After watching Casey Reas’s Eyeo take on chance operations and the idea of randomness in generative code, I was highly drawn to his idea of the co-existence between control and randomness. His talk particularly reminded me of a moment that I experienced when creating my generative artwork as a new coder. At first, I highly intended to create a piece that sparks a sense of realism to the audience. However, my perspective quickly changed when I typed a piece of code wrong and my entire artwork was changed for the better. The artwork now had more life and interactivity to it, which I believed was the better direction as it opened doors for varied interpretations and understandings. Reas’s particular argument that having a balance between order and chaos definitely illustrated the idea that unexpected results can spark interest and curiosity as opposed to a fully ordered and precise piece.
Moving forward in the Interactive Media course this semester, I was highly inspired by Reas’s approach to randomness and therefore I plan on incorporating random elements into my work by looking at code as a space for experimentation and play, rather than a set of rules that must be strictly followed. This perspective challenges my previous perception of coding as something restrictive and inflexible. I already began incorporating randomness and chance into my pieces through elements such as color, speed, and space.
After watching the video and understanding Reas’s perspective on control and randomness, I believe that the optimum balance between total randomness and total control lies in the artist’s intentions for their artwork. A big part of art is how the audience perceives it; therefore, by incorporating randomness through interactivity, artists enable the audience to approach the artwork from their own perspective. This creates and illustrates new meanings and understandings, whereas total control can limit the accessibility/opportunity to discover unexpected possibilities within an artwork. I personally believe that the percentage of randomness should be slightly higher than the percentage of control in generative art as this approach allows for more unexpected outcomes and gives the artwork a greater sense of creative meaning.