ICAM 40 / VIS 40: Introduction to Computing in the Arts


artificial life | evolutionary art | emergence | complexity


1. Complexity

video shown in class: selection from "Fractals: an Animated Discussion with Edward Lorenz and Benoit Mandelbrot" (W.H. Freeman, 1990.)


2. Artificial Life

goal: to understand low-level life collectives (such as ants)
uses computer as a simulation tool
simulates populations
concept of emergence
concept of self-organisation
emergent properties: complex and unpredictable global behaviour emerging out of interaction of a population of simple elements

Application of AL ideas -- examples:

video shown in class: Christopher Langton. "Self Reproducing Loops and Virtual Ants" (visual demonstration of the principle of emergent properties)
(source: from Artificial Life II conference video proceedings, 1992)

video shown in class: Craig Reynolds, "Boids Demos" (1987) -- behavioral animation
(source: from Artificial Life II conference video proceedings, 1992)
The goal: to explore how cooperative group behavior could emerge from the interaction of individual behavior. ((also refered as swarm behavior)
Each bird sought:
(1) to avoid crowding, preferring to maintain a certain separation from nearby flockmates,
(2) to match velocity, preferring to move in the same direction and at the same speed as nearby flockmates,
(3) to avoid starying from the flock, preferring to be in the center of the nearby flockmates.
Behavior priorities: at a higher priority than flocking was obstacle avoidance.
At a lower priority than flocking was the desire to fly towards an attractor, such as food, or away from a predator.


example of the current use of AL techniques in entertainment industry - feature film scenes and commercials done with Massive software

the characters such as those in Reynolds original animations or in recent animations done with Massive sometimes refer to as "agents" - virtual actors which perform on their own.

Examples of current artistic work in AL area:

list of online resources from the book by Mitchell Whitelaw, Metacreation: Art and Artificial Life (MIT Press, 2004)

Art and Artificial Life international competition


3. Evolutionary Art | another explanation

using principles drawn from evolution theory such as "natural selection" to algorithmically create computer shapes, animations and interactive works
"evolututionary art" and "genetic art" sometimes used interchangeably

some of the "classical" works in the area of Evolutionary Art:

Karl Sims - Evolved Virtual Creatures (early 1990s):

Christa Sommerer & Laurent Mignonneau, Interactive Plant Growing (1992)

William Latham (London) - using artificial evolution to "evolve" shapes and abstract animations (1990 --)
video show in class: "Conquest of Form" video demonstrating the process used by Latham and some of his computer animations.