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What Is Generative Art? (2022)
- t0bia_s 2y agoThere is not such thing as generative art by definition. If you describe an activity as an art, you mean that it requires skill and that people learn to do it by instinct or experience, rather than by learning facts or rules. https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/art https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/art
- 23B1 2y agoI remember early days building some of this stuff with Flash. Good times. Back then, you had to do quite a bit of work to make it yours, and it felt fresh and risky. Now, digitally-generated images (including photography) is totally ubiquitous. Generative art is awesome! But it isn't Art art. My thinking has come around to the idea that Art art is an exclusively human-to-human transaction, and must be imbued with the soul of its creator; the intangibles of style and taste, the ineffable of lived experiences, the errors and happy accidents and imperfections. Both are art. But Art art can never be replaced by machines, and that's a good thing. https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-revenge-liberal-arts-goldman-sachs-exec-lee-automation-risk-2024-5?amp https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-revenge-liberal-arts-gold...
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- Lalabadie 2y agoRespectfully, that reply shows you have not read the article, not seen any of Amy Goodchild's artwork, and not understood what the topic is.
- iteygib 2y agoI respectfully disagree. At the end of the day, generative art is the same thing as googling an image to search for the end user, in as your aren't creating anything, but rather, you are asking for something to be produced for you based on typed or entered criteria. You are a patron waiting for the engine to produce something for you. If you want to say there is an art to prompting, that's fine.
- jrm4 2y agoThe doubling down is epic Again, read the article, this ain't about AI
- Kalabasa 2y agoNowadays, it's easy for people to see the term "generative art" and immediately assume "AI art". It's kinda annoying, so I wrote this post https://leanrada.com/notes/ai-art-not-generative-art/ https://leanrada.com/notes/ai-art-not-generative-art/
- iteygib 2y agoIt's the same thing: you're entering input into a system and expecting output. I just summed up your post.
- jrm4 2y agoOn one hand, this is reductive. But on the other, I often argue that there's literally no hard difference between using a computer and programming one; using this exact idea.
- iteygib 2y agoIt's the same thing: you're entering input into a system and expecting output.
- sanjayk0508 2y agoI respectfully disagree. let's think from a first principle point of view, what is the definition of art in the first place? But whatever the answer is, art is just a way of structuring/representing a mix of multiple arts into one single art, and it's not limited to painting arts. historically people have been taking inspiration from nature, other people, the environment, and more. That's what an AI does as well, but with much more creativity than a human.
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- voidUpdate 2y agoBut the creator does have influence on the art, they created it, they are just combining it with an extra hit of randomness. I've done some of this stuff in the past, and errors, happy accidents and imperfections absolutely come into it. They're not just sending computer input directly to output, they are having their own influence and control over it
- shakiXBT 2y agoThere's no such thing as Art art, it's just an useless elitism. Following your logic, even photography, cinema, sculpture that is aided by machines and not just scalpels, etc. is not Art art.
- shishy 2y agoSome of these are so cool. I have a great piece by Manolo Gamboa Noan, made in Processing. I think one of the founders of Etsy was also into generative art and produced some neat pieces. https://www.artnome.com/ https://www.artnome.com/ had some good interviews and posts with artists in this space.
- smrtinsert 2y agoI love that processing inspires so much curiosity and fun today as it did almost 20 years ago now? Great stuff
- Jupe 2y agoVery nice write-up on the various techniques and styles of generative art. I like the artificial life simulator. I did something similar here https://www.shadertoy.com/view/MftSRf https://www.shadertoy.com/view/MftSRf
- kretaceous 2y agoDamn, the last two are amazing. I love generative art and have been recently trying my hands at it (https://circuiter.abhijithota.me https://circuiter.abhijithota.me) but I'm not sure if I feel positive about it being generally tied to NFTs. I follow a lot of these amazing artists on Twitter and half of them promote their NFTs. I generally tend to ignore that part and focus on the nice patterns made by computers. Is there no other way to make this a source of income other than NFTs?
