Historical Context

Procedurally generated Zellij compositions. Click on the drawing and press the space bar or refresh to generate a new composition.

Made by: Craig S. Kaplan

Pre-cursers & Terminology

Going Back in Time

Expanding Popularity

Grasping Complexity

< 70000 BC

15th century

14th century

2000 BC

Algorithm:

A precisely detailed procedure for carrying out a task. Algorithm is a variant of the earlier term algorism. Believed to be derived from the name of Persian mathematician "al-Khwarazmi".

Software:

"Software" identifies instructions written in a language compatible with a given computer. The instructions are "soft" as they can be changed and make it possible to change or modify tasks without changing the "hardware".

Generative art:

It is the practice of creating systems that then autonomously create art.

Generative art (ext.):

‘Generative art refers to any practice where the artist uses a system, such as a set of natural language rules, a computer program, a machine, or other procedural invention, which is set into motion with some degree of autonomy contributing to or resulting in a completed work of art.’

Generative art is not a purely visual medium – it has also found application in music, architecture and elsewhere.

According to the simplified definition above, generative art has existed for millennia. For example, the ancient Greeks let wind blow over the strings of an Aeolian harp, generating an uncanny sound. In Chinese calligraphy, particularly in the wild cursive scripts, the fortuitousness of solid and void traces of the ink is a fundamental aesthetic principle.

Going back in time, we find examples of symmetry and pattern in the creation of art wherever we find human artifacts that go beyond minimal survival needs. Among even the most so‐called “primitive” peoples we find abundant examples of the use of geometric patterns in textiles, symmetric designs evolving around a point, repeating
border designs, and so on (Hargittai and Hargittai 1994).

The artistic use of tiling, in particular, is nothing less than the application of abstract systems for decorating specific surfaces. The most notable examples of this practice are perhaps the masterworks found in the Islamic world. It is no coincidence that the Islamic world was also one of the significant cradles of mathematical innovation, and that the word “algorithm” has its roots in Arabic.

In recent decades scientists from diverse fields have been working together in a new way to create a novel multidisciplinary understanding of systems, with the founding of the Santa Fe Institute in 1984 serving as a significant milestone. Under the general rubric of “complexity science” and “complexity theory,” various kinds of systems have been studied, compared, contrasted, and mathematically and computationally modeled. An abstract understanding of systems that spans the physical, biological, and social sciences is beginning to emerge (Waldrop 1992; Mitchell 2009). The very models of complex systems studied by these scientists are being used as state‐of‐the‐art generative systems by artists.

Algorist (pseudo-code):

if (creation && object of art && algorithm && one's own algorithm) {
include * an algorist *
} elseif (!creation || !object of art || !algorithm || !one's own algorithm) {
exclude * not an algorist *
}

As computers became more accessible to artists in the 1970's and 1980's some artists began to experiment with algorithmic procedure. The new technology offered them methods of working algorithmically that were unavailable before the advent of computers. By the 1980's a number of algorists were working with the pen plotter, a machine with a "drawing arm". Seeing other's work at various venues they came to know each other and share ideas. Algorists like Harold Cohen, Manfred Mohr, Jean Pierre Hebert and this author had achieved mature work but we had no common identity. Each in their own way had invented algorithmic procedures for generating their art. By doing so each created their own distinctive style.

“One of the concerns for educators in the early 1980's was whether we should be teaching programming in our art schools or rather wait for advances in computing power, software programs, and printing technologies. With the growth of PC computing power, refinement of raster printing technologies, and professional software for the visual artists more and more artists took up what was generally called "computer art". The unique features and form-generating capabilities for algorithmic procedure in the hands of the artist was easily lost in the widening world of "computer art". It was in this milieu that a small group of artists, including this author, introduced panels for addressing the role of "algorithms & the artist". Following one such panel at the 1995 SIGGRAPH conference it was Jean Pierre Hebert, Ken Musgrave and myself who agreed to work towards a common identity for those who practiced algorithmic art.” -Roman Verostko

Dawn of Generation in Art

Rooted in second half of 20th-century. Emphasized and pushed:
• Chance (Dada, Surrealism and Abstract Expressionism)
• Machine Aesthetics (Futurism and Bauhaus)
• Fragmented Geometry (Analytical Cubism)

The first-ever curated exhibition of generative artworks was hosted in 1965 in Stuttgart, showcasing works by Georg Nees and garnering significant success. A few months later, Nees and Frieder Nake – another pioneer in this field – displayed their works together in another exhibition, featuring pieces programmed and produced by a computer-controlled drawing machine.

Michael Noll and Béla Julesz, pioneers in computer-generated art at Bell Labs, showcased their work at the Howard Wise Gallery. Noll used algorithms with varying parameters, while Julesz focused on random-dot patterns. Yet, the show received low impressions.

Vera Molnár, a Hungarian artist, significantly contributed to generative art. She co-founded the Groupe de Recherche d’Art Visuel in 1960.

Unlike Nees or Noll, who had scientific backgrounds, the first pure artist to approach the modern generative art practice was Ellsworth Kelly. In 1951 Kelly created a series of collages arranged in a mathematical system. The result is an organic form, a complex structure of intertwined colours.

Contemporary Turning Point

With the development of Blockchain and NFTs, the field has evolved and more recently culminated in what’s known as ‘long-form’ generative art. Unlike the ‘short-form’ – which consists of choosing the best among hundreds of generated images – ‘long-form’ generative art does not filter down a selected set of pieces: all the generated images will be presented to the audience. This new form is enabled by writing an algorithm to the blockchain and limiting the number of works that can be ‘minted’ from that algorithm.

Another characteristic of these scripts is that they are run to produce a new output each time an artwork is generated. Coding is thus playing an extraordinary role in our contemporary world. There is no better artistic expression than long-form generative art to capture its nature.

References

https://www.traditionalbuilding.com/product-report/ceramic-tile-history

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1067575

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1135491

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/article/141203-mussel-shell-oldest-art

https://www.verostko.com/algorithm.html

https://www.crysalis.art/crysalis-ai-art-research/a-whirlwind-history-of-generative-art-from-molnr-to-hobbs

https://creativecoding.soe.ucsc.edu/courses/cmpm202_w20/texts/galanter_generative.pdf

https://opensea.io/collection/archetype-by-kjetil-golid

77,000‐year‐old generative art etched in red ocher.

Stonehenge; Algorithmic arrangement Salisbury plain, England. ca. 24 ft high

Algorithmic design, Hispano-Moorish tile, 14th C, Nasrid Palace, Granada, Spain Photo RV

Girih tiling in the Darb-e Imam shrine in Isfahan, Iran

A jagged line etched on a fossil mussel shell; may be the oldest evidence of geometric art

Examples of decorative tiles / Nadezhda Zaitceva

Computer Composition with Lines, A.M. Noll, 1964, Victoria and Albert Museum. 3D_Julesz, B. Julesz, 1960.

V. Molnár, from the Carrées non concentriques cycle, 1974

E. Kelly, Spectrum colours arranged by chance IV, 1951, Art Institute Chicago, copyright 2022 Ellsworth Kelly.

C. Soddu, 3D printed generated Baroque architectures, 2019.

D. Cherniak, Ringers 537, 2021.

K. Golid, Archetype series on OpenSea, 2021.