Casey Reas’ video on chance operations provides insights into the role of chance and randomness in new media and art. While the emergence of chance in art was seen as a significant development through the dadaist, surrealist, and futurist movements of the early 20th century as a way of challenging the rational, ordered way of life, it is now a widely accepted and even popular form of art-making in today’s landscape.
I was fascinated by the distinction between randomness and order. Both, though completely opposite in my opinion, pave the way for modern art seen currently. Straying further away from the “naturalist” Renaissance paintings, both chaotic and mind-bending images, as well as grid-like ordered images, are the visuals of today. It was also very interesting when he brought Rosalind Krauss’ critique of the presence of such grid-like images in modern galleries. I personally feel that they are important both aesthetically and metaphorically, serving as a yin-yang to the chaos of generative art. The idea of duplication leading to order from randomness and the concept of symmetry is a very human-oriented perception of the world, and it feels like it has a much deeper rooted relation to us. As such, I don’t find such grid-like images to be devoid of humanity.
I found the video inspiring in multiple ways, particularly in how art can take different directions going forward. Upon further research, I discovered that Reas co-created Processing itself. His insights on the philosophy of generative art and chance operations kept me pondering the various ways nature can be represented in media.