Living Canvas

// services
Interactive Installation
Brand Identity
Motion Design
WebGL artwork that evolves with time of day, local weather and world rhythm. Real-world API inputs drive the generative visuals. Never the same twice.
Living Canvas — image 1
A Painting That Responds to the World
Living Canvas is a WebGL artwork that connects to the real world via live APIs and uses that data to drive a generative visual composition that changes continuously. Time of day, local weather, air quality, global event rhythms: all of these feed into the visual parameters of the piece. The artwork at 7am on a clear morning in London looks different to what it is at 11pm during a storm or at midday on a public holiday. The concept came from a frustration with generative art that runs on random number generators, which produces novelty without meaning. Living Canvas produces novelty that is anchored to something real: the state of the world at the moment you are looking at it.
API Inputs, Generative Outputs
The technical architecture connects several real-time data sources through a parameter mapping layer that translates the incoming values into visual variables: colour temperature, compositional weight, movement speed, density. The mapping relationships were designed to feel intuitive once you know what is driving them, but to also work as a pure visual experience for someone who does not. The WebGL renderer was built to handle continuous parameter variation without discontinuity, using smooth interpolation between states so the artwork moves like a physical medium rather than switching between discrete scenes. The piece runs in a browser, which means it is accessible without any installation or hardware beyond a screen.

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