CLICK@MoMA: Making Codes, Breaking Codes

Week 1:ART & CODE

Tuesday February 4
What is art? What are codes? How can codes be art? Or what do codes have to do with art? Through presentation and discussion we will explore examples of code-based art making and begin to explore ways in which instructions and procedures can generate works. Focus will be on letting ourselves be surprised, reserving judgment, and opening up to what emerges.

"I don't believe in art. I believe in artists"
-Marcel Duchamp

Schedule

Introductions—20 minutes
Discussion —30 minutes
Rule breaking Exercises
- Start with a newspaper and a sharpie pen. Use the sharpie to remove content to create a rule for yourself.—15 minutes
- Draw your journey to school, but leave out what is not essential, and graphically represent what you believe to be most important—25 minutes
- Draw a self portrait with your "other" hand (optional —15 minutes)
Discussion of work—20 minutes
Scanning students—throughout class
Show Improv Everywhere: MP3 Experiment
Clean up —10 minutes
Phone survey: who has a phone and what kind

Materials: Materials: Pen, Paper, Cell Phone, Computers

Week 2: INVENTING INSTRUCTIONS

Tuesday February 11
How have artists used instructions and codes to make their art? We explore 4-5 artists in the galleries and inquire how they have made their own art from codes. Coming back together we select projects from the Do It: Manual and begin to explore and share projects.

Schedule:

Gallery visit—30 minutes
Introduction to instructions from Do It: Manual
Richard Wentworth:

The point about art is it's all in its interpretation. Art is something that you encounter and you know it's in a different kind of space from the rest of your life, but is directly connected to it. It's a great privilege to be near art because when you're near art, you can be another kind of person, and it allows you to think differently about things that you have never done.
Split into groups of four and follow instructions:
Etel Adnam Douglas Coupland Jimmie Durham Alison Knowles Jeong-A Koo Suzanne Lacy Sol Lewitt David Lynch Annette Messager Nicolas Paris Phillippe Parreno Casey Reas Hassan Sharif Shimabuku Michael Smith Hannah Weinberger Emmett Williams

—30 minutes
Etel ADNAN (2012)
You can become an (almost) instant artist if you follow these instructions (you can also become an artist otherwise!).

Let's try one of the infinite ways to start.

Wash your hands—it creates expectation. Take a white piece of paper, 1 by 1 meter. Find a good sharp pencil—sharpen it if its point is dull. It's always best to use good materials. With your pencil draw a grid—let's say 9 little squares by little squares, 81 squares in all, of equal size.

Take 10 crayons (oil pastels) that you have chosen out of a box. Think of the rainbow, its colors, its freshness. Let's have 10 colors, for example red, purple, orange, yellow, dark blue, light blue, brown, ochre, dark green, light green. Keep them in this order (or any order you wish). Fill the first upper-left side little square with red, evenly painted red, carefully painted. Then purple for the next square, then orange, then yellow, then dark blue, then light blue, then brown, then ochre, then dark green, then light green. You will be at the end of your top row. Go back and start the next line on the left side with light green, which will fall under the red square. Then continue: red, purple, orange, yellow, and so on until you fill the last little square on the right of your bottom line, which will be red. You will obtain thus regular patterns, rhythm, brilliance, a nice painting. You won't need special skills for such a beautiful result. Try it. You may—but I hope not— be weary in the process....

We'll see.
Douglas COUPLAND (2004)
Instructions
1. Go to an instant print shop run by a multinational company such as Kinko's.
2. Log onto the internet.
3. Open a blog page account on a blogging site such as blogger.com. It's free.
4. Give your blog a home page name composed of two relatively unusual nouns such as ducklingspaghetti. There is a reason for this which will come shortly.
5. On another on-screen window go to Amazon.com.
6. Select a book that you've read many times in your life.
7. Chances are that Amazon has many pages from that book excerpted. Select one page.
8. Go back to your blog page.
9. Transcribe into it the page you selected from amazon.
10. Post that blog page on the internet.
11. Now go to Google.de or Google.fr or Google. nl of for any Google for a language you don't speak.
12. On this foreign Google site, search for your blog entry using the name of your blog page. The unusual nouns selected for your page will make it easier for Google to find it.
13. Once your blog page appears, click Google's translation button. Your page will be translated within a second or two.
14. Print out this page on 8.5 x 11 paper or A4 or whatever standardized letter paper dimension for the country you're in.
15. Return to your blog account.
16. In a new blog entry, paste into it the freshly translated page.
17. Using Google from another country, repeat the above procedure, translating your page from, say, Dutch to French.
18. Print out this next translation but do it on a differently colored page of letter paper.
19. Continue this process repeatedly, always from one language into another, printing onto a differently colored sheet of paper, until you have used up all colors of paper available at your specific Kinko's.
20. The final sheet of paper should be in your mother tongue.
21. For the final presentation, paste the sheets like a checkerboard onto a wall, in sequence. The proportions of the pasting should be a vertical rectangle as close to 8.5 x 11 or A4 as possible.
Jimmie Durham: Do-It-Yourself-Museum Project (1996)
Rooms contain objects that are visible yet not intended to be looked at. These include steam heat radiators, electric heat radiators, electric light switches, electric outlets, electric wires, water pipes, gas pipes, drain pipes, lighting fixtures, wooden trim, paint, surveillance cameras, burglar alarms, etcetera.

Using a graphite pencil or a ballpoint pen, make a list on paper or wood of all of the not-to-be-looked-at objects in a a museum room.
Alison Knowles: Homage to Each Red Thing (1996)
Divide the exhibition space floor into squares of any size.

Put one red thing into each square.

For example:
- a piece of fruit
- a doll with a red hat
- a shoe
Completely cover the floor in this way.
Suzanne LACY (2012)
Around the world, one in three women has been beaten, forced into sex, or otherwise abused. Gender violence kills and disables many women between 15-44 years as does cancer.
1. Make a statement in solidarity with these women
2. Post/present/perform/exhibit or otherwise distribute
3. Make it matter
David LYNCH: Do It: How To Make A Ricky Board (2012)
This board can be any size you want.

The proportions are dictated by four rows of five rickies.

There should be 20 rickies in all.

Each ricky is, as nearly as possible, exactly the same as every other ricky.

The ricky can be an object or a flat image.

The thing about the rickies is you will see them change before your eyes because you will give each ricky a different name.

The names will be printed or written under each ricky. Twenty different names in all.

You will be amazed ar the different personalities that emerge depending on the names you give.

Here is a poem:

Four rows of five
Your rickies come alive
Twenty is plenty
It isn't tricky
Just name each ricky
Even though they're all the same
The change comes from the name

Sol LEWITT A black not straight line is drawn at approximately the center of the wall horizontally from side to side. Alternate red, yellow and blue lines are drawn above and below the black line to the top and bottom of the wall. (2001)
A black not straight line is drawn at approximately the center of the wall horizontally from side to side. Alternate red, yellow and blue lines are drawn above and below the black line to the top and bottom of the wall.

Nicolas PARIS (2011)*
Human Clock
Are you sure that clocks give you your time?

How do you know time is real if you don't share it?

Share your time.

Understand your timing in relation to others.

Become a clock with the help of your shadow.

Your shadow is a skillful measurement man, but a slippery fellow afraid of the dark. Catch your shadow every time with the help of a tree branch (or some colored chalk) and a partner.

Simply expose the shadow to the light of day and trace its silhouette on the ground (or on the floor).To do this, stand in a given point and ask your friend to outline the shadow on the ground. Each position of the shadow gives you your time of day.

Write down the time on the floor, besides the borderline. Think: how will you mark this moment of the day? How will you remember it?

Go for a walk and come back to the same place; ask your friend to draw your shadow again. Take down the time once more. How will you remember the time spent?Think: how did you share it?