- kevindamm 2y agoI wonder if there's a market for doing a high-end print-on-canvas of some generated art. But if you manage to add the kinds of margins you see on other traditional art it seems not much different than the NFT variant. More practically, I bet you could build a decent patronage-style or subscriber-style distribution on top of good generative art, especially if you are releasing often. Incentives like being able to affect prompt or style details could motivate subscriptions or donating at higher tiers. There are probably other options, like doing the design and tweaking necessary for pulling dozens of images with a consistent theme or character. There's a lot of real work that goes into that process that you could easily justify value/time on. A lot of overlap with existing design roles but more on the craft vs artiste side of things. Depends on what you want to do with it, I guess.
- xyzzy_plugh 2y agoOf course, it's exactly the same as all artwork. The first example that springs to mind is Nervous Systems: https://n-e-r-v-o-u-s.com/ https://n-e-r-v-o-u-s.com/ It seems to me that the problem you're struggling with is that there is no market for generative art PNGs, which I'd generally agree with. There are a few exceptions, but for the most part NFTs are a gold rush in speculative investing coincidentally often coupled to things which inherently cost nothing to reproduce, like digital images, because for some reason artificial scarcity is an amazingly effective hack for humans. Making money in art tends to boil down to making something that somebody with money wants, just like everything else. The most successful artists I know recognize it for what it is.
- relaxing 2y ago
- rsiqueira 2y agoSome samples from the article are similar to what is found on my favorite Generative Art site - Dwitter. It's a social network of coders where we can view, interact and remix live code. Everything under 140 characters of creative JavaScript code: https://www.dwitter.net/top/all https://www.dwitter.net/top/all
- brcmthrowaway 2y agoHow would one learn generative art?
- philomathdan 2y agoI'm looking for resources on this too. I recently started working through this book [1], which might be a good place to start. In the introduction to that, the author also mentions this site [2] and this book [3]. [1] https://natureofcode.com/ https://natureofcode.com/ [2] https://available-anaconda-10d.notion.site/That-Creative-Code-Page-c5550ef2f7574126bdc77b09ed76651b https://available-anaconda-10d.notion.site/That-Creative-Cod... [3] https://www.amazon.com/Computational-Beauty-Nature-Explorations-Adaptation/dp/0262561271/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8 https://www.amazon.com/Computational-Beauty-Nature-Explorati...
- yayitswei 2y agoTyler Hobbs writes about generative art, including getting started and improving. Some of his tips are Clojure-specific, and others are more general. I found the essay on flow fields especially interesting. https://tylerxhobbs.com/essays/2020/flow-fields https://tylerxhobbs.com/essays/2020/flow-fields
- matsemann 2y agoThis is what got me into it: https://youtu.be/4Se0_w0ISYk https://youtu.be/4Se0_w0ISYk It's a short conference video from Tim Holman, where he breaks down the "toolbox" you need. He shows lines, curves, randomness, repetition etc, and how you combine these simple concepts to make something cool. After that short video you basically have what you need to start experimenting.
- bj-rn 2y agoThere is a bunch of related "awesome lists" on github. https://github.com/terkelg/awesome-creative-coding https://github.com/terkelg/awesome-creative-coding https://github.com/kosmos/awesome-generative-art https://github.com/kosmos/awesome-generative-art https://github.com/cdr6934/awesome-generative-books https://github.com/cdr6934/awesome-generative-books
- userbinator 2y agoThere's a one-word answer: demoscene. ...which oddly doesn't appear in the article, but is what immediately comes to mind when I think of "generative art".
