Mpkoz
Michael Kozlowski is known as mpkoz. His practice revolves around real-time graphics, mixed reality, and interactivity. Most of his work incorporates the input of live or prerecorded two-dimensional video and physical interaction, which is processed and transformed in real-time. He makes video, digital sculptures, and software applications, and is thematically interested in the middle ground as media transitions from two to three dimensions.
Bokeh
Michael Kozlowski's Bokeh merges algorithmic artistry with high craftsmanship, presenting sculptures, lighting, and digital works that explore light, form, and human perception. The collection includes twenty sculptural lighting pieces, each paired with a digital artwork, inviting interactive experiences that transform both space and viewer.
Chimera
Chimera is an on-chain generative series which can procedurally create thousands of unique, dynamic still life compositions containing classic objects such as flowers, books, bowls of fruit, bottles of wine and skulls. Unlike classic still life paintings, in Chimera, the image is constantly being painted and repainted. The viewer can zoom in and out, drag their finger to rotate, and view it from any angle.
Early Chimera, 2021
“Chimera originally began as an ‘orchid generator’. I started working on Chimera in June/July of 2021, long before its release in January 2022. What began as a 2-dimensional, parametric line renderer slowly transformed into a much more advanced 3-dimensional still life generator.” This generator creates infinite variations.
Metropolis
mpkoz's generative artwork Metropolis is an interpretation of urban landscapes through the lens of digital abstraction. The piece dynamically constructs a sprawling cityscape composed of geometric shapes, vibrant colors, and intricate patterns that evoke the complexity and energy of a bustling metropolis. The project stylistically interprets characteristics of major cities like New York City, Berlin, London, Mexico City, and Los Angeles.
Realization
Realization is a 150-piece generative collection written in GLSL.
Fluid with Noise Field, 2020-21
“When I was an undergrad at USC, Refik Anadol was becoming well known in the creative coding community in LA and elsewhere. I was very inspired by his work and attended many of his talks and projection shows. He was very impactful on my pursuit of creative coding as a career. As I became a more capable software developer, throughout 2019-2020, I started to learn fluid simulations and more advanced particle system behaviors similar to the ones he uses masterfully. Fluid simulations offer an awesome crash course in simulated physics, high-end rendering, and GPU programming. The better part of 2020 I spent learning by doing. These were some of the last fluid simulations I made. While I no longer make them, Refik-style fluid simulations remain a big part of my development as an artist and software developer.”
Motion History (Jake), 2020
“Around this time I became obsessed with repurposing 2D video in a three-dimensional way. I started putting some of my work in the setting of a white-box gallery, with a simulated handheld camera recording it. I found it wonderful that so many people messaged me asking what gallery my artwork was in, where they could go see it, despite it being completely fake. I did this intentionally. Simply adding a handheld camera path adds a level of authenticity that at the time was so easily comprehended as authentic. This effect is emulative of the current state of traditional art, digital art, and visual effects (for the first time in history, it is hard to determine if something is man-made or fully synthetic). Specifically, these videos were made by taking iPhone video of dancers and editing them with code in a 3D graphics engine called Unity, which is usually used for making video games. Most of my work at this time was made in Unity.”
Ink, 2016
“This was made for an assignment in one of my first creative coding classes. I was a film major, and this was a coincidental fulfillment of a required technical elective that ended up changing the course of my career and life. It is simple, but a critical part of my own chronology.” This generator creates infinite variations.
Bright Moments Finale
These Finales were minted in person during Bright Moments Venice, April 2024. The collection was conceived of as a retrospective featuring the artists Bright Moments minted IRL over the previous three years during their globe-spanning event series. 1,000 pieces were minted during the event from 60 contributing artists, who were each asked to submit 24 kilobytes of code. Both the art and artist were randomly assigned to the recipient during the generative processes.