Help your partner with his own human clock; offer to make his marks on the ground. Take turns drawing each other's figure and then share your time perception.

Take your time.

Body Ruler
Why do rulers have 30 centimeters? What is 30 centimeters long?
Who made those rules?

If you see the world through your own eyes,
Appraise the world with your body.

Measure both sides of your desk with your thumbs,
Multiply the numbers to find your work area.

Quantify the perimeter of your classroom in open arms
(measurement that equals your height, try it!). Calculate the shared
mind space.

Count the steps from your house to school.
Find the stretching distance of your ideas.

As the operation becomes longer, words become shorter.

Your body is a ruler.

Found Objects
What do you know about your past?
What do you think your town looked like 100 years ago?

What object, plant, or place reminds you of the people that lived in your town?

What things can a town or people leave behind? (Traces, artifacts/objects, architecture, houses.)

Make a portable Museum of your recent history.

Go outside and pick as many objects as attract you. Come back inside and organize them either by shape, size, and color, or used and new. What other categories can you think of?

We classify objects to understand the world we live in. Objects reflect the nature and practices of our time and space: the atmospheres that are built through our exchanges. Objects may present an idea, fear, thought, hope of the people who made it(or kept it), and their changes through time.

How would you classify the group of objects you gathered?

Which represent you and which talk about your life with others

Please, name your portable Museum.

Mappa mundi
Walk around in self-made paper socks
Take them off

And observe the physical map of your world.

Phillipe PARRENO (2004)
What about a game, like the Game of Twenty Questions. You think of an object and the other players ask you a series of no more than twenty questions.
You can only answer by saying yes or no. The goal of the game is to guess what someone was thinking about with the help of no more than twenty hints. Now, let's imagine a slightly different version of that same game. you think about nothing and the other players ask you questions. In the beginning, you answer the questions arbitrarily.

Later you have to be careful not to contradict yourself when you answer yes or no. For example, you can't say its big in the beginning and then later say its small. You have to follow the logic of your answers. After answering twenty questions, you'll see in your head an object that you never imagined before. It will be something you'd never thought of.
Casey E. B. REAS (2012)
YES NOLayers of original and appropriated instructions. Stratum 1
make a grid or find a grid.Do one thing or another thing inside each unit.

Stratum 1.1
Draw a uniform grid of 200 x 200 squares within a 1 square meter. Open a telephone directory and read the numbers in order. For each square, starting with the upper-left corner, fill with blue paint if the number is even, fill with red paint if the number is odd.

Stratum 1.2
Draw a uniform grid of 40 x 25 units. Find a coin and define one side as A and another a B. For each square, starting in the upper-left corner, flip the coin. If it lands with side A up, draw a line from the lower left to the upper right. If side B lands up, draw a line from the upper left to the lower right.

Stratum 1.2.1
10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); :GOTO 10

Stratum 1.2.1.2
```
size (3200,2000);
background(255);
for (int y=0;y<height;y+=80){
    for (int x=0;x<height;x+=80){
        if(random(1)>0.5){
            line(x,y,x+80, y+80);
        }else{
            line(x, y+80, x+80, y);
        }
    }
}
```
Hassan SHARIF (Black Lines (2012)
One-meter long horizontal, straight, and wave-like lines to be drawn on the wall from the ceiling downward the floor << one straight line/one wave-like line/two straight lines/two wave-like line/three straight lines/ three wave-like lines—and so on >>. This work can br executed by emulsion paint or ink or marker.

SHIMABUKU (2012)
Make some art work for animals.
And make them smile.

Hannah WEINBRERGER: Untitled(2012)
These words should appear in any variable form, inside or outside of the space. They can be spoken, used as a performative interaction, used as a script, included in the press release or floorplan, be printed on walls or on paper, sung out loud, included in another piece, spoken out loud, function as subtitles, etc.

choochoo zing lalala poof flutter yikes fisst bump fwoosh gasp swish swoosh jingle screech slap thud choo fizzz thump bloop clap splash grunt spray bash sprinkle squirt drip drizzle whiff whoosh ratatat whisper bam tinkle bang clang whine clank clap clatter clink ding giggle growl gurgle mumble chortle murmur bawl belch chatter blurt arf baa bark bray buzz cheep chirp cluck baa babble whisper pingpong shock shudder gong shuffle shush sigh sizzle clap sizzle slam smooth snap snick sniff whip snip clank dance growl clap pop clash beep clatter haha spark pooop bah bam humph bang wham whee bang whimper slash whine whip gurgle whirr aaa whirl grunt whisper gargle gasp giggle bawl gloop dong grind groan whoosh bash whop beep whizz blubber woof pitterpatter plok plop plunk chomp pong drum pop clang blag blang crash loop creak blare blast bleat aaah bloop blurt thump blurted thump burp crumple buzz blurting boing grrr creake grumble crack gulp swag thump gurgle hum gush hack tick hah bonk hiccup hiss hmm bark flick bash chattercchirp bawl hurrah blare cock-a-doodle-doo cuckoo hiss vroomvroom hubba meow swish moo neigh oink purr quack ribbit tweet warble abrakadabra throb achoo ahem slurp smack argh bawl beep belch whoop screech bing blab blabbed rip cock-a-doodle-doo hum cough screech crackle boohoo crisp croak slurp smack crunch slap slash yank slop slurp crunch sizzle cuckoo ding dingdong doink rustle drum roar echo eek fizz flash roar flop rumble peeyew flush gallop splatter wrrrr squelch squish nonono static rustle stomp puff swat bonk sweep whisper switch ring swoop moan swoosh throb poop thud zipper whizz thunder clank thunk thwap tick regurgitate tictoc clang ting tiptoe blare tong chug tremble pitter tsktsk tug twang jangle jingle yelp jollop kaboom saw kerplunk wuah klank knock laugh meow mew toink miew aaaaw moo clatter munch clop clout num cluck bump buzz clang belch clank popp tweet vroom whip click waaa waahhh wahh wallop bang warble whack hoonk whallop wheeze murmur neigh oink oooooh ooze ouch ow patter peep baaaam phew ping splash splat whistle whiz snort sob whizz whoa boink low bong bonk boo gurgle eew boom bowwow brush bubble bump roar belch shoosh rrrinngg clunk rustle ahaha scream clatter screech whisper shatter whirr sheesh mumble shine drip drop shiver blab carambah caw chitchat clack whoop click clink hohoho holler honk hubbub buzz toot-toot huh flutter hush icky itch pow quack quiver ratchet rattle crack ribbit yap yell yip zap zigzag zip zoom zzz

Emmett WILLIAMS
Place a pile of pencils, crayons, pens and markers on a table.
Turn on a radio.
Wait for the beginning of a song
When the song begins, turn out the lights and begin drawing on sheets of paper
When the song is over, stop drawing and turn on the lights.
Compare drawings, with explications.

Each player is given an identical empty box.
Players leave the room with their empty boxes
for an amount of time agreed upon in advance.
During this time the players put whatever they
choose into the boxes.
When the players return, the contents of the boxes
are scattered about the room.
Exhibition.
In groups of four, split groups in half. Everyone writes instructions working with a partner (1 set instruction per each person).
- You can draw out your instructions with any material.
- Each set must have 3 parts
- Instructions must not be inappropriate
- Following instructions should take 5 minutes
- Your goal is to create a code for the world that you want to live in—15 minutes:
  - connecting
  - sharing preferences
  - humor/laughter
  - making people see differently
Exchange instructions within groups—15 minutes
One person follows instructions while the other person documents
Then switch roles (follower, documenter)
Discussion about what worked, what did not—15 minutes
Redo instructions with 2 people making just one set.—10 minutes
Exchange, follow and document—5 minutes
Upload images —15 minutes
Create instructions for making art with scans from last week
- Rule: your idea must use every figure scanned
- Sketch your instructions and ideas on paper—25 minutes

Materials: Pen, Paper, Performance Materials: Pen, Paper, Performance

Week 3: CODE PLAY (CONDITIONAL DESIGN in 2D)

Tuesday February 18
"[C]onditions and rules are drawn up that invite cooperation within a regulated process toward an unpredictable design or result. The method deals with chance, frameworks and generative systems, providing creative persons possibilities to play and allowing teams to set their own rules." — Conditional Design Workbook

In week three we develop instructions for playful visual games that generate 2D drawings, traces and patterns. We introduce the concept of the algorithm.

