Leonardo Electronic Almanac Exhibition

Posted on May 13, 2013

LEA_promo_card_2013_01

This month, the Leonardo Electronic Almanac Media Exhibition features an on-line exhibition of Fifty Sisters, curated by Vince Dziekan. You can find more details on the LEA site. A new image will be released each day, alongside the digital genetic code that was used to generate it. The final stages of the exhibition will include a new work, computer modified photographs of the urban and parkland environments that surround the city of Linz: the location of the Ars Electronica Museum.

 

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Datascape at QUT

Posted on April 12, 2013

Mitchell Whitelaw, Measuring Cup, 2010

Mitchell Whitelaw, Measuring Cup, 2010

I participated on the panel “Coding for Creative Output” in conjunction with the QUT Creative industries precinct exhibition Datascape. Other participants include Tega Brain, Mitchell Whitelaw and chair, Keith Armstrong.

WHERE: The Hall, Z2-226, QUT Creative Industries, Brisbane, Queensland

WHEN: 18 April 2013

TIME: 5.00pm – 6.00pm

Following that I gave a short opening talk (covering everything from the Tandy TRS-80 to personalisation in the age of big data) for the Datascape exhibition at “The Block”, QUT Creative Industries Precinct, Kelvin Grove, Queensland.

Datascape runs until 26 April, 2013.

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EvoMUSART 2013

Posted on February 26, 2013

Figure from Galanter, P. "What is Complexism", 2008

Figure from Galanter, P. “What is Complexism”, 2008

I presented a new paper at EvoMUSART 2013, part of the EvoStar collection of conferences and workshops on evolutionary computing. The conference ran from 3-5 April 2013. Here’s the details on my paper:

Aesthetics, Art, Evolution

Abstract.

This paper discusses issues in evolutionary art related to Art Theory and Aesthetics with a view to better understanding how they might contribute to both research and practice. Aesthetics is a term often used in evolutionary art, but is regularly used with conflicting or naïve understandings. A selective history of evolutionary art as art is provided, with an examination of some art theories from within the field. A brief review of aesthetics as studied in philosophy and art theory follows. It is proposed that evolutionary art needs to resolve some important conflicts and be clearer about what what it means by terms like “art” and “aesthetics”. Finally some possibilities for how to resolve these conflicts are described.

A pre-print is available for download.

Outside TU Wein

Snow falls just outside the conference venue.

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Presentation at Sint Lucas Antwerpen

Posted on January 22, 2013

I gave a research presentation at Sint Lucas Antwerpen in Belgium.
Date: Monday, 4th February 2013 @ 6pm
Generative Art, Ecosystems, Evolution: design strategies for digital art
Jon McCormack
Antwerp
Abstract:
In this talk I will present my work in digital art over the last twenty years, along with the ideas that have inspired it. I am interested in understanding the underlying processes that enable creativity to occur in nature, and how these might translate to machines. My approach is to look beyond scientific simulation and develop a new kind of art practice based on human-computer synergetics. This approach considers process as a fundamental entity over its material instantiation. I will describe the generative computer algorithms and artificial intelligence techniques I have developed and how they are used to generate new representations of nature through the artificiality of computer code. My early work used evolutionary methods, and later, more complex ecosystem models that try to emulate the nuances found in real biological ecosystems. I will conclude with a brief discussion on the new roles computers can play in expanding the creative process.

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Recommended Old Books for 2012

Posted on December 14, 2012

With the festive season coming up, I’ve compiled this short list of five out-of-print books that I’ve obtained my own copies of this year. In times past, I’ve usually borrowed these titles from our university library and found myself regularly coming back to them for inspiration. However, years of borrowing have seen many of the library copies a lot worse for wear (not due to me I should emphasise), and some are now missing altogether from the library shelves—shame on you book thieves!

With the advent of on-line second-hand book sites such as Abe Books its now so much easier to find these out-of-print titles, usually at a reasonable price. So here are my highly recommended list of old books for 2012.
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