Final Research: How to Exhibit Algorithmic Works

 Creating artwork digitally and algorithmically is an efficient way to birth hundreds, or potentially thousands, of new pieces of work with the click of a button. Utilizing the algorithm is something that has been done for years by a multitude of artists from plenty of different backgrounds and some incredibly beautiful and equally intriguing work has been created this way. But there is still something that feels like a grey area: how do you effectively showcase/exhibit these works? This piece of research is going to be a look into the variety of ways that this has been done successfully in the past and will help to inform where my project will go ultimately and professionally.

Nervous System, a New York State based art collective, have utilized their knowledge of coding gained during their design degree at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) to take on a different approach to generative art and how it's showcased. "We use custom software inspired by natural patterns to grow the interlocking shapes of the puzzle pieces" explains one of the designers at Nervous System. A puzzle is a perfectly introspective way of showcasing this intersection of science, art and design. It allows the viewer to experience and interact with the piece of work at their own pace and in their own way, it leaves an open space for each person to apply their own thoughts and feelings to something that is actually only generated using code.

Mark Stock is a generative artist whose works are applied to the physical art space more traditionally. Stock's works are again created using code, with a focus on nature, forms and, with this piece in particular, structure/liquidity. This piece is titled Structure, described by stock here: "To define a virtual fluid in 0s and 1s requires an underlying data structure. When stripped of all normal visual context, a fluid reveals this (computational) structure. These are the building blocks upon which virtual simulations of reality are based." Stock exhibits his work as prints, allowing the viewer to experience them in a classic and familiar exhibition setting. Despite seeming underwhelmingly standard, it's an important distinction to make, it allows them to be considered more as a work of art than a computational output. With being on a wall in a gallery comes a level of respect, maturity and honour.

This is a photograph from an installation entitled Flow, 2018 by algorithmic artist Karl Sims. This piece is entirely interactive and actively invited the viewer to move their entire body to shape and affect the work. Sims' reveals that "A Kinect depth sensor detects the shapes of people in front of the display, and allows them to manipulate the simulations with their gestures and motions." This work showcases the larger-scale use-cases of coding. Allowing the viewer to openly walk up to and interact with this work in such a natural-feeling manner is an incredible way for a work such as this to be experienced and would certainly impact the viewer in one way or another.

Through looking into this relatively limited amount of artists that specialize in algorithmic, digital and scientific methods of artmaking we can clearly see the range of applications the finished pieces can have. But what ties all of these artists together? They are actually all taking part in a group exhibition at Boston Cyberarts, opening this September. This may seem like a small point but, to me personally, it is huge to see such a wide variety of works existing symbiotically and thriving off of one another.

This piece of research has felt important. I have learned that I should never limit or bind myself to one idea of what I believe to be possible. The whole point in working within this technological framework is to take advantage of the constant and consistent advancements being made every single day. I certainly feel far more inspired to experiment with how my work may be received by an audience.

Nervous System. (2021). Generative Jigsaw Puzzles. Available: https://n-e-r-v-o-u-s.com/shop/line.php?code=12/

Stock, M. (2020). Structure. Available: http://markjstock.com/#/structure/.

Sims, K. (2018). Flow. Available: http://www.karlsims.com/flow.html.