# Eyebeam application language — working draft

Prepared September 27, 2026. Draft project narrative, not a submitted application or a response tailored to an unseen form's word limit.

## Project and proposed residency work

The Vibes Are People is an interactive atlas that traces algorithmic visual patterns back to the people whose research, art, tools, and teaching helped make them possible. Visitors begin with a moving study, explore its technical ingredients, and follow named contributions to their sources. The prototype contains 40 technique studies with linked contributor records. It distinguishes original methods from later artistic uses and teaching contributions, and keeps uncertain connections visible.

As an ITP graduate and a former Eyebeam Project Resident in 2003, I bring this project back to a community that understands code as a cultural practice. During the proposed residency, I would deepen the research through artist conversations and public archives, including Rhizome ArtBase, Franklin Furnace, Ars Electronica, and ISEA. The aim is to make collaboration, toolmaking, and teaching easier to recognize alongside invention. I would invite artists to identify missing contributors and contest incomplete accounts, then incorporate those corrections into the atlas.

The public outcome would be an expanded, documented collection and a reusable approach to crediting the human contributions behind computational images. Rather than treating a visual resemblance as proof of influence, each connection would state what the person contributed, when, and what evidence supports the claim.

## Short version

The Vibes Are People makes the human history of algorithmic images explorable. Visitors move from animated studies to techniques, named contributors, and original sources. Building on my 2003 Eyebeam residency and ITP background, I propose expanding the atlas through archival research and artist-led corrections, making collaboration, teaching, and toolmaking visible alongside invention.

## Evidence and boundaries

- Yury's 2003 Eyebeam residency and ITP degree: https://eyebeam.org/artists/yury-gitman/
- Existing prototype: https://thevibesarepeople.com/
- Research method: https://thevibesarepeople.com/notes/ingredients/techniques.html#research-method
- Archive capabilities and limitations: institutional-archive-sources.md in this folder.
- Artist conversations, community review, expanded coverage, and a reusable method are proposed residency activities; do not describe them as already completed.
- Named archives are prospective research sources, not confirmed collaborators or supporters.
- This draft has not been checked against the current application prompts, selection criteria, or word limits; no funding or acceptance claim is made.