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- flanbiscuit 2y agoI was going to say the same. Dwitter is also a cool place for generative art meets code-golf, which has been talked about many times before on HN: https://hn.algolia.com/?q=dwitter https://hn.algolia.com/?q=dwitter
- FpUser 2y agoHere is a whole bunch. All done by pixel shaders: https://www.sanbasestudio.com/gallery.htm https://www.sanbasestudio.com/gallery.htm
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- dmje 2y agoI was inspired by Christiane Baumgartner[0] at my printmaking class - her method isn’t (I suspect?) strictly generative - she takes film stills and then carves them as woodcuts. So I started doing some prints where I’d use code to create generative art, then use this as the inspiration for my own lino and screen prints. I really like the idea of code making a thing that is then put through a “human filter” to give different interpretations of the starting point - sometimes rougher and less refined than what I was generating. I think the idea of only having control over parts of the process also appeals to me. [0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christiane_Baumgartner https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christiane_Baumgartner
- mhrmsn 2y agoGreat article with very nice examples, really tempts me to play around with some of these techniques myself! I saw an exhibition of Refik Anadol's Nature Dreams last year in Copenhagen, can only recommend to see one of his video installations if there is one near you, they are quite mesmerizing: https://refikanadol.com/works/ https://refikanadol.com/works/
- ChrisArchitect 2y ago(2022)
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- chaosprint 2y agoThis article has some good content, but to be honest, I expected more from the title. When discussing generative art, generative music and sound art should also be considered. I've done some research on generative music while developing Glicol. Simple randomness can create some "embellishments": https://glicol.org/demo#demo0 https://glicol.org/demo#demo0 Logistic maps can also be used as random note generators: https://glicol.org/demo#chaos https://glicol.org/demo#chaos This video (How to make Brian Eno style Generative Music // 20 ideas & tools // Ableton, Eurorack, Modular, VCV) is also worth watching: https://youtu.be/_FpnxbALbLE https://youtu.be/_FpnxbALbLE
- zaptrem 2y agoMy whole job is big-model GenAI music stuff and I'm still unclear what counts as "generative." Are loops in Ableton generative? What about that GarageBand drummer thing?
- ecjhdnc2025 2y agoThe traditional concept of generative music was that it was different each time and varied/developed/evolved while playing. So it's generative in the way "generative design" is, but not oriented towards optimising for a goal, if that makes sense. I don't know about Ableton loops but I've met some drummers like this but they are usually not all that popular. So I am guessing that is not what GarageBand is aiming at, in quite the same way. ;-) Though perhaps that is generative in the sense of optimising towards a goal; I've not used it. Eno's work was initially done with the Koan and I think he ended up in a sort of symbiotic relationship with the developers. It was a big deal for a while in computer music magazines in the 90s.
- msoad 2y agoBefore next token prediction become the only meaning of “generation” generative art was a way of describing art automatically being generated. It never sounded good so we always thought of it as a visual medium.
- nonrandomstring 2y ago[dead]
- surfingdino 2y agoAs a software developer I find artists' obsession with random() a bit baffling. As an artist (a photographer creating visual/fine art photography) I am missing a story and a movement in generative art. There is no human connection, no story, no (however wacky) artistic manifesto that would drive efforts of a group of artists. I am frankly embarrassed when artists talk about coding or the results of feeding the output of random() into an image generator.
- gilleain 2y agoWhy? Some art is purely representative, some is abstract, some is narrative driven, some is not. There is 'chaotic' abstract art - like Pollock - and regular examples - like Escher or Vasarely - and many points in between. Why should using a rand function and a line/point shape be fundamentally different?
- barfbagginus 2y agoHave you read Foley and Van Dam's "Computer Graphics, Principles and Practice"? I think the narrative you're missing could be the history and theory of computer graphics research, and the recognition of the incredible ongoing contributions of artist-scientists in this field. Photography has a deep and storied history and terminology and humanity emerging from experiments with a medium... That's what gives it life, and gives us things to discuss as photographers. But computer graphics has that same kind of story - thousands of research papers, experiments, and the work of millions of artists using and advancing the tools. Generative art is a subset of computer graphics and is intertwined in its history. It is far more than artists playing with random numbers, the same way that photography is far more than pointing a sensor and pressing a button. There is an endless history of past attempts to build on, and huge amounts of mathematical and artistic theories to build, in both cases. If you need help to see this as an art, consider reading Foley and Van Dam, and work to see the development of computer graphics techniques - and their application - as a form of art in itself, where we develop and explore experimental media and subject, without the constraints of physical reality. I believe that by working with graphics algorithms, as an artist and coder, you will see how the artistic and technical beauty of these algorithms combine to create a beautiful and compelling form of art. I hope that after this, you will get endless joy from contemplating computer graphics, the way you get joy from photography. And I hope it will give you enjoyment of the more abstract and experimental side of things, and even the work in image AI, which challenges our identities and livelihoods as artists. Imo it's a very amazing time to be alive as an artist!
