On Generative Art

The machine does not create. It executes. The artist creates by defining the boundaries within which the machine operates, the rules it follows, the seeds from which patterns emerge.

When I write code that produces visual output, I am not delegating creativity to an algorithm. I am encoding my aesthetic sensibilities, my understanding of form and color, my sense of what feels right and what feels wrong. The computer is my brush, and the code is the gesture.

Process and Intention

Every generative artwork begins with intention. What do I want to explore? What questions am I asking? The code becomes a tool for investigation, a way to see variations I could never draw by hand, to explore parameter spaces too vast for human iteration.

The randomness is not chaos. It is controlled variation. The artist sets the bounds, defines the distributions, chooses which elements vary and which remain fixed. The surprising outputs are not accidents—they are discoveries within a carefully constructed possibility space.

The Role of Curation

Not every output is art. The generative artist must curate, must recognize when the system has produced something meaningful. This curation is itself a creative act, requiring the same aesthetic judgment as any traditional art form.

Sometimes I generate thousands of variations to find the handful that resonate. Sometimes the first output captures exactly what I sought. The process varies, but the intention remains constant: to create work that moves people, that asks questions, that rewards attention.