Tisselli has an ongoing interest in algorithmical variations that create a "movie" from a word combined with a sequence of images. synonymovie in particular reflects upon the conceptual associations of synonyms that emerge from the translation from a word to an image that "means" or evokes the same.


Author description: synonymovie generates a sequence of images based on a single word: a "movie" that develops algorithmically through a chain of semantic relations. Initially, synonymovie asks the user to introduce a word, which will be the "seed" (as in "random seed," a number used to initialize a pseudorandom number generator) from which the image sequence will unfold. The sequence starts by finding an image related to the word, using an on-line image search engine. Then, a synonym for the word is obtained from a Web-based synonym server, together with its corresponding image, and so forth. The "movie" will end when a word without synonyms (or related images) is found.

Instructions: Shockwave and internet connection required.

Previous publication: First appeared online in 2004.

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