- alanjay 2y agoShould the definition of generative _art_ include music and sound? If so, there's several ideas at NodeMusic.com
- ww520 2y agoI've dabbled in generative art a while back. Never got the chance to formalize it and make it repeatable. Here're some samples. https://i.imgur.com/U9MPrIc.jpeg https://i.imgur.com/U9MPrIc.jpeg (Stormy Sea) https://i.imgur.com/olUOws7.jpeg https://i.imgur.com/olUOws7.jpeg (Rolls) https://i.imgur.com/c8FIM8f.jpeg https://i.imgur.com/c8FIM8f.jpeg (Hell Eyes) https://i.imgur.com/rSmCAT9.jpeg https://i.imgur.com/rSmCAT9.jpeg (Gold Sculpture) https://i.imgur.com/kCG3g1H.png https://i.imgur.com/kCG3g1H.png (Many Worlds) https://i.imgur.com/5gPx9QE.png https://i.imgur.com/5gPx9QE.png (Circles) https://i.imgur.com/8oOogNX.png https://i.imgur.com/8oOogNX.png (Telescope)
- ww520 2y agoDug up more generated drawings. https://i.imgur.com/lw7HP5k.jpeg https://i.imgur.com/lw7HP5k.jpeg (Forest) https://i.imgur.com/2okI9da.jpeg https://i.imgur.com/2okI9da.jpeg (Conversation) https://i.imgur.com/w1cQDcO.jpeg https://i.imgur.com/w1cQDcO.jpeg (Lava flow)
- smusamashah 2y agoThis article didn't mention but we shouldn't forget AARON the AI art generator from 1973 by Harold Cohen https://www.katevassgalerie.com/blog/harold-cohen-aaron-computer-art https://www.katevassgalerie.com/blog/harold-cohen-aaron-comp... (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35452258 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35452258). This was peak generative art from its time IMO. Was available as a screensaver for Windows 98 (can still download from archive.org and works on windows 10). https://www.kurzweilcyberart.com/aaron/static.html https://www.kurzweilcyberart.com/aaron/static.html
- bj-rn 2y agoSome nice examples: https://vimeo.com/930568091 https://vimeo.com/930568091
- andybak 2y agoIf anyone is interested in interactive generative art in VR then this branch of Open Brush might be of interest: https://docs.openbrush.app/alternate-and-experimental-builds/runtime-scripting https://docs.openbrush.app/alternate-and-experimental-builds... You can modify strokes on the fly in a multitude of ways via lua scripts. There's a ton of examples included (boids that follow your brush etc) There's some nice interplay between scripts and other features (like point and wallpaper symmetry) that makes this a lot of fun to use.
- jokoon 2y agoHonestly I don't feel like that really fits the definition of art, at least how people imagine what the word "art" means. Procedural generation, yes. But art? I don't know. If a human makes a thing, would people consider it art? Like a car, a shirt? What if a machine makes something that looks like a painting, would that be art? If we want to protect art and artists, that would be nice to have a stricter definition of art, in my view.
- stared 2y agoI never understood the randomness argument against art. Wasn't there a lot of randomness in Pollock's use of paint on his canvases? Also, one can extend this thinking to argue that gardens (or mazes) cannot be a piece of art since plants grow by themselves, and it is (to some point) unpredictable. Even in studio photography, there are myriads of random effects - the only way to make a computer image perfectly deterministically is to set RGB to each single pixel manually.
