Casey Reas’s talk really changed the way I think about art. I never thought that code and art could come together because they were really different in my eyes before, but after watching/listening to his presentation, I now see them as connected. I always saw code as more of a technical thing, while art felt free and expressive, so it was kind of mind blowing to see him combine the two. He talked about different artists and showcased a lot of their work, along with his own, and it was really interesting seeing how many different ways people have found to turn shapes and code into art. It reminded me a lot of what we do in class with p5, where we use simple shapes and basic code to build something more complex.
In my own work, I personally want to bring in randomness by setting a few simple rules for shapes or patterns, and then letting things like color, size, or placement change around a little. For example, I could have a circle that changes size every time, so its never quite the same shape twice. Thats also where the whole balance thing comes in for me, because in my opinion, total randomness or total control in code doesnt actually make good art by itself. Too much control can make the art piece feel like its missing something, but too much randomness can make it look like a mess with no direction. That said, being planned out isnt always a bad thing either, sometimes having more structure is exactly what a piece needs to actually work. But I feel like the balance really depends on the piece itself, overall its somewhere in the middle, enough structure so it still makes sense, but enough randomness that it stays unique and doesnt feel too planned out.