aboyle-Looking Outwards-06

Picture credit:https://creators.vice.com/en_uk/article/vvzxkb/random-numbers-screen-printed-generative-art-nyc-event

For this post, I decided to look at the work of Marius Watz, specifically his contribution to the “Random Number Multiples” series. All contributors create prints that engage with new techniques, and Marius Watz decided to experiment with computational randomness. Watz created two prints, both part of an “arc” series, that are described as “pseudo-random compositions of radial shapes, subtly distorted by a 3D surface that lends the image a strong focal point and sense of movement.”

First of all, I simply like the aesthetics of this project; I think that the final prints are very interesting to look at. Secondly, I think it’s interesting how the art was generated on a computer and then transferred onto a physical print. In a time where everything’s digitized, it can be tempting to just leave digital art on the computer, but I think that there’s a benefit to bringing that art into the physical world. Finally, while I can tell that aspects of the art were random, the piece is nonetheless cohesive, something that I find intriguing.

The artist describes the composition as “pseudo-random”, so the randomness was heavily biased and deterministic—not “truly random”, perhaps, but interesting nonetheless. From the final product, I can tell that Watz has an appreciation for both color and form.