Emergence and Generative Art

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Sometimes, a system is more than the sum of its parts. Simple rules and behaviours at an individual level can lead to complex and surprising phenomena at a macro level. This is emergence - common in the natural world and in generative art.

Let’s take a look at some definitions:

"You have this very simple set of rules that doesn't look like it's going to do anything interesting, but (...) these large super structures start to present themselves...

Packing & Expanding Polygons : An ongoing exploration

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I've been packing lots of irregular polygons into the canvas, and discovered some interesting (and some annoying) geometry along the way.

I started out detecting collisions in the same way as in my project Maplands, which you can read about in detail here.

Here’s how the collision checking worked:

Create a potential new polygon, with a path of points as the outline.

Check distances from each new point to all the points in existing polygons.

If any points are too close, discard that new polygon and try again.

This method...

What is Generative Art?

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An artwork may be generative in some ways and not in others. A piece could have generative aspects even if the artist didn’t have that intention. There are ways in which a painting could be considered generative.

I prefer definitions to be inclusive, not restrictive, and my definitions are for the purposes of discussing generative art, not for the purposes of ruling on what “is or isn’t” generative art.

Header image: Forecast #23

Okay, how about…

Generative Art

Amy Goodchild

Posted at 2022-02-02 19:14:41 | Art_and_design | read on

Maplands

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Maplands is a long-form generative art project I released on fxhash on 5th Jan 2022. It sold out 256 pieces in exactly 2 minutes.

This article contains background about the process of making Maplands, some information about techniques I used, and a guide to the features.

Maplands was initially a paper drawing. When the list of prompts for Genuary came out some time in late 2021, I saw that Day 1 was “Draw 10,000 of something” and I thought it would be fun/funny to do...

McSweeneys

“Clinical Judgment” for McSweeney’s 64: The Audio Issue. Story by Aliya Pabani.

Anti-Bucket

For The New York Times’ Opinion Section. “One Thing I Don’t Plan to Do Before I Die Is Make a Bucket List” written by Kate Bowler.

University

For The Finanacial Times. Inside the student recruitment machine.

Dagobert

For The New Yorker. The Strange Story of Dagobert, the “DuckTales” Bandit: In the nineties, a frustrated artist in Berlin went on a crime spree - building bombs, extorting high-end stores, and styling his persona after Scrooge McDuck. Written by Jeff Maysh.

Seuss

For The New Yorker. Study of Two Figures (Dr. Seuss / Chrysanthemum-Pearl): A poet reckons with Theodor Geisel’s fraught legacy—and with the story of his imaginary daughter.Poetry by Monica Youn.

Rotary

For Rotary Magazine. “Free Your Mind” (a text by Frank Bures).