create something new. Out of my iterations I verge towards what is strange and unusual because thatโs what appeals to me the most. When you create social augmented reality experiences there is this pressure to make something pretty that people will use, but it was only when I released myself from that pressure and made room for digital excess and imperfections, that I could create more original ideas.
How did you come up with the idea for the green lasered filter for coeval?
We were on the same page from the start as we both wanted to create a futuristic filter to match Coevalโs content. After some discussions I created a moodboard with post-human and cyber-ninja imageries, with sharp edges, liquid metallic textures and neon colours on dark themes. The green stuck with me after seeing the logo created by @jinkuizhou and @kesa.exe on instagram. It is a recurring theme on the page and I love the shinny feel to it, hence why the lasered eyes felt like the right idea to bring our vision to life.
courtesy VIVI GALINARI
interview JASMINE REIKO HEALY
More to read
