"In essence, all generative art focuses on the process by which an artwork is made, and this process is required to have a degree of autonomy and independence from the artist who defines it. The degree of autonomy and independence assigned to the computer varies significantly—from works that seek to minimize or exclude the creative “signature” of the human designer to those in which the computer’s role is more passive and the human artist has primary creative responsibility and autonomy."
- Ten Questions Concerning Generative Computer Art
Find an example of a generative, computational artwork that interests you, ideally one made with a creative coding environment like Processing, p5.js, openFrameworks, Max/MSP, or TouchDesigner. For inspiration, see the list of artists in the resources section of this site or check out the exhibition sections on some of the websites for these software tools.
Write a 200-word post in which you describe the work, analyze why you find it interesting in terms of concept, process, and aesthetics, and reflect on the practice of generative art. Can a machine be original? What does it feel like to be a computer making art? Can beauty or aesthetics be formalized and proceduralized? What "new" kinds of art do computers enable? How does your chosen artwork relate to these questions? If you are stuck for ways to think through this, see this paper that considers some of these questions.
Post your write-up to the #shoham-f19 Slack channel along with an image of your chosen artwork and links to any relevant documentation.