Share ideas about 3D printed piece—10 minutes
Introduction to Conditional Design
A look at Conditional Design—5 minutes
Kaleidoscope —10 minutes
- Each player has one color pen.
  The paper is divided into 4 quadrants, in which a player operates.
  Each turn a player is either leader or follower.The leader only leads for 30 seconds and only uses straight lines
Custom Rules —10 minutes
- Each participant has their own color pen: red, green, blue or black.
  Each participant starts with 2 custom-rule-cards: 1x card type 1, 1x card type 2.
  The participants take turns.
Birthdays —10 minutes
- Requirements: a uniquely colored pencil for each participant and a sheet of paper.
- Roman Numerator Calculator
Chain Reaction —20 minutes
Hatching—30 minutes
- Each player as a colored pen: red, green, blue and black.
  Each player places a dot on the sheet at an arbitrary position but not further than 10 cm from each other.
  - Play with four players.
  - Each player as a colored pen: red, green, blue and black.
  - Each player places a dot on the sheet at an arbitrary position but not further than 10 cm from each other.
  - The players take turns:
  Draw a straight line
  - The line must connect two dots.
  - The angle of the line must be within the following range: 0 to 45 degrees for the black lines, 45 to 90 degrees for the blue lines, 90 to 135 degrees for the red lines, 135 to 180 degrees for the green lines.
  - Connect the line to an existing line if possible.
  - Draw the shortest possible line from your starting point. If you enclose an area (a plane surrounded by lines) then hatch it with lines parallel to the line you enclosed the area with. The enclosed area may not contain unconnected dots or open ended lines.
  - Place a dot
  - The position of the dot is not further away than 10 cm from other dots and not inside the convex hull of all dots.
- Make our own design system (algorithms + 2D generating performances) —10 minutes
  Starting rules
  - Must be for 4 people
  - Must be 10 minutes long
- Groups carry out instructions—40 minutes

Materials: Paper, Markers, Pencils, glue, scissors, Computers

Week 4: CODE PLAY 2 (CONDITIONAL DESIGN in 3D and performance)

Tuesday February 25 In week four we revisit conditional design and instructions, expanding it to include 3D, sound, and performance. We develop new sets of instructions for playful sculpture and performance games that generate 3D objects, sounds, dances, and spatial traces. We expand on the concept of the algorithm.

Make a collection of modular items that 'fit and function together'.—60 minutes
Goal: Design a set of foam modules aggregating them together to create one 3-dimensional piece foam piece.

[One team member (or the team as a whole) should be designated as the archivist. On one large piece of paper each module/rule should be represented as well as the rules to create the final piece. For example, each module can be taped to (or drawn on) the large piece of paper in their pre-constructed states and the rules for construction can be written next to it.]
1. Design a module (20 minutes):
  - Write a simple rule and test it on a piece of paper. For example, starting with a square piece of paper; first make two 2" cuts with a paper and scissors, and second, using a glue stick, try to attach together every other free corner of the piece of paper. Note: Keep the square intact. In other words do not remove any pieces or separate the square into multiple pieces.
  - Repeat this process 3 or 4 times individually.
  - As a team, write rules individually and then to pass them to the teammate next to you to create.
2. Select and reproduce a module (15 minutes):
  - Of the different modules created, select your favorite or what you think is the most successful module.
  - Reproduce your paper module with the foam squares and super glue provided. Each module should be a separate color, similar to the exercise in Week 3 where each team member used a different color pen.
3. Aggregate your modules (25 minutes):
  
  As a team, create a rule or a set of rules that act as instructions for connecting the groups of selected modules together.
  - Is one of the modules a link that the other modules connect to?
  - Does edge A of one module connect to edge A of the next module?
  - Do modules A & B and C & D connect at their shortest edges creating a connection point for the two sets to connect?
Build a 3 dimensional form using straws and connectors—30 minutes
Make your own design system (algorithms + 3D generating performances)—20 minutes
Starting rules
- Must be for 4 people
- Must be 5-10 minutes long
Groups carry out instructions—40 minutes
Follow instructions for 3d Sculpture

Materials: recut paper & foam squares, glue sticks, super glue, hot glue, pencils/pens, and scissors. straws, super glue, hot glue, twisties, iPads

Week 5: COMPUTING WORKS: PROCESSING

Tuesday March 4
Computers are simply machines that do what we tell them. Like the instructions we developed in week 1-4 we can invent instructions for computers to generate forms, patterns, works, and designs. In this class we introduce the concept of using computer programs to generate design using the program processing

Introduction to programming and Processing
Recreate sketches in Processing 101
Design a minimal geometric face. Write code in Processing to draw your face in a 500 x 500 pixel window. Extend your code by adding one variable called "v" that controls the face so the expression continuously changes as the mouse moves from left to right across the display window.

Materials: Pen, paper, computers

Week 6-7: COMPUTING FLAT WORKS: MAKING AND PRINTING IN 2D

Tuesday March 11, Tuesday March 18
Working in teams, and building on the introduction, students begin to sketch and explore the kinds of instructions they would like to give the computer and the kinds of things they would like the computer to generate. We then work to build those instructions and generate printable works. What part of the random invisible possible world would you like the computer to reveal?

```
float v;
void setup() {
  size(500,500);
smooth(); }
void draw() {
  translate(250,250);
  v=mouseX;
  ellipse(-100,-100,20+v/10,20+v/10);
  ellipse(100,-100,20+v/10,20+v/10);
  ellipse(0,100,10+v/2,10+v/2);
}
```
Exercise from week 5
Design a minimal geometric face. Next, write code in Processing to draw your face in a 500 x 500 pixel window. Then, extend your code by adding one variable called "v" that controls the face so the expression continuously changes as the mouse moves from left to right across the display window.

from Casey Reas's Interactivity UCLA Design Media Arts 2012 class and Lorenzo Bravi's Procedure di Basic Design
Programming and printing 2D works
- Introduction to lerp and map
- Understand color and create an abstract representation of your identity
- Drawing with the mouse
- Drawing with Type
- Making Choices
- Using ControlP5
- Add an Arduino
- Select an image from the box. May a crop of the image. Draw your selection within Processing as a 800 x 600 pixel program. Draw your interpretation of the crop on graph paper. To read the color and coordinate data navigate to this page. Use integer values for coordinates and only use the following functions for geometry:
  - line()
  - triangle()
  - quad()
  - rect()
  - ellipse()
  - arc()
  - beginShape()
  - endShape()
  - vertex()
  Your goal is to translate the image into code. Modify your code to make the image respond to the mouse. Do this by adding variables to your program and controlling your custom variables with the built-in Processing variables mouseX, mouseY, and mousePressed. Think about how the quality of motion from the mouse (direction and speed) should aesthetically affect the lines and shapes.

Materials: Pen, paper, computers, printer, Arduino microcontrollers, variable resistors, PoGo printer

Week 7: COMPUTING FLAT WORKS: MAKING AND PRINTING IN 2D

Tuesday March 18
Working in teams, and building on the introduction, students begin to sketch and explore the kinds of instructions they would like to give the computer and the kinds of things they would like the computer to generate. We then work to build those instructions and generate printable works. What part of the random invisible possible world would you like the computer to reveal?

