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Untitled* --- Interactive Generative Joana Fernandes Gomes [email protected] --- Installation for Visual Universidade Católica Portuguesa (UCP) CITAR: Research Centre for Science and Technology of the Arts, Portuguese Catho- Compostion lic University. --- ABSTRACT The generative art changed our concepts of image habitat. But like in the living beings those rules can and art. They are so embedded in they way we can be transgressed and the process reacts in a lot of dif- create new visual artistic expression. ferent ways. This unpredictability, typical of complex This paper will present some ideas regarding gen- systems [7], gives the artist the possibility of action erative art and introduce Untitled* , piece developed and results that are beyond the ones he is capable using those principles. of comprehending through his natural systems of perception: vision, touch, smell, etc. Index Terms: generative, visuals, interaction, and col- Before digital media, Ben and John Whitney Laposky laboration. highlighted the capabilities of generative art. In digi- tal media, tools like Processing [9] (Ben Fry and 1 | Introduction Casey Reas) and openFrameworks [10] (Zachary In generative art, the artist sets tasks to the machine, Lieberman and Theo Watson) brought closer artists and establishes in the machine an extension of him/ and designers in developing such projects. Artists herself. Those extensions can be biological or psy- popularized this art through graphic works (Joshua chological [1] [2]. It provides a semi-autonomous Davis and Casey Reas), sculptures (Marius Watz) system [3] [4] where the artist can be the agent that and interactive installations / performances (Christa selects or gives a program the ability to execute a Sommerer and Laurent Mignonneau [11] [12], Golan selection through the rules he builds-in. Levin and Zachary Lieberman, Karsten Schmidt). The The relationship between art and science is very generative processes most often are not exposed close. Generative art is a discipline that values and to the eye of the beholder. Often these processes brings together art and science. From principles of are embedded in the form of interaction with the biology, where we can understand evolutionary con- artwork. Pattie Maes, Christa Sommerer, are names cepts and selection principles [5], and the acquisi- of artists who explore such issues. tion of the external process of the human compre- Thus, the processes and the relations between hu- hension, it allows the creation of artificial replicating mans and machines become closer. The interactions structures that don’t belong to the human domain. become more fluid and adapted. The intelligence Generative art is a branch of artistic practice that of some of those systems allows that each individ- uses resources from biology, mathematics, physics ual gets better responses to his/her/its and more and other scientific fields for its simulations such evolved and optimized actions that are able to generate new paradigms that until then were beyond the artist’s reach. 2 | Generative Art New characteristics such as learning, adaptation and The generative art is an art form widely known within mutations are typical of those systems. Normally, contemporary arts and has gained increasing pres- the most adapted ones perpetuate the skills more ence in the art world. Featuring works in several ar- valuable and desired for the system in that moment. eas, the generative art is still very poorly understood [6] [7] by most people, mainly because it is so comprehen- The rules are the algorithms generated by the artists sive and therefore its efficacy can be very difficult and the rules applied are the parameters that shape for a group meeting with very narrow parameters. the behavior of a certain individual, population and What is generative art? According to Philip Galanter CITAR JOURNAL 15 “Generative art refers to any art practice where the results. Despite the author’s role to delegate tasks artist uses a system, such as a set of natural lan- to the “machine”, it ceases to have the leading role guage rules, a computer program, a machine, or for the end result. In the case of digital arts such other procedural invention, which is set into motion software becomes a kind of performative extension with some degree of autonomy contributing to or of the artist [15]. resulting in a completed work of art.” [13] This defini- Another issue that causes some controversy over the tion of Galanter was very important for generative generative art is the interest declared by some artists art and is the most accepted and current. Which to do work where the only concern is the aesthetic characteristics are different from a generative art issue. The beauty in contemporary art was eventu- work from any other computer program? Galanter ally perceived as a empty resource and devalued. argued that the difference is in the artist’s decision to The generative art found in the roots of pop art cede part of its control over the piece to an external together with electronic music the possibility to cre- system. That is why these projects will seek its roots ate objects where the primary purpose is aesthetic in the work of conceptual art. The artist transfers factor by itself. Generative art looks for natural forms the function of the construction of the object and and harmonies - where there is a return to nature. decides to give instructions. Just like in the early Already Galanter said, “the universe itself is a genera- days of conceptual art, where artists like Yoko Ono tive system.” [16] The risk of these types of pieces is and Robert Barry defined letters with instructions falling into the “Art of screen savers.” as their artistic works. Each generative work piece is unique for each per- In fact the term generative art is a definition that can formance. Artists like John Cage always incorpo- not be only related to technique. It takes more than rate such features in their work, allowing a state of the form and rules to “build” the art object: it is the constant remaking / rethinking of the work. Despite decisions of the artist on the results generated by the the work being executed for a thousand times, it algorithm developed. One of the difficulties involved always takes the form of something new. Everything in this issue is the fact that it is a technique that can depends on the purpose of the artist. be used by designers, artists, architects, scientists, etc., and so their limits are tortuous. This variety of 3 | State of the Art possibilities turns out to feed much questioning of The generative art as could be observed, is therefore some spectators. The idea of the possibility of unit- a very broad field of art. Its main feature is using ing such diverse work in one branch, lead Galanter mechanisms external to the artist to achieve partly to also realize that: “what generative artists have in autonomous tasks following a set of rules defined common is how they make their work, but not why by the author. Such concepts are not new. We can they make their work or even why they choose to see the use of generative processes already for a few use generative systems in their art practice”. [14] decades. Some works, despite being about 40 years These types of work had great importance for the already have a result very close to what is created current definition of the role of creator / artist. While nowadays on generative digital art. The contribu- developing the code that generates the construction tions of major contemporary artists, Ben Laposky of the work, their role is no longer direct and turns and John Whitney is paramount as they are consid- out to be quite distanced from the final work. As ered the “fathers” of generative art for digital artists. these systems gain their own life, the artist ends up The artist Ben Laposky (1914 - 2000), born in Chero- losing the total control over the subject, contrary to kee, Iowa, was a mathematician and an artist and a what was happening, for example, in more traditional pioneer in computer use in artwork. He was respon- forms of painting or in any other more traditional sible for creating abstract images in the first decade artistic technique. They produce, moreover, the small of the 50’s. In his first experiments he used a device contours and surprisingly unpredictable results giv- called analog oscilloscope Cathode Ray Tube (CRT). ing a special glow to the final object. The possibilities His work, called “oscillons,” were beautiful math- beyond human perception plus a few random acts ematical curves based on the waves used in analog are some of the reasons why these kind of pieces computers. The analog computers were first used in expand (rather than reduce) the role of the artist. He the 20s and were able to perform calculations much gives life to something that has a relative autonomy, faster in a very short time. The technique for building which allows the construction of an object within the the code was a continuous variation of current allow- parameters set. Despite the artist’s distance from the ing calculations in “real time” (unlike the technique work, he is it the one that defines which images are used today by digital computers that makes use of to be presented to viewers. His distant perspective, finite signals). In the 40 analog computers began almost like a god over his world, allows you to see it to be replaced by digital because digital computers and understand it, allowing the selection for its best were much more affordable. The images produced CITAR JOURNAL 16 were photographed, resulting in a interesting work Marius Watz is a renowned creator of pieces in the both for aesthetic reasons as for technical.

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