TGAM's Issue #06: Input Output
written by TGAM
Through a range of digital and interactive experiences, the exhibition travels the myriad inputs and outputs that can be generated through code, highlighting how it can be used to create unique and mesmerizing visuals, sounds, and experiences. Visitors can witness how code can evolve and adapt, responding to real-time data or changing environmental factors. By embracing the potential of code as an artistic tool, Issue #06 Input Output prompts us to consider the future of art and how technology can be leveraged to create new forms of expression and creativity.
Generative art is an exciting field of artistic expression that utilizes computer algorithms to create unique and dynamic artwork. This genre is only possible due to the human ingenuity that went into designing and programming the algorithms that generate it. While computers may be capable of performing complex calculations and executing commands quickly, they lack the creative spark and intuition that humans possess, at least for the time being. It is only through the creativity and problem-solving abilities of humans that these algorithms can be developed in the first place.
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Humans are responsible for providing the initial input and parameters that guide the generative process. Without the human input of variables such as color palettes, shapes, and patterns, the generative algorithm would not have any guidance or direction. Human involvement is necessary to ensure that the final product aligns with the intended aesthetic vision.
Generative processes, whether they are used to create art, music, or even text, are often seen as a collaboration between humans and machines. While machines are responsible for generating the output, they rely heavily on the input provided by humans. This connection between human and machine is critical in the success of the generative process.
In the context of generative art, the input provided by humans can vary greatly. It may include parameters such as color palettes, shapes, and patterns, or even more abstract concepts such as emotion or mood. This input is then used by the machine to create an output that aligns with the intended aesthetic vision.
Another important aspect of generative art is the role of the human artist in curating and selecting the final artwork. While the generative algorithm may produce thousands of variations, it is up to the human artist to select the final product that best represents their artistic vision. In this way, the human artist acts as a curator, selecting and refining the output of the generative algorithm to create a final product that is unique and expressive.
Generative art serves as another tool for human expression and exploration. The process of creating generative art can be a collaborative effort between the human artist and the algorithm, with the artist guiding and shaping the output of the algorithm. This collaboration can lead to unexpected and innovative results that would not be possible without human input.
The connection between human and machine is critical in the generative process. While humans provide the input and parameters that guide the generative process, the output generated by the machine is equally important in shaping the final product. The collaboration between human and machine leads to a more iterative and exploratory creative process, one that is constantly evolving and transforming. Ultimately, it is the connection between human and machine that enables generative processes to push the boundaries of artistic expression and innovation.
The Artists
Anna Carreras
Anna Carreras is a generative artist and creative coder focusing her work on the use of algorithms to create visuals that foster memories or evocate new ones. She codes her work from scratch to create images that cannot be achieved in any other medium. Interested in complexity, surprise and meaning that emerges from small simple behaviours playing with systems. She wants to foster diversity and explores the balance between order and chaos in which nature and daily life seem to be suspended.
Anna draws inspiration from her Mediterranean culture and landscape to translate it into abstract visuals. Vivid digital images, static or dynamic, geometric or organic.
She holds two MSc degrees, one in Engineering from Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) and another in Audiovisual Technologies from the Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF). She teaches creative coding in several Design Schools in Barcelona. And she is finishing a PhD on Fine Arts about generative art.
She has exhibited at Feral File, Art Blocks Curated and CVerso galleria. She has also developed and exhibited generative art and digital installations in renowned national and international institutions, museums and festivals like MUTEK ES+AR, Sónar Festival Barcelona, Eufònic Urbà Decentraland, Venice Art Biennale, Medialab Prado Madrid or Abandon Normal Devices Liverpool, among others.
Licia He
Licia He is a generative artist and a human-computer interaction researcher. Through her research and artworks, she explores ways to record and present information around her. She entered the world of generative art to connect her passion for art and technology. Since her first encounter with a drawing robot, Licia has been focusing on bridging her digital and physical painting practices through plotters.
After receiving training in studio art, computer science, and Information Science, Licia was an assistant professor at the Department of Visualization, Texas A&M University, before becoming a full time artist. She specializes in examining and supporting artistic practices through technological innovations.
Deafbeef
DEAFBEEF began an as art project in 2020 at the start of the COVID 19 pandemic. The project emerged after 7 years living under a rock while Tyler’s kids were young, to discover that modular synthesizers had come back into style.
Having a background in electrical engineering, sound recording and music, DEAFBEEF was excited the culture of synths had re-emerged. However, there was a certain amount of consumerism in the new culture, and the project took an alternative ascetic approach of using ‘nothing’ to make music, rather than sink time and money into expensive hardware that many seemed to view as magical “black boxes”. DEAFBEEF opted instead to rebuild from scratch, using only a cheap laptop running Linux, emacs text editor and a C compiler.
The intent is to work at a fundamental level, scrawling numbers directly into digital storage media later to be interpreted as sound and images .
As a developer, DEAFBEEF favorite way to work is in the terminal, mouse free, using Emacs and command line tools. The project digs into the aesthetic of ANSI terminals and the 90s, which introduced programming and procedural generation, a formative experience.
DEAFBEEF writes C programs that generate audio and visual outputs. As it turns out, this approach lends itself well to NFT blockchain technology, at least in the case of generative art.
About the TGAM
Welcome to The Generative Art Museum. TGAM is a project dedicated to celebrate and promulgate art made by autonomous systems (non-human) that can independently create artwork.
TGAM is an evolving idea that will challenge our preconception of experiencing, collecting and sharing art. Our goal is to participate in this new era by supporting generative artists in every sense. We will schedule four exhibitions a year: Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter.
Our goal is simple: to spread the word about generative art in all shapes and forms. We embrace any piece where humans interact with automated tools to create unique pieces.
Blockchain has created the perfect playground for a digital renaissance: affordable computers and easy-to-use scripting tools are the icing on the cake for a revolution in the generative art like the world has never seen before. And we are here to talk about it and share this exciting journey.
Join us. We are in this together.
Past Exhibitions
Issue #01: for the love of art featuring Marcelo Soria-Rodriguez, Ismahelio and Synesthesia
Issue #02: Computergrafik featuring Lisa Orth, Quentin Hocde and Aurora
Issue #03: Red Pill featuring Ryan Bell, Landlines Art and Thomas Lin Pedersen
Issue #04: Intersection featuring Andreas Rau, rudxane and riiis
Issue #05: World Wide Art featuring Zancan, Lars Wander and Zach Liebermann