Download this zip file. Decompress and add the svg's to a new Processing sketch.

Paste the following Code into your sketch:

import processing.pdf.*;

PShape currentShape;

int tileCount = 10;
float tileWidth, tileHeight;
float shapeSize = 50;
float newShapeSize = shapeSize;
float shapeAngle = 0;
float maxDist;

color shapeColor = color(0, 130, 164);
int fillMode = 0;
int sizeMode = 0;

void setup() {
  size(800, 600);
  background(255);
  smooth();
  tileWidth=(float) width/tileCount;
  tileHeight=(float) height/tileCount;
  maxDist=sqrt(sq(width)+sq(height));
  currentShape =loadShape("module_1.svg");
   beginRecord(PDF, "highres.pdf");
}
void draw() {

  background(255);
  smooth();
  for (int rows=0;rows<tileCount;rows++) {
    for (int cols=0;cols<tileCount;cols++) {
      float  posX =tileWidth*cols +tileWidth/2;
      float  posY =tileHeight*rows +tileHeight/2;
      float angle = atan2(mouseY-posY, mouseX-posX) + radians(shapeAngle);
      if (sizeMode ==0) {
        newShapeSize=shapeSize;
      }
      if (sizeMode== 1) { 
        newShapeSize=shapeSize*1.5 -map(dist(mouseX, mouseY, posX, posY), 0, 500, 5, shapeSize);
      }
      if (fillMode== 0) { 
        currentShape.enableStyle();
      }
      if (fillMode== 1) {
        currentShape.disableStyle();
        float a=map(dist(mouseX, mouseY, posX, posY), 0, maxDist, 255, 0);
        fill(shapeColor, a);
      }
      if (fillMode== 2) {
        currentShape.disableStyle();
        float  a =map(dist(mouseX, mouseY, posX, posY), 0, maxDist, 255, 0);
        fill(shapeColor, a)  ;
      }
      if (fillMode== 3) {
        currentShape.disableStyle();
        float  a =map(dist(mouseX, mouseY, posX, posY), 0, maxDist, 0, 255);

        fill(shapeColor, a) ;
      }
      pushMatrix();
      translate(posX, posY);
      rotate(angle);
      shapeMode(CENTER);
      noStroke();
      shape(currentShape, 0, 0, newShapeSize, newShapeSize);
      popMatrix();
    }
  }
  }
  void keyPressed() {
    if (key == 'c' || key == 'C') {
      fillMode++;
      fillMode%=4;
    }
    if (key == 'd' || key == 'D') {
      sizeMode++;
      sizeMode%=3;
    }
    if (key == 'g' || key == 'G') {
    tileCount+=5;
    tileWidth=tileCount;
    tileHeight=tileCount;
    if (tileCount>20) {
      tileCount=10;
      tileWidth=(float) width/tileCount;
      tileHeight=(float) height/tileCount;
    }
  }
    if (keyCode == UP) {
      shapeSize+=5;
    }
    if (keyCode == DOWN) {
      shapeSize =max(shapeSize-5, 5);
    }
    if (keyCode == LEFT) {
      shapeAngle-=5;
    }
    if (keyCode == RIGHT) {
      shapeAngle+=5;
    }
    if (key == '1') currentShape = loadShape("module_1.svg");
    if (key == '2') currentShape = loadShape("module_2.svg");
    if (key == '3') currentShape = loadShape("module_3.svg");
    if (key == '4') currentShape = loadShape("module_4.svg");
    if (key == '5') currentShape = loadShape("module_5.svg");
    if (key == '6') currentShape = loadShape("module_6.svg");
    if (key == '7') currentShape = loadShape("module_7.svg");

 if(key==DELETE || key==BACKSPACE){
    endRecord();
    background(255);
    beginRecord(PDF, "highres####.pdf");
  }
  if (key == 'h'|| key=='H') {
    endRecord();
    beginRecord(PDF, "highres####.pdf");
  }
  if (key == 's'|| key=='S') {

    saveFrame("####.png");
  }
}

Run the sketch, then make modifications to color, size, tileCount, etc. Replace the svgs with different svgs. You can create your own with the application inkscape or find others on the internet (look for black and white svgs).

Create a new Sketch and paste in the following:

  // P_2_1_3_04.pde
// 
// Generative Gestaltung, ISBN: 978-3-87439-759-9
// First Edition, Hermann Schmidt, Mainz, 2009
// Hartmut Bohnacker, Benedikt Gross, Julia Laub, Claudius Lazzeroni
// Copyright 2009 Hartmut Bohnacker, Benedikt Gross, Julia Laub, Claudius Lazzeroni
//
// http://www.generative-gestaltung.de
//
// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
// You may obtain a copy of the License at http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
// limitations under the License.

/**
 * changing positions of stapled circles in a grid
 *    
 * MOUSE
 * position x          : module detail
 * position y          : module parameter
 * 
 * KEYS
 * 1-3                 : draw mode
 * arrow left/right    : number of tiles horizontally
 * arrow up/down       : number of tiles vertically
 * s                   : save png
 */


import processing.pdf.*;

float tileCountX = 6;
float tileCountY = 6;
int count = 0;

int drawMode = 1;


void setup() { 
  size(800,600);
   beginRecord(PDF, "highres.pdf");
} 


void draw() { 
 
  colorMode(HSB, 360, 100, 100); 
  rectMode(CENTER);
  smooth();
  stroke(0);
  noFill();
  background(360); 
  
  count = mouseX/10 + 10;
  float para = (float)mouseY/height;

  for (int r=0; r<= tileCountY; r++) {
    for (int c=0; c<= tileCountX; c++) {  

      float tileWidth = width / tileCountX;
      float tileHeight = height / tileCountY;
      float posX = tileWidth*c + tileWidth/2;
      float posY = tileHeight*r + tileHeight/2;

      pushMatrix();
      translate(posX, posY);

      // switch between modules
      switch (drawMode) {
      case 1:
        for(int i=0; i < count; i++) {
          rect(0, 0, tileWidth, tileHeight);
          scale(1 - 3.0/count);
          rotate(para*0.1);
        }
        break;

      case 2:
        for(float i=0; i< count; i++) {
          noStroke();
          color gradient = lerpColor(color(0), color(52, 100, 71), i/count);
          fill(gradient, i/count*200);
          rotate(PI/4);
          rect(0, 0, tileWidth, tileHeight);
          scale(1 - 3.0/count);
          rotate(para*1.5);
        }
        break;

      case 3:
        colorMode(RGB, 255);
        for(float i=0; i< count; i++) {
          noStroke();
          color gradient = lerpColor(color(0, 130, 164), color(255), i/count);
          fill(gradient,170);

          pushMatrix();
          translate(4*i,0);
          ellipse(0, 0, tileWidth/4, tileHeight/4);
          popMatrix();

          pushMatrix();
          translate(-4*i,0);
          ellipse(0, 0, tileWidth/4, tileHeight/4);
          popMatrix();

          scale(1 - 1.5/count);
          rotate(para*1.5);
        }

        break;
      }

      popMatrix();

    }
  }
 
} 


void keyReleased(){
  
  if (key == '1') drawMode = 1;
  if (key == '2') drawMode = 2;
  if (key == '3') drawMode = 3;

  if (keyCode == DOWN) tileCountY = max(tileCountY-1, 1);
  if (keyCode == UP) tileCountY += 1;
  if (keyCode == LEFT) tileCountX = max(tileCountX-1, 1);
  if (keyCode == RIGHT) tileCountX += 1;

