Artist Blog #3: Generative Art

Generative art is art that has been generated, composed, or constructed in an algorithmic manner through the use of systems defined by computer software algorithms, or similar mathematical, mechanical, or randomized process. (Wikipedia)  This method of making art is one of the disciplines of New Media Art in many ways: it is a form of art being made through the use of a computer (computer art); a lot of randomness of images, text, and color is involved; and it opens up this idea of bringing in all different academic fields such as math and science.  This image from the Computer Arts website was designed in Flash.  It generates the randomness of color themes and shapes divided into six squares.  Most of the circles are cut off at the edge and they overlap each other.  I chose this image because of its randomness and use of different colors both bright and dark as well as its difference in tone.  It also reminds me of some the work done by artists from Mark Tribe's book New Media Art such as Mark Napier through the overlapping of objects.  

"Picasso, Who Let His Imagination Run From Art to Language"- NY Times

Here is an article from the NY Times about an exhibition at Yale University Art Gallery called "Picasso and the Allure of Language".  It chronicles the influence of language on the artist and how Picasso incorporated it into his artwork.  This article relates back to the use of text in new media art such as graffiti.  Enjoy it!  

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/08/nyregion/connecticut/08artsct.html?ref=design

Artist Blog #2: Mark Napier- "Shredder 1.0"

"My works are not objects, but interfaces.  The users become collaborators in the artwork, upsetting the conventions of ownership and authority.  By interacting with the work, the visitors shape the piece, causing it to change and evolve, often in unpredictable ways.  The user is an integral part of the design." (Mark Napier's artist statement).  In his Shredder 1.0, Napier is attempting to have the viewer experience behind the scenes look at a website's code, deconstructing it, and revealing a collage full of colorful text and images.  

In his artist statement, Napier believes that he is not creating objects, but interfaces.  The viewers are creating the objects by typing in a web address and allowing the Shredder to create an entirely disarray of text and images of the website.  Tribe points out how Shredder 1.0 "demonstrates a refined awareness of color and shape."  When looking at a website that has been shredded, you can see many shapes of different sizes as well as its text and code all together in different layers.  

Among the fragmented text and code of a web page, we can link the its shapes and color to abstract expressionism paintings.  Abstract expressionists focused on a painting's flatness rather than on specific details.  With Shredder 1.0, Napier is focusing on technological information about the Internet, from complex coding to simple imaging.