GENERATIVE ART
EARLY EXPERIMENTS IN GENERATIVE ART
With the advent of the computer and the ability to display reality virtually, a few personal experiments come to mind. One of my earliest interdisciplinary laboratories was at Digital Productions, Hollywood (1982-1987). In the production of One Thousand Question Marks, I collaborated with the computer to randomly fill a three dimensional void with simulated geometric characters. Object placement, orientation and color were decided at random distribution, inside the computer.
The outcome of the performances were informed by chance. Similarly, the computer, left to its own devices, has a collective mind of its own. As an artist, this is the fundamental driver in the selection of the computer as a creative partner.
This style of generative art delegates considerable authority to the computer. The choice of content, design, spatial constraints and random number generation, requires human collaboration. The outcome is a creative partnership, whose man-machine proportions are currently governed by the artist.
These final images were rendered in 1984 at Digital Productions in Hollywood, California and mastered on 4 by 5 film with an optical digital film printer built by David Rudhoff and John Whitney, Sr.