}
void keyPressed(){
if (key == 'c'|| key=='C') {
    endRecord();
    background(255);
    beginRecord(PDF, "highres####.pdf");
  }
  if (key == 'h'|| key=='H') {
    endRecord();
    beginRecord(PDF, "highres####.pdf");
  }
  if (key == 's'|| key=='S') {

    saveFrame("####.png");
  }
}

Run the sketch, then make modifications to color, size, tileCount, etc. Replace the svgs with different svgs. You can create your own with the application inkscape or find others on the internet (look for black and white svgs).
Programming and printing 2D works
- Drawing with Type
- Making Choices
- Using ControlP5
- Add an Arduino
Select an image from the box. You may make a crop of the image or use the entire image. Draw your selection within Processing as a 800 x 600 pixel program. Draw your interpretation of the crop or image on graph paper. To read the color and coordinate data navigate to this page. Use integer values for coordinates and only use the following functions for geometry:
- line()
- triangle()
- quad()
- rect()
- ellipse()
- arc()
- beginShape()
- endShape()
- vertex()
Your goal is to translate the image into code. Modify your code to make the image respond to the mouse. Do this by adding variables to your program and controlling your custom variables with the built-in Processing variables mouseX, mouseY, and mousePressed. Think about how the quality of motion from the mouse (direction and speed) should aesthetically affect the lines and shapes.
Exercise from week 5
Design a minimal geometric face. Next, write code in Processing to draw your face in a 500 x 500 pixel window. Then, extend your code by adding one variable called "v" that controls the face so the expression continuously changes as the mouse moves from left to right across the display window.

from Casey Reas's Interactivity UCLA Design Media Arts 2012 class and Lorenzo Bravi's Procedure di Basic Design

Materials: Pen, paper, computers, printer, Arduino microcontrollers, variable resistors, PoGo printer

Week 8: COMPUTING PHYSICAL WORKS: PARAMETRIC ART & 3D PRINTING

Tuesday March 25
Building on our experience with the computers, instructions, algorithms and printing we expand our horizons by exploring how works can be made using the same concepts but in 3D, introducing 3D printers, scanning, and Modelbuilder2 software.

Opening: Artist Exploration
Introduction to 3D design, scanning, and printing
Introduction to programming and Processing for 3D
Shapeshifter.io

Materials: Pen, paper, computers, 3D printer, 3D Scanner, filament

Week 9-10: EXHIBITION DESIGN

Tuesday April 1, April 8
Building on the experiences and artists we have explored over the last 8 weeks we will construct books and stand alone work using code to construct the world we want to live in.

Materials: Pen, paper, computers, scanner, 3D printer, filament

Week 1:ART & CODE

"I don't believe in art. I believe in artists"
-Marcel Duchamp

Introductions&mash;20 minutes
Discussion&mash;30 minutes
Rule breaking Exercises
- Start with a newspaper and a sharpie pen. Use the sharpie to remove content to create a rule for yourself&mash;15 minutes
- Draw your journey to school, but leave out what is not essential, and graphically represent what you believe to be most important—25 minutes
- Draw a self portrait with your "other" hand (optional —15 minutes)
Discussion of work—20 minutes
Scanning students—throughout class
Show Improv Everywhere: MP3 Experiment—10 minutes
Clean up—10 minutes
Phone survey: who has a phone and what kind.

Materials: Materials: Pen, Paper, Cell Phone, Computers

Week 2: INVENTING INSTRUCTIONS

Gallery visit—30 minutes
Introduction to instructions from Do It: Manual
Split into groups of four and follow instructions:(p.137 p.149 p.228)—30 minutes
In groups of four, split groups in half. Everyone writes instructions working with a partner (1 set instruction per each person).
- You can draw out your instructions with any material.
- Each set must have 3 parts
- Instructions must not be inappropriate
- Following instructions should take 5 minutes
- Your goal is to create a code for the world that you want to live in:
  - connecting
  - sharing preferences
  - humor/laughter
  - making people see differently
  —15 minutes
Exchange instructions within groups.
One person follows instructions while the other person documents
Then switch roles (follower, documenter)—15 minutes
Discussion about what worked, what did not—15 minutes
Redo instructions with 2 people making just one set.—10 minutes
Exchange, follow and document—5 minutes
Upload images to instagram with #clickatmoma—15 minutes
Create instructions for making art with scans from last week
- Rule: your idea must use every figure scanned
- Sketch your instructions and ideas on paper—25 minutes

Materials: Pen, Paper, Performance

Week 3: CODE PLAY (CONDITIONAL DESIGN in 2D)

Introduction to Conditional Design
A look at Conditional Design—5 minutes
Kaleidoscope —10 minutes
Custom Rules —10 minutes
Birthdays —10 minutes
Chain Reaction —20 minutes
Hatching-—30 minutes
Make our own design system (algorithms + 2D generating performances) —10 minutes
Starting rules
- Must be for 4 people
- Must be 10 minutes long
Groups carry out instructions-—40 minutes

Materials: Paper, Markers, Pencils, glue, scissors, Computers

Week 4: CODE PLAY 2 (CONDITIONAL DESIGN in 3D and performance)

Opening: Artist Exploration
Conditional Design and Workbook
Make your own design system (algorithms + 3D generating performances)
Share them

Materials: Clay, paper, straws, speakers, MP3s, Computers

Week 5: COMPUTING WORKS: PROCESSING

Opening: Artist Exploration
Introduction to programming and Processing
Recreate sketches in Processing 101
Design a minimal geometric face. Write code in Processing to draw your face in a 500 x 500 pixel window. Extend your code by adding one variable called "v" that controls the face so the expression continuously changes as the mouse moves from left to right across the display window.

Materials: Pen, paper, computers

Week 6-7: COMPUTING FLAT WORKS: MAKING AND PRINTING IN 2D

Opening: Artist Exploration
Programming and printing 2D works
- Introduction to lerp and map
- Understand color and create an abstract representation of your identity
- Drawing with the mouse
- Drawing with Type
- Making Choices
- Using ControlP5
- Add an Arduino
- Select a crop of from the box. Draw your selection within Processing as a 640 x 360 pixel program. Draw it on graph paper and/or load it into a program such as Photoshop or Illustrator to read the color and coordinate data. Use integer values for coordinates and only use the following functions for geometry:
  - line()
  - triangle()
  - quad()
  - rect()
  - ellipse()
  - arc()
  - beginShape()
  - endShape()
  - vertex()
  Your goal is to translate the image into code. Modify your code to make the image respond to the mouse. Do this by adding variables to your program and controlling your custom variables with the built-in Processing variables mouseX, mouseY, and mousePressed. Think about how the quality of motion from the mouse (direction and speed) should aesthetically affect the lines and shapes.

Materials: Pen, paper, computers, printer, Arduino microcontrollers, variable resistors, PoGo printer

Week 8: COMPUTING PHYSICAL WORKS: PARAMETRIC ART & 3D PRINTING

Opening: Artist Exploration
Introduction to 3D design, scanning, and printing
Introduction to programming and Processing for 3D
Shapeshifter.io

Materials: Pen, paper, computers, 3D printer, 3D Scanner, filament

Week 9-10: EXHIBITION DESIGN

Overview

The world is full of codes:Secret codes. Genetic codes. Dress codes. Computer codes. Codes are instructions, information, rules, and routines that govern our lives and also our technologies. But as long as there have been codes there have been artists to break them, play with them, and reinvent them. Working with leaders from Special Project Office, this course will explore how art and artists have crafted generative artworks from instructions, codes, and computing. Generate art that generates itself, and unpack the systems around you!

Materials Explored: 3D Printing, Programming, Performance.

Content

This program hopes to answer the question about codes and art: How artists make codes, use codes and break codes in the process of creating art.

