Every time I watch or read something about generative art, I feel really privileged because while many artists were trying to create art using limited computers and machines, I now have a laptop that allows me to create art whenever I want. Seeing the machines and codes in the talk made me realize how much effort and experimentation went into early computer art, which makes me appreciate the pieces even more since I know the background and history.
I also enjoy learning about different types of art because it allows me to question what art actually is. Before starting my major in Intro to IM and Understanding Interactive Media, I don’t think I would have considered generative art as “real” art, especially since it is created using code and computers. However, after my first two weeks in the major, I realized that art doesn’t have a fixed technical definition, because everyone perceives and understands it differently.
Casey Reas’ Eyeo talk on chance operations was overwhelming at first since he mentioned many different artworks and ideas very quickly making it hard to keep up. Although toward the end, I started to understand the structure of his approach, first introducing ideas through existing works and then building or continuing algorithms through code. One example that stood out to me was the Century piece, where he goes through 100 different artworks to generate a single evolving result, showing how systems can grow over time.
As someone with OCD, I usually want everything to be organized and controlled so the idea of randomness was never a suggestion to me. However, I realized that randomness can actually add beauty and meaning to art through overlapping shapes and unexpected placements. This way, art to me feels more expressive and story-driven than a perfectly structured piece.
After watching Casey Reas’ talk, I feel inspired to include randomness in my own work. I plan to experiment with random values and frameRate to allow my piece to change and evolve, while still keeping it controlled through specific rules in the code.
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