Re: Have you ever dreamed in code?

Lewis LaCook wrote:

> 1.) What programming languages do you use?
C++, Java, Perl, ActionScript, Lingo
>
> 2.) Why did you choose the language(s) that you use,
> and how did you learn it/them?
Learnt mostly as part of set projects in particular environments in college and continued to use afterwards but also chose to learn languages by setting myself projects in that language because I imagined it was important to understand them.
>
> 3.) Were you university-trained in programming or
> self-taught? What advantages and disadvantages do you
> see in this method of learning?
Self-taught programming in BASIC in early teens and mostly self-taught in university as part of set projects but with assistance as needed from colleagues and tutors. Otherwise books and online tutorials.
>
> 4.) How concerned are you with a language's political
> implications, i.e. with whether the language is open
> source or not? Why?
Am aware and concerned about opensource issues but am also pragmatic about the ease of use of Macromedia environments - although if they had a more restrictive licensing arrangement I would probable choose not to use them.
>
> 5.) Does your choice of programming lamguage effect
> the way you approach a problem you wish to solve with
> that language?
Obviously Flash is very visually orientated, Perl suited to server-side processing, C++ good for processing many many numbers very fast etc., will choose a language that suits the situation. Treat them like a tool box. Which is the best tool for what I want to do? Or do I need to learn a new tool?
>
> 6.) Did you come to New Media Art from Computer
> Science or from the Arts? Discuss the transition.
Suppose I strictly came in from the arts (political science) although had been very interested as an amatuer since my early teens. The transition was very fluid as I already had a reasonably strong technical knowledge and confidence.
>
> 7.) What does programming add or subtract from an art
> object? Is the artist-programmer giving up control of
> the object by coding it, or introducing more control?
There is no more or less giving up of control. In an algorithm an artist is expressing a logical view (which is still subjective), the audience must still interpret it.
>
> 8.) Does each programming language imply an ontology?
Yes. Just as in nos 5 and 7, designing a programming language is a creative endeavour. It expresses an epistemological standpoint and is designed for specific solutions (or at least is well suited to provide the solution to one particular kind of problem or the other). Even the world "solutoin" emplies a ontological position.
>
> 9.) Have you ever dreamed in code?
Mmmmm … think I have but must have been very stressed at the time. Then again I swear I deam in colour too but then others say that that's impossible. Maybe my dreams are in human but when I recall them I imagine it to be in code!
>
> 10.) Can one code art objects that produce catharsis
> in the user?
Why not? Can music, can photography?
>
>
> =====
>
>
> ***************************************************************************
>
> Lewis LaCook –>http://www.lewislacook.com/
>
> XanaxPop:Mobile Poem Blog-> http://www.lewislacook.com/xanaxpop/
>
> Collective Writing Projects–> The Wiki–>
> http://www.lewislacook.com/wiki/ Appendix M
> ->http://www.lewislacook.com/AppendixM/
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Lewis,

Awesome questions. For the record, I did not mean to switch titles on you – it was my first Superuser post, and I did not realize this would happen.

Lewis LaCook wrote:

> 1.) What programming languages do you use?

Visual Basic for business, Python for pleasure.

> 2.) Why did you choose the language(s) that you use,
> and how did you learn it/them?

Visual Basic because it was like BASIC, which I learned as a kid, late 70's. I discovered in the early 90's that the better I got with VB, the more money I could make, and that sure beat welding or bar tending to pay the rent in NYC.

Python because after investing more than 10 years becoming a VB expert, Microsoft changed the language so radically with .Net, that I was compelled to see what else was out there (The logic was: if I have to learn something new, why not something else?). This turned out to be a good thing. Python is not subject to change at the whim of Microsoft, is cross platform, well documented, well supported…

> 3.) Were you university-trained in programming or
> self-taught? What advantages and disadvantages do you
> see in this method of learning?

I am self taught.

Advantages: I have enjoyed the satisfaction of learning on my own - it makes me feel smart, people I meet seem impressed, and it has not yet hindered me coding for a living.

Disadvantages: Having the credential does reassure your potential client/employer. Knowing the jargon may make you feel more secure in talking the talk with other programmers. This is for business though.

For art's sake, taking a class has the advantage of ramping you up on what's out there, making it less likely you will devote (waste) years reinventing the wheel (the voice of experience).

> 4.) How concerned are you with a language's political
> implications, i.e. with whether the language is open
> source or not? Why?

I did not give this much thought until discovering Python. Microsoft does do a really good job supporting their products, but their motivation is to make money, they are a business after all. In contrast, the continued development of Python is for love, the language is capable of evolution in a decentralized way, the community marshal's it's development, I see this all as positive. I could go into a lot more detail, but I want to finish the survey.

> 5.) Does your choice of programming lamguage effect
> the way you approach a problem you wish to solve with
> that language?

Certainly. I know that Python will allow me to make my app available to Linux and Mac users too.