We will look at how artists in the past and present have used codes in their work and we will in turn create our own art using our explorations as a stepping stone.

We will look at Instructional Procedures, Conditional Design, Self-Imposed Constraints, Generative Art and Parametric Design.

Code

What is code?

Activity:
Write down as many kinds of codes as you can think of. One code per post its. Create a mindmap where you begin to sort the different codes based on similarities.

Which codes are most interesting to you? Why?

code (noun)

a system of words, letters, figures, or other symbols substituted for other words, letters, etc., esp. for the purposes of secrecy. "the Americans cracked their diplomatic code" synonyms: cipher, key; More a system of signals, such as sounds, light flashes, or flags, used to send messages. "Morse code" a series of letters, numbers, or symbols assigned to something for the purposes of classification or identification. "the genetic code"
COMPUTING program instructions. "hundreds of lines of code"
a systematic collection of laws or regulations. "the criminal code" synonyms: law(s), rules, regulations; More a set of conventions governing behavior or activity in a particular sphere. "a dress code" synonyms: morality, convention, etiquette, protocol, value system More a set of rules and standards adhered to by a society, class, or individual. "a stern code of honor"

verb

convert (the words of a message) into a particular code in order to convey a secret meaning. "only Mitch knew how to read the message even the name was coded" express the meaning of (a statement or communication) in an indirect or euphemistic way. "a national campaign against playing by ear, a coded phrase that meant jazz" assign a code to (something) for purposes of classification, analysis, or identification. "she coded the samples and sent them down for dissection"
write code for (a computer program).

A code is an organized system of signs.
Codes are the rules and conventions about how you combine signs, and how signs relate to each other.
Genetic codes
Gödel Code (map mathematical notation to a natural number (using a Gödel numbering)
traffic lights
Homeland Security Advisory System
Code of Conduct
social codes
honor code
coupon codes
bar codes
sign language
braille
Musical scores are the most common way to encode music.
Secret codes
code word
police codes
health codes
safety codes
restaurant lingo
dress code
QR codes (qrstuff)
Steganography
Caesar Shift Cipher
Transposition
Morse
Vigenère
True codes
Public-Key Cryptography
Enigma
Text encoding uses a markup language
Electronic encoding transforms a signal into a code optimized for transmission or storage, generally done with a codec
Neural encoding
Television encoding: NTSC, PAL and SECAM
Acronyms
language
International Air Transport Association airport codes
Station codes
State codes

Fluxus & Instructional Procedures

Begun "by Lithuanian-born American George Maciunas in the early 1960s, Fluxus was a loosely organized group of artists who stressed media openness in works of whimsy, provocation, humor, and critique. Examples of Fluxus-associated works range from happenings, instruction paintings, vocalizations, and theatrical events to musical performances, mock protests, and video work. This atmosphere of media transparency was the soil from which intermedia would grow"( umintermediai501).

From History from e-flux by Bruce Altshuler The modern tactic of removing the execution from the hand of the artist appears in 1919 when Duchamp sent instructions from Argentina for his sister Suzanne and Jean Crotti to make his gift for their April marriage. To create the oddly named wedding present, Unhappy Ready-Made, the couple was told to hang a geometry text on their balcony so that wind could " go through the book [and] choose its own problems..."

Duchamp produced another instruction-work in 1949, when he asked Henri-Pierre Roch to make a second 50cc Air de Paris after Walter Arensberg's original had been broken, directing Roch to return to Paris pharmacy that Duchamp had visited in 1919 and have the druggist empty and re-seal the same kind of glass ampule as was used originally.

Duchamp's use of chance had emerged earlier with the Three Standard Stoppages of 1913, created by dropping meter-long threads onto a canvas to generate new units of length that mock the idea of the standard meter.

John Cage, whose role in the geneses of art-by-instruction is central.In a series of classes given at the New School for Social Research between 1956 and 1960, Cage influenced a generation of artists who would develop the performance script into an art form, and lay the ground for Happenings and Fluxus. 4* Having earlier embraced chance compositional procedures as a means of effacing his own likes and dislikes (and, as he put it, " imitating nature in her manner of operation"), Cage encouraged students who already were using chance in their work - such as George Brecht and Jackson Mac Low - and prompted others - such as Allan Karpow, Dick Higgins and Al Hanson - to do so. And his classroom assignments led to instructions for events and performances that yielded some of the most important intermedia activity of the late 1950s and early 1960s.

Out of the Cage class came the kind of event cards for which Fluxus would become well-known, an evocative form whose power is best appreciated in the 1959-66 works of George Brecht published by the movement's impresario George Maciunas in a box called Water Yam. While most Fluxus event cards are performance scripts, Water Yam also includes instructions for the creation of objects or tableaux - obscure directions whose realization left almost everything to the realizer. In such works as Six Exhibits ("ceiling, first wall, second wall, third wall, fourth wall, floor") (fig.2) and Egg ("at least one egg"), Brecht applied to objects and physical situations the freedom of execution and openness to serendipity that is the hallmark of a Fluxus performance. As we can see in the pieces contributed by Allan Karpow and Alison Knowles to do it, alumni of the Cage class and their associates continue to work in this spirit.

Yoko Ono was the artist during this period who most significantly focused on the creation of objects from instructions. Although she never studied with Cage, her husband at the time, composer Toshi Ichiyanagi, was in the New School class, and Ono was an active participant in the surrounding milieu. At the time Ono was best known for the series of events that she and La Monte Young organized in her Chambers Street loft, beginning in December 1960, but more interesting for us is her July 1961 exhibition at Ceorge Maciunas' AG Gallery. Here she displayed a group of works in the process of realization, made from instructions to be carried out by visitors. Painting to be Stepped On, for instance, called for viewers to walk on a canvas laid on the gallery floor, and Smoke Painting (fig.3) was to be realized by visitors burning the canvas with cigarettes and watching the smoke rise. Ono took next logical step in her May 1962 exhibition at the Sogetsu Art Center in Tokyo, where instead of objects created by instructions she displayed only the instructions on sheets of white paper. In this show ideas - exhibited as verbal directions - were marked as central. Yoko Ono released her paintings in the world, in the form of instructions, like the butterfly whose release in the concert hall constitutes La MonteYoung's most poetic instruction piece. Calling for participation by others in an ongoing, free artistic process, Ono's instruction book Grapefruit, first published in Japan in 1964.5* An important aspect of such work is the tension between ideation and material realization, for while these pieces seem to be created by being imagined, as instructions for physical action they stake a further claim in the world.

the story of art-by-instruction first takes a turn into more rigorous sculptural practice with Minimalist fabrication. Of course sculpture has a long history of works created by craftsmen casting or carving from the artist's maquettes and directions. And certain modern masters, such as Joan Miro, had extended this practice by having pieces fabricated according to oral or written instructions.6* But the Minimalists were motivated very differently than earlier sculptors, for their use of industrial fabrication was a reaction - as was the work of Cage and Fluxus circles - to the aesthetic ideology of Abstract Expressionism. 7* When Donald Judd, Robert Morris or Dan Flavin had sculptures fabricated from construction drawings, they were striking a blow against that movement's focus on the artist's hand and the central position held by the subjectivity of the maker.

instructions and anonymous fabrication impose a distance between the artist and the realized artwork. The role of the artist is thus transformed from maker to conceiver. This connection between Minimalism and conceptualism was made clear by Sol LeWitt in his important " Paragraphs on Conceptual Art," published in June 1967 in Artforum. Here LeWitt valorized ideas rather than their physical instantiations, and he accepted unrealized concepts as works in their own right. And as concepts became the focus their linguistic expression was admitted as an artistic form. Artworks could be embodied in statements, and a collection of statements could constitute an exhibition.

