Demystifying Generative Art
<h1>1. Definitions</h1>
<p><em>(Those already familiar with Long Form Generative art may want to skip to chapter 2)</em></p>
<h2><strong>What is generative art</strong></h2>
<ol>
<li>Strictly speaking the term Generative art refers to art created by utilizing the influence of an autonomous system. Typically this is a non-human system which will determine certain features of an artwork. The generative artist in this definition therefore gives up some degree of artistic control to a system external to themselves.</li>
<li>A newer common definition of generative art that I will refer to in this essay is art created using a computer scripted algorithm. The autonomous system in this definition is typically computer generated randomness*. However in this algorithmic class of generative art, randomness is typically less of a means of surrendering artistic control, and more of a means of exploring the potential variety contained in an algorithm.</li>
</ol>
<p><em>Strictly speaking this is pseudo-randomness, but the technicalities of randomness are beyond the scope of this essay. In this essay when I refer to randomness I actually mean pseudo-randomness.</em></p>
<h2><strong>What is an algorithm</strong></h2>
<p>An algorithm can be thought of as a recipe. Computers are dumb in the sense they need very unambiguous recipes to perform certain actions. They cannot interpret a vague instruction like — cut two slices of bread — without having precisely defined contextual ‘knowledge’. This knowledge might be coordinates and a path through space which determines a slice; A velocity and path of the slicing action; A time to execute the slicing; A command to perform once the slicing is done; What to do if the number of slices cannot be cut from the remaining loaf… and so on. The computer cannot think for itself in this analogy. AI could potentially provide a means of interpreting a less precisely defined recipe but I’m going to limit the scope of this essay to talking about non AI generative art. So an algorithm is just a finite sequence of rigorous instructions. Those instructions in generative art are ultimately to change pixel color values within a defined area to create an artwork image.</p>
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