> 6.) Did you come to New Media Art from Computer
> Science or from the Arts? Discuss the transition.

I learned programming as a kid, and used it to make money here and there as a teenager, but was not a computer geek per say like a lot of my friends. I got my BFA in sculpture, with a minor in print making. I mostly used computers for writing papers in college.

My first job out of college was doing graphic design for a local newspaper. They were just starting to use computers for layout, and I was hired because of my limited experience with computers, combined with the fact that I had an art degree, and that I had published a daily comic strip in the college paper. On the job, I became intriuged by the print making possibilities of the computer, while also discovering how my BASIC skills could automate the newspaper's paste up process. These two realizations led me to pursue coding for both art and a livelihood.

> 7.) What does programming add or subtract from an art
> object? Is the artist-programmer giving up control of
> the object by coding it, or introducing more control?

I work with both real objects and code objects in my work. I have always been interested in the difference between deliberate choices and chance in artwork - the computer facilitates this really well.

> 8.) Does each programming language imply an ontology?

I don't think so. I think that the vocabulary one develops in the course of creating their bag of tricks does, though. I do write in more languages than VB and Python, and I find that my style has become a codex that transcends languages. Languages themselves are more of a simple groundwork.

> 9.) Have you ever dreamed in code?

Yes. It is not as romantic as it may sound, and has happened numerous times. This has happened when I have worked to produce the impossible under very intense deadlines, or when I went to sleep tired but terrified that I would forget a train of thought. Sometimes this is good, and led to waking up in the middle of the night to jot down a solution to a problem. More often though, it is very bad. I have woken up tired, as if I have worked all night.

> 10.) Can one code art objects that produce catharsis
> in the user?

I believe that I can. This is this ultimately the goal, no?

Jason Van Anden
www.smileproject.com

Lewis LaCook wrote:

> 1.) What programming languages do you use?

ActionScript, PHP, and tiny bits of CGI and Java
>
> 2.) Why did you choose the language(s) that you use,
> and how did you learn it/them?
>
I learned ActionScript so I could make interactive Flash projects, mostly self-taught through books and on-line tutorials.

> 3.) Were you university-trained in programming or
> self-taught? What advantages and disadvantages do you
> see in this method of learning?

I was not university trained in programming, but believe that many of the concepts I initially struggled with, such as object-oriented programming, would have been much easier to grasp if I could have asked questions from an actual person.
>
> 4.) How concerned are you with a language's political
> implications, i.e. with whether the language is open
> source or not? Why?
>
I would never have had the opportunity to learn if tutorials and resources were not available online and if other programmers had not posted their source-code as examples.

> 5.) Does your choice of programming lamguage effect
> the way you approach a problem you wish to solve with
> that language?

Absolutely, just as speaking French channels one's thought into French vocabulary, how I attempt to solve a problem is largely determined by my understanding of the terms and solutions already available.
>
> 6.) Did you come to New Media Art from Computer
> Science or from the Arts? Discuss the transition.

I came from the Arts, and have an MFA in Printmaking, but was introduced to programming (Basic) in middle school and high school, and reached the school's teaching limit early (no internet at that point). The "transition" occured when I learned how to make interactive Javascript's from my prints. I find the interactive nature of net-art to be the most compelling platform so far.
>
> 7.) What does programming add or subtract from an art
> object? Is the artist-programmer giving up control of
> the object by coding it, or introducing more control?

Both. Once it is interactive the artist loses control over the exact expression of an experience, but by programming specific response and avenues into the piece, the overall experience is still highly guided. Coding it is one of the only ways to introduce a non-linear experience, which I believe adds an important element to art, as the idea of the non-linear experience, stemming from web use, is a paradigm that has yet to reach it's fullest expression.
>
> 8.) Does each programming language imply an ontology?

yes
>
> 9.) Have you ever dreamed in code?

Yes, whenever I am stumped on how to accomplish an idea / process for a project.
>
> 10.) Can one code art objects that produce catharsis
> in the user?

If making art is to see an idea actualized, is that not a catharsis?
>
>

Lewis LaCook wrote:

> 1.) What programming languages do you use?

c, c++, php, perl, processing, javascript, actionscript


> 2.) Why did you choose the language(s) that you use,
> and how did you learn it/them?

I learned c and c++ when I realized all the cool stuff I wanted to do was impossible in flash :) Perl I picked up after I lost my job and thought it might be useful.


> 3.) Were you university-trained in programming or
> self-taught? What advantages and disadvantages do you
> see in this method of learning?

Both. I started with an intro perl class and took off from there. I find that classes are most useful for addressing concepts, and learning how to learn. I also agree with the learn be doing philosophy, and have found that being around better programmers than myself , whether it's an instructor, co-worker or peer, is essential.


> 4.) How concerned are you with a language's political
> implications, i.e. with whether the language is open
> source or not? Why?

I love open source, but I'll use a proprietary language/product if it suits my purpose.

> 5.) Does your choice of programming lamguage effect
> the way you approach a problem you wish to solve with
> that language?

