Reading Response 1: What is Generative Art?

In this reading material, the author demonstrates a great deal of generative art projects from different categories which are inspiring and informative for me, especially the part of integrating natural sources into the artistic creation.

Personally, I interpret generative art as a computational art form that follows a certain pattern of rules and involves a balance between randomness and control. It contrasts with my mini project 1, where all the elements of the drawing including lines, curves, shapes, and colors are totally determined by myself. But it partly aligns with my mini project 2, where the color and size of my ‘stamps’ in the drawing tool are random and unpredictable. 

Let me take the rule of the ‘star’ stamp for example:

function mousePressed() {

if (shapeMode == 1) {
h = random(100);
s = random(100);
fill(h, s, 100, 60);
noStroke();
rectMode(CENTER);
rect(mouseX, mouseY, random(20, 80), random(20, 80) / 10);
rect(mouseX, mouseY, random(20, 80) / 10, random(20, 80));
}
}

And here’s the drawing resulting from my rules (from 0:57 of the demo ):

I think this part of the drawing is kind of generative because of the incorporation of randomness. The results are rather close to my original design, that is to add some colorful little decorations into the whole drawing. And the random colors and shapes make the stars look more variegated and changeful to avoid making the overall picture monotonous.

However, my rule is such a simple one compared with the examples of generative art in the reading material. A more complicated and fancy effect could be achieved if ’emergence’ could be used–to determine the individual component’s rule of behavior leading to some interesting results at the system level.

In terms of my thought process, I think I’m more inclined to visualize the final image in my head. I didn’t let the stars randomly generate on the canvas, which would be in too much disorder; at the same time, I didn’t control its size and shape to ensure richness. That is my balance between control and unpredictability in the experiment.

I’m looking forward to exploring more about generative art after I have a better command of p5.js and can use it more skillfully and smoothly.