Author: Ting-An Yang

One thing that I, as an art history major, really enjoyed about Casey Reas’s talk on chance operations is the way he connected the topic to the Dada movement in art, referencing the desire of artists to break away from the pre-World War I  conventions of logic and reason. However, as Reas proposes applying the same elements of randomness through generative computer algorithms to create art, I couldn’t help but begin to question its compatibility with my understanding of what constitutes art.

To me, art is something birthed by human deliberation; it encompasses the story, the soul of the artist. When we leave it to chance operations to work and create independently of the intents of the human artist, can we still consider it a meaningful, artistic creation? But just as Jackson Pollock was the one waving his brushes with much force for the paint droplets to create random patterns, the programmer is the one who sets up and sends the computer programs into motion in the first place, allowing these chance operations to create the unexpected. These pieces are not possible without the programmer setting the parameters, and while I do not have a definitive answer about whether this makes them real artists or not, I think it’s nonetheless interesting to see how the role of an artist evolves over time.

Concept:

• The idea for this assignment is to replicate the look of sound waves as they would appear in computer applications: comprised of multiple parallel vertical lines that fluctuate in length to reflect changes in volume. While it is currently beyond the scope of my coding capabilities to create something that actually responds to external sound input, it would nonetheless be a good opportunity for me to practice using for() loops to generate repetition as well as randomized elements.

Highlight:

• I am proud of having utilized the random() function within the for() loop in order to generate rectangles that are in fixed positions but have randomized lengths that change every time the frame refreshes, replicating the look and movement of a sound wave.

for(let x=0;x <= width; x +=15){
  noStroke();
  fill(random(0,50),random(150,200),random(30,255));
  rectMode(CENTER);
  rect(x,200,10,random(20,200));
}

Sketch:

Future improvements:

• The point of sound waves being depicted as such in computer programs is to reflect the volume of the sounds being recorded. In the future, it would be interesting to have the lines respond to various inputs such as clicking, cursor hovering, and sound.

Concept:

• As someone with limited coding experience, a highly simplified self portrait was the best choice for me to familiarize myself with the fundamentals of p5.js. I decided on utilizing blocks of color to illustrate my face in an artistic style reminiscent of the Animal Crossing games.

Highlights:

• I am proud of myself for managing to use two colored arcs to depict my middle-part bangs, which I had a little trouble coding as I was initially confused about how to flip the arc on the right horizontally.

//bangs
fill('#310707');
arc(70, 120, 260, 120, 0, HALF_PI);
arc(330,120, 260, 120, HALF_PI, PI);

Sketch:

Ideas for future improvements:

• While my portrait for this assignment effectively communicates the image of a face, it is a very simplified one that barely represents my likeness. If I were to make another portrait, I would like to experiment with layering more complex shapes with varying levels of opacity as a means of shading and coloring as you normally would while drawing on paper.
• I would also add more elements — be it a moving cloud,  a flying bird or an abstract flurry of colors — to the backdrop to create a livelier composition.