Chance Operations – Casey Reas (Eyeo 2012)
After watching the talk by Casey Reas on chance operations, I was fascinated with the utilization of randomness with sets of control and limitations into a creative and intriguing digital art. From the revolution one line code of repetition and randomness using the Commodore 64 to the current creative platform Processing, the field of using randomness as a core tool has vastly progressed to diverse areas. One of the examples that Reas brought up in his talk was about his use of reproduction of cancer cells data – and how data, with a controlled randomness, can create a unique pattern and open the new era of computer art.
Personally, I found the idea of using simple and individual elements like a dash (-) or a slash (\, /) with controlled randomness to create a pattern the most interesting – especially relating back to Reas’s co-authored book “10 PRINT CHRS$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10”. These things may look simple, but the simpleness allow us to look closer and deeper – to use them in unique ways to create something novel. And, Reas’s talk made me to think deeper on the idea of randomness and its application on small components.
The talk, in general, definitely opened me up to numerous ideas and variations that I can apply into previous or existing works, and raised my excitement in using Processing to make these ideas come true.