Search Engine Art

For many years I have used the computer as a search engine to uncover art. My software is designed so I can invoke a mode where there is no single solution to a problem. I may ask for 500 variations or pictures of the same idea. I set the initial conditions or rules. The spatial relationships and orientation between individual parts change within every picture. Color relationships can also change. Most of the results are very bad but some reveal solutions I ordinarily would not think of. It’s like sorting through a junk pile searching for art. Afterwords, I pick out a small number eventually selecting one. Sometimes I make a few
minor adjustments.

I tried artificial intelligence approaches to creativity which never worked for me. There is too much of an emphasis on linear logic and predictability. Besides in the final analysis I really won’t know what makes something art. It’s still very illusive and a mystery. I may as well play and have some fun.

The world space has been divided into thin slices of color. As the objects moves through one slice entering another one the color changes. Color appears as rings because of the curvature of the object. The object’s speed of movement through space determines the rate of color change. The world space can also be sub divided into thicker sections. Their orientation as well as the world color space can be altered over time. Color space can be changed at a faster pace than the movement of objects.

Transition

I was influenced by the work and statements by Leonardo and Cezanne about transition. Leonardo described transition as sfumato as “without lines or borders, in the manner of smoke or beyond the focus plane”. Cezanne used something he called the “passage” shape as a transition between adjacent forms or shapes. The “passage” shape functioned like a bridge moving across the borders of a form. As a consequence borders or edges were irregular and abstract. Cezanne’s notion of transition was related more to form as an emerging phenomenon.

Both notions of transition appeal to me. I like the level of control over pixel distribution involving light and transparency provided by computer graphics. For me space becomes layers of transparency and light offering a smooth transition between space and form. (see more examples at www.csurivision.com.) I am especially intrigued by the way this approach works with animation.

Emerging Venus

Another image from my Venus in The Garden series. Here Venus is somewhat incomplete making the representation more free and open. Because of transparency the objects from behind function like modulations within Venus. Perhaps the viewer can bring their imagination to the work and fill in the details. I tried to treat Venus as a phenomenon emerging from space. As if she is from an earlier time and place.

Works like this one are influenced by earlier artists. I have always loved incomplete works especially quick sketches by major artists.The unsigned drawings by the old masters, especially Rembrandt. They look unfinished and sometimes the idea is not clear. It’s like a personal note by the artist to himself. Never intended for the world to see.

Threads

How do I comment about his picture? I wonder if its art. Is this just a special effect? The feeling of threads covering a face or the threads creating the face. I find the layering of the threads interesting giving emphasis to 3d cues. Does the face in shadow give it a sense of mystery? Is this the work of a drunken spider? Is my rich fantasy life making it art? Would I have been better off sticking to drawing by hand? Certainly would be easier than writing code to create it. But then it would look flat like an ordinary drawing. I still love the 3d perspective. Its a little refreshing from my old 2d picture plane.