SciArt Magazine - All Issues December 2015 | Page 5

ON TOPIC

Autonomous Art
How some artists are using algorithms to create works that
would otherwise be near impossible

By Neel V. Patel
Managing Editor

We kicked off our October issue discussing virtual reality (VR) art, in which new technology has allowed creative minds to let loose and build incredible new worlds
just from some (well really, an extensive) amount of code
and programming expertise. The end effect is artwork
that exists only in a digital form that many artists, to
varying degrees, use as a way to question what the ‘real’
and ‘unreal’ really are. Must something have a tangible,
physical presence in order to truly be considered real?

Algorithmic art is essentially art created out of algorithms. The easiest example for most people to understand is fractal art, in which a computer algorithm generates a visual image made from fractal patterns that seem
to go on forever. Even a simple pattern may require too
much calculation and meticulous work for an artist to
draw or paint by hand. A computer or a set of computers
can instead be programmed to create a work like this in
a relatively short time frame.

And then there is what’s called algorithmic art. Both
VR and algorithmic art are products of recent times, indebted to the progression of digital technology and tools
only made available within the last century. But whereas
VR art is about what is real, and seems to investigate
the role of how technology is helping men and women
perceive their own surroundings, algorithmic art is much
more about the artist him– or herself. Can an artwork
really be considered an artwork if its immediate creator
is really just a bunch of step–by–step operations contained within a formula of some sort? Can an algorithm,
or a machine program that is built from a set of algorithms, be considered an artist? Is this the future of art?

Tyler Hobbs, an Austin, Texas–based artist, emphasizes
that “the ‘programming’ doesn’t even necessarily have to
be executed by a computer. For example, humans following instructions can work as well.” He does think,
however, that what’s essential is for an artist to develop
his/her own algorithms. “Simply using pre–written tools
created by others doesn’t qualify as algorithmic artwork,” says Hobbs.

The answer to all of these questions is, increasingly, yes.