Working with Generative Systems: An Artistic Perspective

Generative systems are unique in that they allow the artist to specify processes rather than outcomes. In this paper, I describe my creative approach to working with complex computational systems that I have designed and coded over several decades. These systems require certain ways of working that offer both liberation and restriction on creative practice. To illustrate how these systems work in a creative sense, I will give an overview of two recent works: Fifty Sisters (2012–2016) and The Unknowable (2015–2017). Fifty Sisters comprises of fifty 1m × 1m images of computer synthesised plant-forms, algorithmically “grown” from computer code using artificial evolution and generative grammars. Each plant-like form is derived from the primitive graphic elements of oil company logos. The title of the work refers to the original “Seven Sisters” – a cartel of seven oil companies that dominated the global petrochemical industry and Middle East oil production from the mid-1940s until the oil crisis of the 1970s. The Unknowable is a three-channel 4k video triptych. The work depicts a series of virtual flora, evolved using computer programs based on biological evolution. In each sequence evolved plant species slowly disintegrate and then reform, breaking into their fundamental component – the polygon – then reforming anew in an endless cycle of destruction and reconstitution. Both works are mediations on our changed relationship to nature and the natural in a globalised, disconnected virtual world now effectively navigated through digital media.

Content

Author and article information

Contributors

Jon McCormack

Conference

Publication date: July 2017

Publication date (Print): July 2017

Pages: 213-218

Affiliations

[0001]sensiLab, Monash University

Caulfield East, Australia

Article

DOI: 10.14236/ewic/EVA2017.47

SO-VID: b7d1042b-fae6-43bb-852e-c8f38df44d11

License:

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Conference name: Electronic Visualisation and the Arts (EVA 2017)

Conference acronym: EVA

Conference number:

Conference location: London, UK

Conference date: 11 – 13 July 2017

Conference sponsor: Electronic Workshops in Computing (eWiC)

Conference theme: Electronic Visualisation and the Arts

History

Product

1477-9358 BCS Learning & Development

Self URI (article page): https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.14236/ewic/EVA2017.47

Self URI (journal page): https://ewic.bcs.org/

7. REFERENCES

W. R. Ashby 1952 Can a Mechanical Chess-Player Outplay its Designer? British Journal of Philosophy 3 9 44 57
M. A. Boden 2010 Creativity and Art: three roads to surprise Oxford, UK Oxford University Press
C. G. Langton 1995 Artificial life: an overview Cambridge, Mass. MIT Press
J. McCormack 1993 Interactive Evolution of L-System Grammars for Computer Graphics Modelling D. GreenT. Bossomaier Complex Systems: from Biology to Computation 118 130 Amsterdam ISO Press
J. McCormack 2003 Art and the Mirror of Nature Digital Creativity 14 1 3 22
J. McCormack 2005 A Developmental Model for Generative Media M. CapcarrereA. A. FreitasP. J. BentleyC. G. JohnsonJ. Timmis Advances in Artificial Life (8th European Conference, ECAL 2005). LNAI 3630 88 97 Berlin; Heidelberg Springer-Verlag
J. McCormack 2013 Aesthetics, Art, Evolution. Paper presented at the EvoMUSART Vienna, Austria 3-5 April
J. McCormackO. BownA. DorinJ. McCabeG. MonroM. Whitelaw 2014 Ten Questions Concerning Generative Computer Art Leonardo 47 2 135 141
J. McCormackA. Dorin 2001 Art, Emergence and the Computational Sublime. Paper presented at the Second Iteration: A Conference on Generative Systems in the Electronic Arts Melbourne, Australia 5-7 December
J. Parikka 2008 Book review: The Art of Artificial Evolution: A Handbook on Evolutionary Art and Music Leonardo Reviews http://www.leonardo.info/reviews/nov2008/parikkaart.html
P. PrusinkiewiczA. Lindenmayer 1990 The algorithmic beauty of plants New York SpringerVerlag
A. R. Smith 1984 Plants, Fractals and Formal Languages H. Christiansen Computer Graphics Minneapolis, Minnesota 18 1 10 New York ACM SIGGRAPH

Comments

Comment on this article

[1] W. R. Ashby 1952 Can a Mechanical Chess-Player Outplay its Designer? British Journal of Philosophy 3 9 44 57

[2] M. A. Boden 2010 Creativity and Art: three roads to surprise Oxford, UK Oxford University Press

[3] C. G. Langton 1995 Artificial life: an overview Cambridge, Mass. MIT Press

[4] J. McCormack 1993 Interactive Evolution of L-System Grammars for Computer Graphics Modelling D. GreenT. Bossomaier Complex Systems: from Biology to Computation 118 130 Amsterdam ISO Press

[5] J. McCormack 2003 Art and the Mirror of Nature Digital Creativity 14 1 3 22

[6] J. McCormack 2005 A Developmental Model for Generative Media M. CapcarrereA. A. FreitasP. J. BentleyC. G. JohnsonJ. Timmis Advances in Artificial Life (8th European Conference, ECAL 2005). LNAI 3630 88 97 Berlin; Heidelberg Springer-Verlag

[7] J. McCormack 2013 Aesthetics, Art, Evolution. Paper presented at the EvoMUSART Vienna, Austria 3-5 April

[8] J. McCormackO. BownA. DorinJ. McCabeG. MonroM. Whitelaw 2014 Ten Questions Concerning Generative Computer Art Leonardo 47 2 135 141

[9] J. McCormackA. Dorin 2001 Art, Emergence and the Computational Sublime. Paper presented at the Second Iteration: A Conference on Generative Systems in the Electronic Arts Melbourne, Australia 5-7 December

[10] J. Parikka 2008 Book review: The Art of Artificial Evolution: A Handbook on Evolutionary Art and Music Leonardo Reviews http://www.leonardo.info/reviews/nov2008/parikkaart.html

[11] P. PrusinkiewiczA. Lindenmayer 1990 The algorithmic beauty of plants New York SpringerVerlag

[12] A. R. Smith 1984 Plants, Fractals and Formal Languages H. Christiansen Computer Graphics Minneapolis, Minnesota 18 1 10 New York ACM SIGGRAPH

Studying business & IT? Drive your professional career forwards with BCS books - for a 20% discount click here: shop.bcs.org