Generative Art with Node.js and HTML5 Canvas

by Matt Deslauriers

In his project, Deslauriers used the rendering algorithm to create his generative art. Each particle is rendered as a small line segment in the direction of its velocity. The scale of the noise is randomized so that some lines curl tightly, while others head straight. Deslauriers also used photos of snails, flowers, architecture, and geometry as guides to make the renderings look a little more polished. The particles sample a black and white image, and the luminance value of the image determines parameters such as noise scale and line thickness. When choosing colors, Deslauriers used popular colors in design communities rather than pick schemes by hand.

Deslauriers’ work relies more on the artist’s creativity. As explained, the programmer made the decision of the color palette used in his work. The randomized noise value and line thickness are also determined by images chosen by the programmer. Therefore, the computer’s role in the making of this art is very passive.

Machines can randomize, but it can never be original. They learn from patterns and programmers’ instructions. Everything created by a computer comes from a pattern or image that it has seen before. This is the same for human — all of our ideas come from previously seen objects, but the way of how we put images together makes us creative. Computers cannot do so. They might be able to randomize locations or shapes, but in most cases they are instructed by a programmer to do so.  Similarly, human aesthetics cannot be formalized or proceduralized. The human mind thinks freely, and is not controlled by boundaries. A programmer can always use computers to express or recreate a piece of art, but the computer itself can never mimic the creative process of a human.

I think for a machine, making art to satisfy human aesthetics can be hard. Human’s beauty standards are constantly changing, and for computers to realize that pattern is really hard. Human on the other hand, might not have the ability to appreciate a computer generated artwork. Therefore, it’s pretty hard for a computer to make good art.

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