"So why generative art? And, why now? Oh, and what is it?
Generative art operates within a rule structure but has an element of chance that is crucial to what many artists enjoy about it. The final work is partly produced by an autonomous system, which may be strictly regulated by the rules or operate within parameters.
It is largely associated with coding and interactive art, but is sometimes compared to baking as when a cake made from a recipe but still has the variables of cook, altitude, temperature and humidity discrepancy, etc. There is a surprising lightheartedness in the endeavor of much generative art.
Generative art is not just a bunch of random computer lines that don’t mean anything. Software is a crucial epistemology of our time and to address the potential and problems of our era probably demands that we address the ways of thinking that it presents.
Examining this art allows a complex foray into the contemporary. As we glean the workings of code, we may discover new forms and debate the basis for cultural desires."
Automatonism is the name of both the modular synthesiser in Pure Data and the creative output of its developer, Johan Eriksson. A PhD student at Birmingham Conservatoire, UK, Eriksson works at the intersection of composition, performance and instrument design.
His research explores new ways of making music with modular synths by highlighting the partnership between human and the automaton.
His first modular project, Xodular, arrived during a new wave of interest in modular synthesis and gained notable popularity for a freeware instrument.
Automatonism builds on Xodular, adding more modules and features for greater performability and expressiveness, while also encouraging players to delve into the making of generative algorithms.
"Pd is a visual programming language created by Miller Puckette, who was the original developer of Max when he was at IRCAM. Over the years, Max has grown into a rich ecosystem of libraries and external objects, with its core program and API maintained by Cycling ‘74, a company recently purchased by Ableton. Pd is superficially similar to Max, but Pd is an open source project, so there are now tons of extensions available beyond its original code."
- John Baccigaluppi
credits
released July 16, 2022
All sounds created on real-time with modular patch / Automatonism in Pure Data
An experimental composer from Ireland, Stephen Roddy proves equally adept at crushing soundscapes as he does mysterious melodies. Bandcamp New & Notable Mar 13, 2022
The sole recording from this Brooklyn group, “Service” is hushed and mysterious, its artful songs defying easy categorization. Bandcamp New & Notable Oct 28, 2023
A perfectly matched cassette split between Yves Malone's beat-driven atmospheric synths and Grapefruit's burbling hearts of space. Bandcamp New & Notable Nov 29, 2017