For this week, I stumbled upon the artwork of Linyi Dai, a graduate of Rhode Island School of Design. When I first considered the subject of randomness in computational art, I did not even consider the possibility of using randomness in order to produce practical objects. While this example may not be a perfect example of practicality, it led me to realize that randomness could be used for things such as architectural rendering. While there are a lot of conditions for this specific example of randomness, the location of where the rectangles appear on each of the layers on this piece are. What I found to be particularly inspiring about this piece was Dai’s ability to create spheres that followed a similar format while still displaying a nature of randomness. I liked that the changes between each sphere were subtle yet undeniably there.
John Pound uses his self-developed software to create comics or 2D works derived off of randomization of visual elements. His development of his practice and view of his programs is interesting in that he uses programs “not as a passive tool, like an airbrush, but as an active partner in making creative decisions” (Pound). I appreciate the abstraction and subjectivity of computing in this manner. While the random visuals produced look as if they were just performed by a random function in a 2D coordinate plane, Pound keeps the fabrication of his code and software to himself but says it is coded in PostScript. The visuals look as if there is a constant and a constraint of variables with a simple random variable to add variation. That way, there is a consistency in characters/characteristics but a slight change in illustration that adds presence and personality.
“Inlets” is a non-deterministic chance composition composed by John Cage in 1977. In it, there are three players who hold conch shells of varying sizes filled with water. By tipping the shells back and forth, it is possible to form bubbles that make a gurgling sound; however, the formation of bubbles is random, causing the piece to be non-deterministic and chance based. To remove the preferences of the players from the performance, John Cage utilized the novelty of conch shells as an instrument (something the players would have minimal preferences with), helping to ensure that the composition would be more contained and chance based. I admire John Cage’s re-envisioning of music, that it doesn’t have to be fixed each time that it’s played. Following the same algorithm for production leads to performances that have the same essence but different products, which I find to be really neat.
There wasn’t much on the internet about this image, it was simply referenced in a few places as being random art, but it really stuck out to me.
I could have created this myself, it’s simply a circle spread across three rings, with color changing slightly each ring. Then, the ring set is spanned across a random pattern, yet even with such simple rules, the result is incredibly satisfying.
There was no found author, and it’s likely a student like myself made it.
I’m inspired by this to try random stuff with JavaScript, to make up a set of simple rules and let the computation do the rest. If something even remotely as intricate as this results, I’ll be beyond happy.
I think the appealing part of the image is not only the beautiful color variation but the blur of circles. At first glance, you appear to be able to discern the location of every ring and see the full structure of every circle. However, if you start to push your vision back, everything becomes indiscernible. It feels good to look at, and the code behind it is very simple.
For this looking outwards entry I found a very interesting algorithm based brand identity that is used by the Exploratorium in San Francisco.
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The artist created a program that randomizes lines around a certain areas to create an outcome that has infinite variation.
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With this, he as created a very interesting alphabet that is used in all of their design language. Above is an example of the “e” that is made of of strings computed by his program.
What made me so interested with this project is the branding side of this computation. The designer is using random computation to explore brand identity. The strings he makes are 100% random by definition, but all of them in a room would look like they are similar.
In the designers words, “It allows for infinite variation of the lettermark and exists in a duality of spontaneity and energy grounded by math and logic.” As I am studying letterform, it is very interesting for me to see a typeface that is grounded in randomness.
Nothing There is a computational work made from the soundtrack within the movie, The Man Who Wasn’t There. In the piece, each element is dictate by the amount of sound present during that movie frame. The piece is a representation of silences and pauses within the film.
I is interested in the seemingly not organized, randomness, of this piece, is actually generated from a specific movie and specific timing within the movie. It is powerful to concise a movie silences and pauses frames visually in one piece. The black and white color choice add into to topic of silence. Looking at each element closely and standing back and look them as one piece of work, I do feel the pauses and silences that the Dawes want to represent. It is interest to see the precise informations generating the sense of randomness in the piece.
Holger Lippmann is an artist who uses Processing, which is a drawing software, to create these visuals that are randomly generated and modified in a way where he decides the composition of the work. He also developed the Processing program so it would have certain aesthetic feel in his work. With them, he composes delicate structures and abstract geometrical patterns where he can layer and vary. The LUMAS pieces are based on a special program, in which the artist set a range of parameters to regulate the scattering of the geometrical elements. Lippmann then unites different compositions made in this way into cohesive pieces. “My internal process is the same as it was when I was working with paint and canvas,” Lippmann explains. “That’s why I call my current work digital or computer-aided painting.” Lippmann is also a painter, who knows what color he should use and has a knowledge about what the right composition is. So he is aware of what type of visual choices he makes.
Forms is a computational project that is a collaboration between Memo Akten and Quayola, both who are visual/media artists. From March to September of 2012, Forms was a part of the In the Blink of an Eye: Media and Movement exhibition at the National Media Museum in Bradford, England. The project reflects restricted randomness that leads to a dynamic, organic animation of movements.
a moment in the project
The project explores interaction between the human body and forces in movements, concentrating on athletes who exert significant forces. It is interesting how through abstract visual elements, the authors portray relationships between the human and its environment, such as balance, force, and beauty. The video below compares the software-generated art and the subject(athletes) that was studied.
In the initial stages of the project, the artists created a setting that responds to the dynamic movements of the human body, acquired data on the athletes and ran physics-based simulations. This beginning stage is when they came across random yet predicted animations using 3D Studio Max and custom-made software. Although the animation may seem to be following the athlete’s motions strictly and simply depicting his/her movements, a sense of randomness exists in that the artists of the project focused more on what they see. If the hands of the person is being the attractor point, the authors augmented that part of the body more than other ones and created a flowing, enticing, random project. The end product is a combination of multiple layers that each focuses on different powers and actions of various parts of the athlete’s body.
It is intriguing how Memo Akten and Quayola were able to depict natural activities through random, anthropogenic elements and engage the audience through different senses. Their concentration on collisions between nature and “data dramatizations” as artists successfully manifest itself in the project.
More information can be found on the artists’ websites:
I looked at Marc Adrian’s Computer Poem, Text I, from 1963. This was a randomized, computer-generated poem of black text on a white background. The poem was made using a simple method which randomized the selection of specific words, (words that could be read the same in English and in German) and the font size and location of the words on the canvas. I thought this piece was interesting because, in Adrian’s words, “it allows the spectator to find [their] own meanings in the association of words more easily, since their choice, size, and disposition are determined at random.” I also thought it was intriguing that poetry commonly seems quite personal, and based on experiences and influences of human beings. However, in this piece, the viewer is the one creating the personal aspects and personal meaning due to the vagueness and open-endedness of a randomly-generated computer-made poem. I think Adrian was right to keep the font and colors very stark and straightforward. However, I wish the conceptual side of the words chosen (able to be read in English and German) was a bit more interesting. I don’t think that concept is open-ended enough to give viewers power to make their own connections with the words. Also, Adrian experienced the end of WWII and the terrifying events of the Nazi regime, which motivated him to turn to pieces of “rationality, analysis, and multi-media” which is in some ways shown in this particular piece, through its multi-media blend of poetry, computation, and visual art.
here is the link to a set of artworks created by computers. This is all random in the meaning that these computers “creatively” generated a set of drawings on their own without the guidance of a person. Its randomness does come from a set of codes that a generator initially put into its system, however, its abstract paintings get formed through the computer itself without any help of the creator. This signifies the fact that humans create a way for computers to think and self-generate art, however, it’s something that I do not admire or encourage to be advanced to have them accomplish more complex tasks later on in the future.
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