The Nonspecfic Modern Art Generator
About
"What if a cyberbrain could generate its own ghost; its own soul. Just what, then, would be the importance of being human?"
- Ghost in the Shell
As a composer I was always interested in the concept of style. How fascinating to me it was that multiple musicians,
without any sense of direct collaboration would emualte the stylistic tendencies of each other. This is so
commonplace that we often take it for granted. It permeates the mind of so many musicians, of all types. This is so
ingrained in our colelctive psyche that to many, making music outside the realm of a particular style, is to then make music that is "wrong".
As a musician I thought the formalist approach to music was a perfect example of how style fascinated me. I am
referring to the works of Modern composers, such as Berg, Schoenberg, and Webern. This was interesting because the
style was not only consistent among the composers but highly codified. How stange they all spontaneously agreed "yes,
this is the true way to make music"
I found a similar trend in the visual arts as I learned more about them, especially in modern art. The formalist
aspects of art are in many ways the most important pats of this genre. In fact, we are surrounded by the results of
this movement. I have seen modern art shower curtains and bed sheets. I stared with glossy eyes at a Mondrian in my
dentist's office when I got my last cavity filled. Style is important to this genre, and it is everywhere.
What if a computer could generate all the stylistic aspects of this genre? What then, would be the importance of
having style?
I looked through many works by artists such as Mondrian, Rothko, Hofmann and others. I thought to myself that one
could probably make some computer code that could explain and reproduce a lot of the stylistic tendencies depicted in
this genre. It was then that I made the
Non-Specific Modern Art Generator.
I wanted to make something that anyone could use and would not be inhibited by the stylistic aspects of Modernism. The machine would help take care of that. The user could focus instead on what they were trying to say within the genre, rather than abiding by its "rules". I used a joystick because it is intuitive and I made an interface that is intuitive. The goal is to make the art- making process easy.
The machine is scored by a custom built FM-synthesizer that creates a unique 'musical score' with every work. A formalist approach was taken with the sound design, to help amplify the experience.
The goal is to have fun. Don't take the modern art generator too seriously, or It will attack you in the middle of the night with nerf-bats.
Download your own copy.
I have already made over a thousand works with this device. Many others have made their own works. Join on the fun.
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