Description
Generative art is post-conceptual art that has been created (in whole or in part) with the use of an autonomous system. An autonomous system in this context is generally one that is non-human and can independently determine features of an artwork that would otherwise require decisions made directly by the artist. In some cases the human creator may claim that the generative system represents their own artistic idea, and in others that the system takes on the role of the creator.
"Generative art" often refers to algorithmic art (algorithmically determined computer generated artwork) and synthetic media (general term for any algorithmically generated media), but artists can also make generative art using systems of chemistry, biology, mechanics and robotics, smart materials, manual randomization, mathematics, data mapping, symmetry, and tiling. Read more ↗
Key Artists
Georg Nees
Pioneer of computer-generated art; held the first-ever exhibition of algorithmic graphics in Stuttgart in 1965 and authored the foundational book Generative Computergraphik.
Frieder Nake
Mathematician-artist who co-pioneered algorithmic drawing using the Zuse Graphomat Z64 plotter; grounded generative art in semiotic theory and information aesthetics.
Vera Molnár
One of the first women to use computers in art; developed the 'machine imaginaire' method of rule-based visual experimentation before transitioning to digital tools in the late 1960s.
A. Michael Noll
Bell Labs researcher who began combining randomness with order in computer art as early as 1962; exhibited alongside Bela Julesz in 1965.
Harold Cohen
Created AARON, one of the longest-running AI art programs (begun 1973), which autonomously generated drawings and paintings.
Manfred Mohr
Pioneer who used algorithms to explore multi-dimensional hypercube geometry; first artist to have a solo computer art show at a museum (Musée d'Art Moderne, Paris, 1971).
Casey Reas
Co-creator of Processing, the open-source programming language that democratized generative art for a new generation of artists.
John Maeda
Designer and technologist who explored the intersection of computation and graphic design at MIT Media Lab; authored Design By Numbers.
Famous Artworks
Schotter (Gravel)
Georg Nees · 1968
Digital Art Museum (DAM) - Plotter drawing on paper
Hommage à Paul Klee
Frieder Nake · 1965
Victoria and Albert Museum, London - Plotter drawing (Zuse Graphomat Z64)
Interruptions
Vera Molnár · 1969
Centre Pompidou, Paris - Computer-generated plotter drawing
P-021/A+B (Band)
Manfred Mohr · 1969
Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York - Plotter drawing on paper
Fun Facts
Georg Nees's 1965 Stuttgart exhibition is considered the world's first public exhibition of computer-generated art, though whether it was actually titled 'Generative Computergrafik' remains debated - that was the title of his doctoral thesis published a few years later.
↗ Source: en.wikipedia.org
Vera Molnár began developing her 'machine imaginaire' method - manually simulating algorithmic processes on paper - years before she gained access to an actual computer in 1968, making her one of the conceptual founders of generative art.
↗ Source: moma.org
Processing, the open-source programming language created by Casey Reas and Ben Fry in 2001, has been downloaded millions of times and is credited with making generative art accessible to artists without formal computer science training.
↗ Source: processing.org
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