Art Software

"Art Software"

Paul Fishwick

There has been some intense discussion targeting the subject of
"Software Art". Even though the debate manifests itself within
the context of Ars Electronica, some of the recent comments
suggest that the issue is not so much the conference activity, but
rather the issues that the conference has surfaced. Unfortunately,
I was unable to attend this conference, but would like to add
some thoughts on Software Art and suggest a new direction that Software
Art may lead, which would create new synergies with computer
science.

Software Art suggests that we consider how art can be created
through programmmatic elements - code and software as the raw
material of art. This could be seen as an offshoot of digital
media except for the assumption that by programming and
delving into the innards of code, one might produce a different
sort of art or design than would otherwise be possible through
off-the-shelf commercial programs. This would appear to be a
correct assumption, with languages such as "Processing" [1]
providing the artist with new materials and modalities of
expression.

Some of the criticism leveled at the Ars Electronica program
was intriguing and requires further discussion. For example,
let's consider a well-developed, recent Rhizome commentary by Lev
Manovich [2]. Manovich makes numerous references to "larger" issues
such as "sociology," "politics," and "contemporary cultural
production" as if to pine for these attributes, and the
lack thereof in Software Art. While it may be true that all art
has a cultural context (be it an artificial or natural culture),
to suggest that "larger" art need embed sociological or political
elements is exaggerated. What ever happened to viewing digital
media or software art from the perspective of sensory immersion,
interaction, engagement, and sheer enjoyment? Are these now to be
considered foreign artistic or design goals?

Manovich may be correct when he states "Today's digital artists
are typically proper formalists," which is not a bad thing. In
fact, it may be a very good thing. Over the past two years, we
have been developing a community of artists, mathematicians,
designers, and computer scientists in an area called "Aesthetic
Computing" [3]. The goal of Aesthetic Computing is slanted toward
"Computing" by ensuring that any application of the theory or
practice of art to computing result in something that "reflects"
computing as a discipline (i.e., programming, visualization,
HCI, discrete structures). From the standpoint of Aesthetic
Computing, Software Art plays a key role of 1) introducing the
computational material to the artist, and 2) suggesting that
not only can the computational material be considered "raw
material," but that it can also be considered "subject material."
It is the range of activity between treating computing elements
(data structures, programs, architectures) as material to
treating the elements as subject material, which provides
Aesthetic Computing with a diverse set of creative
possibilities. Consider [4], which uses the Processing language to
demonstrate a "matrix/array". This sort of formal construct is important
to programming, and the piece provides an interactive artistic
'reflection' of an item of interest for computing. The piece not
only uses code as a raw material, but also reflects and surfaces
the underlying data structure as the subject material for the art.

Software Art, with its emphasis on code and program as raw material,
and Aesthetic Computing, with its focus on exploring the "Utility
Space" extending from Software Art to Art Software (using art
for new representations for all aspects of the computing
discipline) will forge a stronger connection between art and
computing. We are re-establishing a previously lost connection
between usable artifacts and new cultures for artistic expression.
The two need not be complementary goals.

[1] http://www.proce55ing.net
[2] http://rhizome.org/thread.rhiz?thread269&text 140#20140
[3] http://www.cise.ufl.edu/~fishwick/aescomputing
[4] http://www.proce55ing.net/learning/examples/distance_2d.html