I think the problem should determinesthe language chosen, so in that way the approach is different.


> 6.) Did you come to New Media Art from Computer
> Science or from the Arts? Discuss the transition.

Arts. I had a lot of potential in math and science in high school (so my teachers said) but I abandoned all that to pursue art and design in college. I made a quite natural progression from design to web design to programming. I always floated from medium to medium (painting, etching photography) without a real passion for any one until I discovered new media / computational art.

> 7.) What does programming add or subtract from an art
> object? Is the artist-programmer giving up control of
> the object by coding it, or introducing more control?

I don't think it is possible to answer this question without a discussion of context. It's all about implementation. Each program does something different to the given project/art piece etc. It's all dependent on what's being done and how code is being used.

> 8.) Does each programming language imply an ontology?
>
> 9.) Have you ever dreamed in code?

Yes, but it was more of a nightmare. I had this dream that I forgot to fix an if statment in my program that controlled the windows in my apartment causing them to stay open. This was a serious problem because the apartment is on the third floor and my poor cats could have fallen to a certain death.

> 10.) Can one code art objects that produce catharsis
> in the user?

sure.
>
> =====
>
>
> ***************************************************************************
>
> Lewis LaCook –>http://www.lewislacook.com/
>
> XanaxPop:Mobile Poem Blog-> http://www.lewislacook.com/xanaxpop/
>
> Collective Writing Projects–> The Wiki–>
> http://www.lewislacook.com/wiki/ Appendix M
> ->http://www.lewislacook.com/AppendixM/

Lewis LaCook wrote:

> 1.) What programming languages do you use?

C/C++, some assembler - looking more into Cg and GLSL at the moment.

> 2.) Why did you choose the language(s) that you use,
> and how did you learn it/them?

For real-time graphics there really isn't much of an option for speed. C and C++ are arguably the best languages currently available for this. They give the lowest abstraction to hardware while remaining mid/high level.

> 3.) Were you university-trained in programming or
> self-taught? What advantages and disadvantages do you
> see in this method of learning?

I originally taught myself C while at University - then did an MSc. in graphics programming that formalised it. I'd say having good tutors on hand is a great help.

> 4.) How concerned are you with a language's political
> implications, i.e. with whether the language is open
> source or not? Why?

I'm not that concerned about the source of C/C++ as it's so established and mature. Having source code to a library/compiler is more important to me as those are the things that are more likely to have bugs.

> 5.) Does your choice of programming lamguage effect
> the way you approach a problem you wish to solve with
> that language?

Yes - for large projects i'll need to design properly i'll be thinking with C++. For quick tests i'll be using the C subset, and if I need to be optimsising something or writing vector code - then assembler is the choice.

> 6.) Did you come to New Media Art from Computer
> Science or from the Arts? Discuss the transition.

I came to coding from Interactive Art - in turn from a more traditional Fine Art base. A couple of friends at Uni were graphics coders - and while we were learning Flash, HTML and Director as part of IA, I felt the languages and environments that they run in were too restricted. I realised that for real-time 3D the only real choice was C/C++.

I started learning C++ with the thought that as it contains all of C within then i'd learn C aswell in the process. Following this during my MSc. we were taught strict C, and from this I have come to believe that this is a better way to get into these languages. C++ contains a lot of extra aspects that make it a much larger language. C's compactness helps one to learn essentials without having to learn OOD aswell.

Once I had that under my belt I worked in the video games industry where I brought my C++ to a professional level, and working with PS2 I had to be in touch with hardware issues, hence a further understanding of assembler and vector unit micro-code. (Working in industry proved a great way to improve and learn btw).

There is still huge amounts to learn and do. Even though I feel i've made some transition, Computer Graphics is such a huge field - it's not over yet.

> 7.) What does programming add or subtract from an art
> object? Is the artist-programmer giving up control of
> the object by coding it, or introducing more control?

I depends upon the work that you do with it. I work with computers because they have the possibility to add complex interactivity. That is something no other medium can do. Conceptually that is interesting to me.

I think that the artist-programmer, by coding something, has the potential to be creating something autonomous. Whether they are giving up or introducing more control is down to the piece itself.


> 8.) Does each programming language imply an ontology?

I'm not sure that each programming language implies an ontology - programming languages per se are perhaps more like a large ontology - with each language being an aspect within that.

> 9.) Have you ever dreamed in code?

I dreamed I was in a function once - though more like I was inside the source code passing through steps in the debugger. I was working long hours =)

> 10.) Can one code art objects that produce catharsis
> in the user?

Of course.

>
> ***************************************************************************
>
> Lewis LaCook –>http://www.lewislacook.com/
>
> XanaxPop:Mobile Poem Blog-> http://www.lewislacook.com/xanaxpop/
>
> Collective Writing Projects–> The Wiki–>
> http://www.lewislacook.com/wiki/ Appendix M
> ->http://www.lewislacook.com/AppendixM/