Weiner's works were presented in written form - " Two minutes of spray paint directly upon the floor from a standard aerosol spray can" - and they each specified a material process that could be carried out in the world. ( Whether his instructions ever were carried out, whether the work actually was physically realized, was a matter of indifference to Weiner, who left that decision to the "receiver.")

or 557.089 Robert Smithson sent instructions for a work consisting of 400 photographs to be taken with a Kodak Instamatic camera of deserted Seattle horizons; and for 955,000, Jan Dibbets sent directions for recording a tape of the sounds of a car trip of up to thirty miles, with the driver verbally counting out the miles driven, to be played continuously in the exhibition under a map of the route taken.

But like all art-by-instruction, do it is essentially open, allowing for a range of realizations according to the interpretations, choices and constraints of those who follow the directions. Like the works comprising it, do it is a multiple of potentially unlimited variety and number.

What exactly is the artwork here - the idea as stated in a set of directions, or the actual words and instructions diagrams themselves, or the set of all realizations

Wittgensteinian worries about what it is to follow a rule - a consequence of any rule or instruction being interpreted in so many different ways - prompt a second set of questions: How closely must one follow the instructions of do it, or of the works comprising the show, to count as realizing this exhibition, or that particular work? How important in this regard are the curator's or the artist's intentions, and what other factors are relevant?

Do It online Manual

Lawrence Weiner
Louise Bourgeois
(2002): When you are walking, stop and smile at a stranger.

Ai Weiwei

David Lynch
Sol LeWitt

(2001): A black not straight line is drawn at approximately the center of the wall horizontally from side to side. Alternate red, yellow, and blue lines are drawn above and below the black line to the top and bottom of the wall.

Yoko Ono
John Cage
Philip Glass
Cedric Price

Olafur Eliasson (2002): in a piece titled Physiological Memory:

Choose a person, older than yourself, you see frequently not too often by approx once a week or once a month. Maybe one of your grandparents if they are still alive.
Every time you meet the chosen person you press your 2 pointing-fingers firmly against your eyes for 10 to 20 seconds until various colors and patterns arise.
Try to note or memorize the patterns and colors in connection with the context and repeat the practice every time you meet the chosen person for a as long as possible, minimum 6 months.
After minimum 6 months of this practice you can recall the person, virtually by pressing your eyes for a while. In the midst of the colors and pattern a sense of presence of the chosen person arrives even after the chosen person has died.

Stephen J. Kaltenbach (1969):Start a rumor.

Erwin Wurm (1995):Put on a pullover but don't stick arms or head through the normal openings squat down and pull the end of the pullover down over your knees and feet.

In this position, endure for 20 seconds.

Douglas Coupland (2004):

Go to an instant print shop run by a multinational company such as Kinko's.
Log onto the internet.
Open a blog page account on a blogging site such as bloggers.com. It's free.
Give your blog home page a name composed of two relatively unusual nouns such as ducklingspaghetti. There is a reason for this which will come shortly.
On another on-screen window go to Amazon.com.
Select a book that you've read many times in your life.
Chances are that Amazon has many pages from that book excerpted. Select one page.
Go back to your blog page.
Transcribe into it the page you selected from Amazon.
Post that blog page on the internet.
Now go to Google.de or Google.fr or Google.nl or any Google for a language you don't speak.
On this foreign Google site, search for your blog entry using the name of your blog page. The unusual nouns selected for your page will make it easy for Google to find it.
Once your blog page appears, click Google's translation button. Your page will be translated within a second or two.
Print out this page on 8.5 x 11 paper or A4 or whatever is the standardized letter paper dimension for the country you're in.
Return to your blog account.
In a new blog entry, paste into it the freshly translated page.
Using Google from another country, repeat the above procedure, translating your page from, say, Dutch to French.
Print out this ext translation but do it on a differently colored page of letter paper.
Continue this process repeatedly, always from one language into another, printing onto a differently colored sheet of paper, until you have used up all colors of paper available at your specific Kinko's.
The final sheet of paper should be in your mother tongue.
For final presentation, paste the sheets like a checkerboard onto a wall, in sequence. The proportions of the pasting should be a vertical rectangle as close to 8.5 x 11 or A4 as possible.

Richard Wentworth:

The point about art is it's all in its interpretation. Art is something that you encounter and you know it's in a different kind of space from the rest of your life, but is directly connected to it. It's a great privilege to be near art because when you're near art, you can be another kind of person, and it allows you to think differently about things that you have never done.

Sol LeWitt

The use of instructions as a means to make art was a strategy invoked by Conceptual artists. Sol LeWitt's pieces based on instructions to create geometric shapes or detailed line drawings made directly on the wall surface, sometimes took teams of people days or weeks to execute.

WORK FROM INSTRUCTIONS (1971): USING A BLACK, HARD CRAYON DRAW A TWENTY INCH SQUARE. DIVIDE THIS SQUARE INTO ONE INCH SQUARES. WITHIN EACH ONE INCH SQUARE, DRAW NOTHING, OR DRAW A DIAGONAL STRAIGHT LINE FROM CORNER TO CORNER OR TWO CROSSING STRAIGHT LINES DIAGONALLY FROM CORNER TO CORNER.

Oulipo

The Oulipo(OUvroir de Littérature POtentielle, or Workshop of Potential Literature) was founded in 1961 by mathematician François de Lionnais and writer Raymond Queneau. Other members were Claude Berge, Georges Perec, and Italo Calvino. The group is made up of writers and mathematicians who invent, reinvent and experiment with different types of formal constraints.

The early Oulipo defined the practice of writing under constraint against the Surrealist model of automatic writing and in relation to the axiomatic method developed by Nicolas Bourbaki. The term Potential in the group's title refers to the way a specific structural formula has the potential to produce an unlimited number of specific outcomes.

The group had a sincere interest in exploring what happens to language under the constraints of ingenious structural formulae — and often, of discovering how far it can be driven under such pressures before reaching limits of intelligibility. OULIPOists insist that they were not interested in random writing as the dadaist were; rather their rules, precise in operation even if the results may appear bizarre, are akin to the algorithms governing computer programmes — hence the work is sometimes called algorithmic poetry.

The term Potential in the group's title refers to the way a specific structural formula has the potential to produce an unlimited number of specific outcomes.

The group had a sincere interest in exploring what happens to language under the constraints of ingenious structural formulae — and often, of discovering how far it can be driven under such pressures before reaching limits of intelligibility. OULIPOists insist that they were not interested in random writing as the dadaist were; rather their rules, precise in operation even if the results may appear bizarre, are akin to the algorithms governing computer programmes — hence the work is sometimes called algorithmic poetry. Constraints

Oulipo poems
Exercise in Style
Shifting left and right

Conditional Design

A manifesto for artists and designers.

Through the influence of the media and technology on our world, our lives are increasingly characterized by speed and constant change. We live in a dynamic, data-driven society that is continually sparking new forms of human interaction and social contexts. Instead of romanticizing the past, we want to adapt our way of working to coincide with these developments, and we want our work to reflect the here and now. We want to embrace the complexity of this landscape, deliver insight into it and show both its beauty and its shortcomings. Our work focuses on processes rather than products: things that adapt to their environment, emphasize change and show difference.

Instead of operating under the terms of Graphic Design, Interaction Design, Media Art or Sound Design, we want to introduce Conditional Design as a term that refers to our approach rather than our chosen media. We conduct our activities using the methods of philosophers, engineers, inventors and mystics.

Activity

This exercise introduces using a programming language as a tool that allows you to solve problems. It uses numbers, math and logic to solve a design problem.

Luna Maurer, Jonathan Puckey, Roel Wouters and the artist Edo Paulus create conditions and rules of play that invite cooperation within a regulated process towards an unpredictable design or result.

