contendi nel foco

Originally this project was to be executed using a typewriter. The original image would be grayscale rasterized using conventional digital imaging software at a scale equivalent to one-pixel-height per row of 12-pt text on an 8/5x11" page (excluding margins), and one-pixel-width per column of 12-pt text on the same page. Then, using some linear scale, the saturation of each pixel would be correlated to a particular number of repeated strikes over the same character using a manual typewriter. With an array of numbers representing the number of strikes over each character in hand, the image would be manually rasterized using the typewriter, typing over each pixel/character repeatedly as appropriate to achieve a given saturation. The letters would carry meaning both as both characters and pixels. The text was to be a repeated passage from the Inferno

...e vederai color che son contendi nel foco...
[...and you shall see those souls who are content to be in fire...]

in which Virgil describes to Dante the souls of purgatory. The text is in ALL CAPS because caps make better "pixels," i.e. they provide better coverage of a particular letter's corresponding area as a picture element. Also, spaces have been eliminated because they cause a distracting diagonal "striping" effect across the finished image.

As for the image itself, well...some people can see it, and some can't. For the latter I provide this link. But I recommend looking for a little while first before seeing the original.

Lastly, I should point out that this work was not, in fact, executed with a manual typewriter. The process of doing so would have been so tedious that I probably would have kept putting it off indefinitely until the hour of my death. Fortunately, I found this cool website that will automatically convert images to HTML text files, as below.

HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HE TEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETE ROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETERO CHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCH ROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHRO MIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMI A/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/ HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HE TEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETE ROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETERO CHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCH ROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHRO MIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMI A/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/ HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HE TEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETE ROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETERO CHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCH ROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHRO MIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMI A/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/ HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HE TEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETE ROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETERO CHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCH ROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHRO MIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMI A/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/ HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HE TEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETE ROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETERO CHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCHROMIA/HETEROCH

And here, lastly, is a .PDF file of the finished piece, if anyone should want to print their own copy.