January 29

Generative Art

Reading: "What is generative art?" by Philip Galanter

Now that we've figured out what an algorithm is, we're going to spend the rest of the term looking at ways that artists have used algorithms/systems/processes in their work.

We'll use Philip Galanter's paper as a starting point. "Generative Art" is a currently popular catch-all name for art made via some sort of system. It's a convenient phrase that we'll use to replace the awkward batch of slashes (algorithm/system/process) we've been using. Galanter's definition is:

Generative art refers to any art practice where the artist uses a system, such as a set of natural language rules, a computer program, a machine, or other procedural invention, which is set into motion with some degree of autonomy contributing to or resulting in a completed work of art.

Generative art is a term given to work which stems from concentrating on the processes involved in producing an artwork, usually (although not strictly) automated by the use of a machine or computer, or by using mathematic or pragmatic instructions to define the rules by which such artworks are executed.

Those are pretty broad definitions! It's important to note that we're not talking about aesthetics, style, genre, or any other content-based quality of the work here. It's not hard to find generative work in virtually any style or genre, from pure pop (where "formulaic" is an oft-heard criticism!) to EXTREMENOISETERROR!!! The point we're interested in here is that in one way or another all of artists we'll be talking about have choosen to use the output of some system as an integral part of their work.

We'll finish off today with some listening & looking:

Robert Ashley, In Sara, Mencken, Christ, and Beethoven there were Men and Women: a found system

Amy Alexander & Peter Traub, Netsong: a web composer & the ubiquitous search engine mashup

Camille Utterback & Romy Achituv, Text Rain: simulated physics from an imaginary world

Brad Garton, Style Modeling: simulated music from a distant land
riffs-excerpt.mp3
almost-excerpt.mp3
brad's notes on these pieces

some generative art resources:

http://www.generative.net and the eu-gene mailing list have become an online focal point of Generative Art discussion.

runme.org is a software art repository. Although all software art isn't generative, much of it is, and runme.org has a definite generative slant.

The runme.org people are also behind the Read_Me Software Art and Cultures conference.

Your assignment:

There's an algorithmic sound art festival in town, and they've commissioned you to create two generative sound art pieces. The output of one is to be recorded once and released on CD, the other will be presented at a live event or as an installation in a gallery. Make a proposal for each piece. Be specific. Create an algorithm. Do some iterations.

You don't have to actually make finished pieces, but be prepared to talk about your ideas. Explain what you're trying to do and how your systems work. Talk about the difference between two pieces, and the difference between a recording and a real-time event. Feel free to present diagrams, charts, graphics, programs, soundfiles, sketches, code, etc. You've only got 10 minutes to make your case. Have fun.