LO – 6 – Randomness

Tree Growth by Her Thorp, 2006

Tree Growth is a piece of computer generated art that uses randomness to generate realistic looking trees of all shapes and sizes. It uses various leaf shapes and different species of trees, and the leaf color can also change based on the different seasons. I find this artwork really fascinating because the algorithm makes the trees look almost photo-realistic, which sets it apart from other computer-generated tree art. Its use of randomness is what makes the trees look very realistic. As a painter, I know that creating leaves on trees is a very random process, and the program accurately mimics this random process.

To create this art, Thorp used the Lindenmayer Systems. In 2006, the artwork was featured in the “Into the Woods” collection in London at the Digital Well Being Labs.