European Conference on Artificial Life, Prague, September 2001
Aesthetic Fitness and Artificial Evolution for the Selection of Imagery from...
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The Mythical, Infinite Library |
| Alan
Dorin http://www.cs.monash.edu.au/~aland aland@cs.monash.edu.au |
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| Centre
for Electronic Media Art School of Computer Science & Software Engineering Monash University, Melbourne, Australia |
| Preamble |
It is optimistic to expect consensus on a proposal: "This is Art"
or "This is not Art"
...when consensus on the question "What is Art?" is elusive.
Even without consensus on this latter point...
There are some things which ARE NOT usually thought of as
Art (although they might be):
e.g. breeding pigeons
and there are some things which ARE usually thought of as
Art (although they might not be):
e.g. painting
This issue underlies much of what will now be said...
| Outline |
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The purpose here is to encourage you to question... it is not to provide an authoritative answer.
My answer may not be like yours!
| The Parable |
X was an artist...
Because he saw beyond ordinary "seeing"?
Because he revealed the way he saw in his painting?
Because his paintings were an extension of himself depicting his response to what he saw?
Because he chose from an infinite number of potential means of expressing himself a way which was unique to him?
| The Process |
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The
process of aesthetic selection and pigeon breeding. |
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The choices of aesthetic selection are dictated by the software (not the user)...
If choices are limited, so is the potential for innovation and novelty. |
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If choices are infinite, so is the potential for innovation and novelty. |
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| Searching for Solutions and Problems |
Finding solutions from within enormous choice-sets is something
computers do.
Playing chess, creating beautiful pictures, making music... fine, but...
"Creativity" is as much about identifying a problem worthy
of solution as it is about finding a solution.
Computers are machines which solve problems posed by humans...
| Bio-Diversity in (Visual) Aesthetic Evolution |
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Q. In each of the above examples, where did the greatest number of choices lie?
A. In deciding (how) to write software to generate imagery!
Note therefore that the style and degree of novelty of figure/image/model produced is dictated by the software, not the user.
Artwork is made when an artist responds to stimulii in the environment.
The computer may present stimulii to the artist (as in aesthetic evolution)... but the stimulii themselves needn't be the artwork!
| How do people engage with creative processes? |
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Artist |
Image/Pigeon Breeder |
Computer Scientist/Programmer |
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Think, plan, dream, wait for inspiration |
Select attractive image/pigeon couple |
Think, plan, dream, wait for inspiration |
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Create |
Images/pigeons pro-create |
Create |
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Think, plan, dream, wait for inspiration |
Select attractive image/pigeon couple |
Think, plan, dream, wait for inspiration |
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Create |
Images/pigeons pro-create |
Create |
Which English word uses all of the following letters and no others?
goatrimhl
The answer is not easy to find is it?
Which of the English words below uses all of the following letters and no others?
rieinatot
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(1) emergence (2) algorithm |
(3) iteration (4) second |
Is this easier than the first exercise?
Which of the following images looks like an octopus?
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Can you draw a sea-horse?
...so the process of selection from a limited choice-set is not a process like the one in which we:
If all artists were to make art by 'multiple-choice' responses, art would have little future (IMHO).
| Tool | Interface | Mastery | Outcome |
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Paint brush |
Subtle |
Life time |
Painting |
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Programming language |
Clumsy |
Years |
Code, Music, Imagery... |
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Aesthetic evolution software |
Trivial |
Hour |
Dictated by programmer |
| Innovation | Task |
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* * * * * |
Decide that aesthetic evolution can be applied to the synthesis of imagery |
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* * * |
Re-purpose the idea for different applications: |
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Code a well-documented algorithm, refine it, and operate the interface to make pictures |
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Install software and operate the interface to make pictures |
| So what (is next) ? |
Aesthetic evolution then is effective for some things, but it is time to move on...
Recall...
"Creativity" is as much about identifying a problem worthy
of solution as it is about finding a solution.
Suirvival of computers is assured as long as they solve problems posed by humans...
| Can
machines solve their own problems? (Process-based, Generative Electronic Art) |
Set up (virtual) environments in which the visible/audible outcomes emerge through self-assembly / organization as solutions to the 'problem' of survival.
Self-assembly / organization is a relatively untapped resource
for the generation of art works.
Is this partially because systems which exhibit the property are 'brittle' and
therefore difficult to tinker with?
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Reaction-Diffusion buttons |
Sandlines, cellular-automata
tiles |
Founders
Series, brush agents Michael Tolson 1993 |
Turbulence,
L-systems communicating |
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| Self-organizing
particle system Alan Dorin 1999 |
Splash, Solid cellular automata (SOCA)
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Ambient 5, Rigid-body agents |
LiquiPrism, Superficial cellular automata |
...still, the kinds of patterns which emerge are encoded in the software... but as a programmer one has artistic control over this kind of thing!
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©Copyright Alan Dorin/Animaland 2001
