Wednesday, May 22, 2019

cipher - What does this modern art picture represent?


This puzzle belongs to the puzzle series: hyper-modern art





Two visitors are standing in front of a painting in the hyper-modern art gallery, discussing it.


"Well, I have to admit that I really don't understand hyper-modern art. It seems artists nowadays just plot anything without thinking and call it art. What do you make of this?"


"My friend, this clearly shows that one needs a certain eye to see the art. I think, actually, the artist did a very interesting job here..."


"Really? I know art isn't something to look 'nice on the wall', but I simply can't stand work like this. There is no thought going into it... Just some paint... and then pick a random name for your work and let the art critics come up with some meaning of it all, and voila, that's what it has been about all along..."


"Oh, quite the contrary my friend. Looking at the work, the name of the painting couldn't have been chosen more appropriately. In fact, one could discover the name in the painting, if it hadn't have been labelled. I think it was quite cleverly done..."




Can you determine the name of the painting below?
It consists of 4 characters.


CryptoPainting






The puzzle is solely contained in the digital image above. You may want to download it for full resolution and processing. In your answer, you have to state a clear and detailed explanation why your 'name' is the correct one. The name alone and some loose connections are not enough.




Answer



Here is an answer that decodes this image. Not being a programmer, I used ImageJ and Stegsolve to look at this file.


Viewing with bit0 then bit1 provides these two images:



The left images are from the modern art picture above. The right images are generated from this Game of Life
Bit0 Bit1




Then continuing to toggle through bit2, bit3, bit4 provides the following images:



Bit2 Bit3 Bit4



And finally, these images with bit5, bit6, bit7



Bit5 Bit6 Bit7



So the name of the painting is:




LIFE because toggling through the bit planes provides images that match the original rules of Conway's Game of Life.
At each step in time, the following transitions occur:
- any live cell with fewer than two live neighbours dies, as if caused by under-population
- any live cell with two or three live neighbours lives on to the next generation
- any live cell with more than three live neighbours dies, as if by overcrowding
- any dead cell with exactly three live neighbours becomes a live cell, as if by reproduction



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