Q: What do we learn about the process of the designers and the artist discussed in the text? What is the role of “process” in their overall activity?
A: The article described an artist named Bernard Frize who used a set of rules and parameters to follow while creating his work and focused on the rules themselves rather than the product. The article also described a group of designers who also created their designs based on a set of rules and let the process be their product so that it can have “unexpected but correlative, emergent patterns”.
I think in both of them, the process is the product and the act of the process is rational and uses legitimate rules rather than following creators’ own very random and unrestricted ideas.
Q: Describe how their approach differs from designs or drawings you have created in the past and what the impact on the resulting work is.
A: Their approach is very different from what I did in the past. I normally draw/design based on the topic and the specific things that I want to express through my work, so my process is goal-directed. I think the results that conditional designers have are very arbitrary yet logical, and the possibilities of the final product are huge.
Q: The text introduces the concept of the conditional drawing, where the artwork is the result of a series of instructions (rules) being performed. Can you imagine a (short) set of rules that, when followed on a sheet of paper, might produce an interesting, or unexpected, result?
A: Having a set of rules can make the drawing more logical and maybe even a way to record. For example, based on the visitors‘ actions or the number we can make a set of rules so that the drawing can not only be created by the designer but also be created by everyone that is around.
Another example: use only light colors when the day on which you draw is sunny; use only dark colors when the day on which you draw is cloudy; use only the color black when the day on which you draw is stormy…… Now the rules can make the drawing more relevant to the weather.
Q: Describe your thought process when devising your rules. Can you imagine the resulting image in your head, or are you tempted to act out your own rules on a sheet of paper – just to get an idea of what the result might look like? (If the latter, try to identify what part of your rules made you do so.)
A: After looking at the rules of the Vitruvian Paint Machine, I think that their seemingly arbitrary work can reflect the situation of the room and the environment. So I think why not create a set of rules that can reflect the weather conditions on a sheet of paper which is similar to their rules that decide their work based on the number of people and the choices from the people.
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