Much of generative art hones in on the low-level relationship between variables in visuals and sound. Hands-on techniques allow for a greater degree of freedom in creation, though they often rely on the support of powerful frameworks, and sometimes entire projects.
A simple practice for learning audio/visual programming is taking some existing code and changing how it behaves. Once a system’s parameters have been identified, artists can chop up and rewrite just a few lines of code to achieve a totally new behavior. Other than the physical limits of a processor, the nature of that behavior is under the artist’s complete control.
Artist and engineer Memo Akten specializes in creative computing, and is a guest lecturer in a number of Kadenze courses. He’s well-known for his independent work, but has also created a great deal of stunning material using existing systems (Google’s Deep Dream, for example). In this video, Memo takes a basic particle system in Processing to another level, with just a few tweaked parameters—and a simple algorithm here or there.
Learn more creative programming techniques by enrolling in our free course Creative Programming for Audiovisual Art, or check out the first session.
Creative Programming for Audiovisual Art
Goldsmiths, University of London