- latexr 2y ago> the only way to make a computer image perfectly deterministically is to set RGB to each single pixel manually. You don’t need to do it manually. A quick and dirty example is to have each pixel’s colour depend on its position on the canvas. Instant gradient, perfectly deterministic, yet you can still be surprised by the colours. P5.js example (run interactively at https://editor.p5js.org https://editor.p5js.org): function setup() { createCanvas(256, 256); noLoop() noStroke() } function draw() { for (i = 0; i < 256; i++) { for (j = 0; j < 256; j++) { fill(i, j, i) rect(i, j, 1, 1) } } } Play with the fill. Make it, e.g. `fill(i, j, 180)` or `fill(i, j, sin(j) * 200)`. Perfectly deterministic and automatic, yet the result can still be unexpected.
- iamacyborg 2y ago> I never understood the randomness argument against art. Wasn't there a lot of randomness in Pollock's use of paint on his canvases? I would make a guess that what ended up being exhibited and sold was heavily curated.
- grob-gambit 2y agoThe examples just don't seem that good to me. Just because the method is interesting doesn't mean the output is good automatically.
- robert2003b 2y agoIn generative art, randomness plays a crucial role, as it ensures that each piece of art is unique. The art is typically produced by algorithms that incorporate elements of randomness and autonomous systems. This can include anything from computer code to natural processes, mathematics, or even physical systems.
- coldcode 2y agoI am a generative artist, but I write my tools in Swift, and the algorithms and math differ from those of other generative artists. In addition to the generative elements, I also include manual image manipulation and digital painting. I wrote an article on my art blog, https://artasartist.com/what-is-generative-art/ https://artasartist.com/what-is-generative-art/, that has a different focus than this article and includes what I do.
- swayvil 2y agoNice stuff. Does any of it move? I mean, in addition to images, do you do video? Sound? https://vimeo.com/313049496 https://vimeo.com/313049496
- coldcode 2y agoNot yet; my tools and processes are not ready for animation. But I plan to work on it eventually.
- swayvil 2y agoHere's an easy way. Make a bunch of sequential images Put them together with ffmpeg (which is free. You just do a command line command and specify the dir with the image files. You can also specify fps, quality etc) Voila, it's an mp4 or whatever
- swayvil 2y agoThere is beauty in code. In logic, loops, math, random, etc. And the larger land beyond that. The artist sees it, brings it out. This is not just another way to draw a bowl of fruit. We're exploring alien country.
- swayvil 2y agoHere's a nice piece. https://www.fleen.org/old_generative_art_projects/powerbox_4way_seamlessC.gif https://www.fleen.org/old_generative_art_projects/powerbox_4...
- 65 2y agoOne thing that is missing from this article is using an image as input to modify how the image looks. I always found random abstract generative art to feel a little meaningless. Once I added images as input and started modifying image pixels, such as color and positioning, my generative art become a lot more interesting.
- shagie 2y agoI'm a fan of Context Free Art ( https://www.contextfreeart.org https://www.contextfreeart.org ) which is reasonably approachable for the simpler designs. A lightning bolt ( https://www.contextfreeart.org/gallery/view.php?id=4223 https://www.contextfreeart.org/gallery/view.php?id=4223 ) is defined as: startshape lightning shape lightning rule 20 { CIRCLE[r -60..60] lightning[y -1 s 0.99 r -10..10] } rule 1 { CIRCLE[r -60..60] lightning[y -1 s 0.5 r -50..-20] lightning[y -1 s 0.99 r -10..10] } rule 1 { CIRCLE[r -60..60] lightning[y -1 s 0.5 r 20..50] lightning[y -1 s 0.99 r -10..10] } I really like Ancient Scripts - https://www.contextfreeart.org/gallery/view.php?id=945 https://www.contextfreeart.org/gallery/view.php?id=945 and Ancient Map https://www.contextfreeart.org/gallery/view.php?id=185 https://www.contextfreeart.org/gallery/view.php?id=185