Computational Expressionism: a Model for Drawing with Computation
Abstract:
This work consists of 24 Java-based drawing programs, each constructed and used by the author
to create specific series of drawings. I define the “computational line” as a sophisticated drawing
element controlled by various parameters of a gesture, such as speed, direction, position or
order. The work questions the act of drawing in the computational medium and presents a
different creative model for visual composition, one that is more iterative and evaluative.
Compositions combine higher level conceptual design with real-time gestural drawing.
Computational drawing is a two-fold process, at two distinct levels of interaction with the
computer. The artist must program the appearance and behavior of computational lines and then
draw with these by dragging a mouse or controlling another input device. The resulting aesthetic
highlights the tension between repetition and variation, regularity and irregularity, mathematical
order and gestural disorder.
In this talk, I will discuss my Masters research, show several of the original drawing tools,
introduce a new Computational Drawing system that I am developing, and, if time permits, show
some work by John Maeda (Aesthetics and Computation group at the MIT Media Lab), which has
inspired me.
Full text:
Computers have introduced new concepts into the artist’s vocabulary, concepts such as
interactivity, dynamism and emergence that shape the development of new forms of visual
expression. In particular, the computational medium suggests a new approach to the act of
drawing. Instead of duplicating the methods and materials we know from traditional media, we
seek to develop a different perspective on visual thinking, one that involves a more active
participation in the higher level design of drawing tools.
The work consists of 24 Java-based drawing programs, each constructed and used by the author
to create specific series of drawings. We define the “computational line” as a sophisticated
drawing element controlled by various parameters of a gesture, such as speed, direction, position
or order. Complex shapes can be created with very simple gestures. A computational line has
three attributes: (1) physical appearance (a shape, a pattern, a representation of a mathematical
algorithm or a color), (2) individual behavior or dynamism, some transformation over time (a shift
in color, position, shape, or other attribute) (3) and behavior in its interaction with the other lines
on the canvas. The line can sense the presence, proximity and topology of others, and respond in
pre-determined but unpredictable ways.
Computational Expressionism presents a model for drawing that combines higher level
conceptual design with real-time gestural input. It is a two-fold process, at two distinct levels of
interaction with the computer. The artist programs the appearance and behavior of computational
lines and then draws with these by dragging a mouse or controlling another input device. The
process of computational sketching consists of writing the code, compiling the program, running it
and making some sketches on the digital canvas. The drawings thus produced instruct the next
iteration of the code, the algorithms are refined and varied. The iterative bipartite process of
programming and drawing generates an individualized algorithmic style for a particular drawing.
The computer differs from other media in that it is both a constructive and a projective medium.
Computation invites us to represent, but also to interpret the world around us, through
experimentation and abstraction. In this work, the artist develops individual interpretations of the
meaning of gestures and constructs tools to represent them in the final composition. This
conceptual interpretation of gestures is a very personal part of the process, and a key element of
the model of drawing with computation.
Because computational lines are no longer literal representations of a gesture, the aesthetic
qualities of an algorithm or of a dynamic interaction generally outweigh representational potential.
Thus our work in computational drawing has been almost exclusively non-representational. The
quality of lines is a strong aesthetic theme, together with the expressive potential of gesture, and
the textures and tones achieved through a layering of lines. The compositions emerge from the
interaction between the algorithms and behaviors of the computational lines and the gestures
used in drawing. The resulting aesthetic takes advantage of the medium’s unique characteristics
(interactivity, dynamism and emergence) and highlights the tension between repetition and
variation, regularity and irregularity, mathematical order and gestural disorder.
musicBottles and other Tangible Media projects
People have developed sophisticated skills for sensing and manipulating physical environments.
However, most of these skills are not employed by traditional GUIs (Graphical User Interfaces).
The Tangible Media Group at the MIT Media Lab, led by Hiroshi Ishii, seeks to build upon these
skills by giving physical form to digital information, seamlessly coupling the dual worlds of bits and
atoms. They call this the Tangible Bits vision of HCI (Human Computer Interaction).
Guided by the Tangible Bits vision, they have designed tangible user interfaces that employ
physical objects, surfaces, and spaces as tangible embodiments of digital information. One
direction of research consists of foreground interactions with graspable objects and augmented
surfaces, exploiting the human senses of touch and kinesthesia. A second area of interest
comprises background information displays which use “ambient media” ambient light, sound,
airflow, and water movementto communicate digitally-mediated senses of activity and presence
at the periphery of human awareness. Their goal is to change the “painted bits” of GUIs to
“tangible bits,” taking advantage of the richness of multimodal human senses and skills
developed through our lifetime of interaction with the physical world.
In this talk, I will present videos of several TMG projects, discuss the musicBottles project in
some depth, and answer questions about “tangible media”.
Joanna Berzowska
Joanna was born in Poland has lived in Algeria, Gabon, Canada, Norway, Australia and the USA.
She obtained undergraduate degrees in Pure Mathematics and in Fine Arts, and a Masters
degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology working on what she calls “Computational
Expressionism”. She has worked as a researcher with the Institute for Interactive Media at the
University of Technology Sydney, Australia, and with the Tangible Media Group at the MIT Media
Lab. She is currently the Director of Design for a high-tech startup.