Connor McGaffin – Looking Outwards – 06

The work of Siebren Versteeg caught my attention this week due to its playful deceit. Versteeg creates work that emulates the style of contemporary abstract artists through writing code which, with a series of randomized variables, creates unique pieces of art. Versteeg explains that although he considers his work randomized, there is still human bias of beauty in his work present in his ensuring that the pieces still looked, “dripped”, and “stuck” like a physical painting.

With this being said, it is evident that Siebren Versteeg used code with variables limited within a certain range. For example, the colors depicted in his work do not mix as they “normally” would digital, for mediums like oil or acrylic behave differently. Versteeg’s artistic sensibility is definitely self-aware, as his work is just as much about the process and product as it is commentary on the art world at large. The lines between human expression and randomized calculations is thoroughly blurred.

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