Generative art

Generative art is the combination of computer technology with art. It uses a system that can independently determine the features of artwork that would otherwise require the work of the artist. It can be argued that the system only reproduces the artistic intent of the creator. It can also be argued that the system takes on the role of the creator.

History

Georg Nees, one of the pioneers of the movement, in February 1965 presented a number of his works to the public in Stuttgart. They were described as "computer graphics". A few years later, Nees wrote a dissertation titled "Procedural Computer Graphics". "Procedural art" and similar terms began to be used in those years by other computer artists, including Manfred Mohr. The term "procedural art" in the sense of "dynamic systems of artworks capable of generating multiple artistic events" was first proposed at the "Procedural Art" conference in Milan in 1998.

The term has also been used to describe geometric abstract art in which simple elements are repeated, transformed, or modified to create more complex shapes. It can be argued that in the late 1960s, the Argentine artists Eduardo McIntyre and Miguel Angel Vidal also practiced procedural art. In 1972, Paul Neagu, a native of Romania, created an association called the Generative Art Group in the UK. In 1972, Neagu gave a lecture on "forms of generative art" at Queen's University at the Belfast Festival.

In 1970, the Department of Procedural Systems was created at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. According to Sonya Landy Sheridan, the main focus of his staff was on artistic practices using the new technologies for capturing, printing and transmitting images, as well as exploring the aspect of time in image transformation.

In the mid-1990s, Brian Eno was also involved in the popularization of procedural music and procedural systems, which were closely associated with experimental music.