Example 1:

The first player draws a line.
The other players draw a line that goes over and under the last drawn line.
players elongate his/her line on both ends. The elongations have to go over and under a line of another player and may not go over the line of the same color twice in a row.
When a line can no longer be elongated, it is considered dead for the rest of the game. When both ends of a line have died, the player may place a new line.

Example 2:

Start by placing 3 points on the paper.
Connect all points with 1 line.
Rules:
- You may not go back over the same line.
- You may only cross the line on one point.
- Hatch your shape if it wasn't drawn before.
- If there weren't any new shapes found in the last 3 rounds, one point may be added.

Algorithms

from Casey Reas's CONDITIONAL DRAWING
Algorithms are the foundation of all programmed graphics, but algorithms exist outside of computer code. When applied to drawing, some algorithms are the basis for interesting, surprising and wonderful interactions between people, pencils, and paper. Based on the Conditional Design Manifesto by Luna Maurer, Edo Paulus, Jonathan Puckey, and Roel Wouters, you'll explore a range of drawing systems and instructions and then invent one of our own.

Each of you should design a set of drawing instructions for one person to make a drawing. Design the instructions so that the drawing time will be approximately ten minutes.

Write your instructions on a letter-size sheet of paper and make two drawings based on your instructions. Collect sheets of letter-size paper and the drawing tools you'd like people to use. Your instructions must not exceed one page. Pass out your instructions and materials.

Generative Art

Generative art is a conceptual framework that uses tools for creative expression.

"Generative Art refers to any art practice where the artist uses a system, such as a set of natural language rules a computer program, a machine, or other procedural invention, which is then set into motion with some degree of autonomy to or resulting in a complex work of art (Philip Galanter)."

The fine arts offer a number of challenges in this regard. For example, in the 20th century a number of artists such as John Cage, William Burroughs, and Marcel Duchamp embraced randomization as a fecund generative principle. Minimalists such as Carl Andre, Mel Bochner, and Paul Morgenson used simple mathematical principles to generate compositions. The conceptual artist Sol Lewitt uses combinatorial systems to create complex works from simple components, and conceptual artist Hans Haacke explored physical generative systems in his early work.

Generative software art, as it is usually understood today, is artwork which uses mathematical algorithms to automatically or semi-automatically generate expressions in more conventional artistic forms. For example, a generative program might produce poems, or images, or melodies, or animated visuals. Usually, the objective of such a program is to create different results each time it is executed. And generally, it is hoped that these results have aesthetic merit in their own right, and that they are distinguishable from each other, in interesting ways. Some generative art operates completely autonomously, while some generative artworks also incorporate inputs from a user, or from the environment (Carlo Zanni).

"Generative art describes a strategy for artistic practice, not a style or genre of work. The artist describes a rule-based system external to him/herself that either produces works of art or is itself a work of art. I agree with Philip Galanter that work with generative qualities can be found throughout art history, but I typically use the term to describe computer-based work created from the 1960s to today. I consider much of the work in abstract painting and sculpture done in the 1960s as essential for the understanding of generative art. For the term generative art to have any meaning when applied to a given work, the aspect of generativity must be dominant in the work. Many computer-based art projects have generative elements, but are not concerned with generative systems as an end result. In these days generative art is typically connected with software-based abstractions. I think the popularity of the term is due to an emerging group of younger artists and designers concerning themselves with code as an aesthetic material. This naturally leads to explorations of the ways code affects both the artistic process and the end result, including a materiality of algorithms etc." (Marius Watz)

"Even Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart developed a musical game of dice that contained most of the elements that today are associated with generative tools. The piece carries the explanatory title Composing waltzes with two dices without knowing music or understanding anything about composing. Using this historical example, the methodology of generative art can be appropriately described as the rigorous application of predefined principles of action for the intentional exclusion of, or substitution for, individual aesthetical decisions that set in motion the generation of new artistic content out of material provided for that purpose. To describe this method, musicologists introduced the concept of aleatoric music. The name is derived from the Latin aleator (the dice player), and could not be more appropriate for the above example. In aleatoric music, the principles of chance enter into the composition process. There is no standard artistic position connected with the concept of generative, but rather, a method of artistic work, which was and is employed with the most diverse motives. At the same time, it is interesting to observe that this way of working appears not only in connection with a certain genre, but has in fact established itself in nearly every area of artistic practice as music, literature and fine arts." (Tjark Ihmels, Julia Riedel)

Generative Art: Process by which a computer creates unique works from fixed parameters defined by the artist. The result can range from an engaging screensaver to a jazz solo to a lush virtual world. The visual application of generative art is newer, however. In the mid-1970s British abstract painter Harold Cohen plugged in his palette and designed AARON, a computer artist that produces original work. Since then, generative techniques have been used to grow artificial life based on genetic algorithms and massively complex virtual worlds that take infinitely longer than seven days to create by hand. But whatever the output, there is always a human behind the high tech curtain. "The computer is actually generating the art in partnership with the artist/programmer, who defines the fields of possibilities," says Holtzman, who has been experimenting with generative music for more than 20 years. "People live with this romantic notion that an artist gets struck with a thunderbolt of inspiration and runs to the piano or canvas and expresses an idea. The reality is that art has a formal underpinning, and computers are a perfect tool because they're perfect for manipulating formal structure." (read more)

Parametric Modeling

If you allow chance to determine your decisions, the artist's choice is demonstrated in the choosing of what questions to ask.

I use chance operations instead of operating according to my likes and dislikes. I use my work to change myself and I accept what the chance operations say. The I Ching says that if you don't accept the chance operations you have no right to use them. Which is very clear, so that's what I do.
— 'Conversing with Cage', p 215

Parametric modeling is the description of a model or form as a form-generating system, controlled by defined parameters and executable by a computer. Parametric modeling typically involves generative systems, simulation, data as input, etc.

In parametric modeling you design the process, not the object.

Computational power allows for complexity from simple rules.

Models are generated according to given parameters.

Often you will find interactive parametric control, although there is a possibility of semi-autonomous design tools, and there is a potential for complete automation.

Parametric modeling allows for customization of objects.

Parametric modeling allows you to create unusual forms.

SOFTlab: (n)arcissus, 2010 Site-specific installation, laser cut mylar & acrylic

(n)arcissus is a site-specific spatial intervention in the stairwell of the Frankfurter Kunstverein, an artificial skin that drops down through the vertical space using gravity as a principle. By designing the form as a parametric model SOFTlab are able to manipulate the formal qualities of the final output while simultaneously optimizing it for physical construction. Their script breaks the surface down into individual surfaces for laser cutting, producing the unique modules needed to produce the larger structure.

Digital tools are not new to the field of architecture, but the last few years have seen an explosion in the use of generative systems combined with digital manufacturing processes. This new style of computational architecture explores the creation of complex forms based on parametric processes, giving rise to a new range of architectural expression while eliminating the economy of mass-produced form. Positioned at the heart of this movement, SOFTlab is an emerging architectural practice whose work combines scripted processes with knowledge of materials and principles of construction.

Nervous System
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David Dessens'sFoldable Fractal
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Image from sanchtv.com
A project originaly created during the Generator.x 2.0: 'Beyond The Screen' workshop run by Marius Watz, in Berlin in 2007. The piece was generated using a recursive algorythm based on Lindermayer system . The software vvvv was used to generate the cutting path. The piece is based on a recursion of a pentagon shape formed after folding a pentagonal dodecahedron. The piece was created using the laser to score the material to enqble folding, thus simplifying and accelerating the process of fabrication.

Keep in mind that modularity allows for the repositioning of elements and that tension is highest when order is close to chaos.

An Introduction to Processing

QR Codes

A QR Code or Quick Response code is barcode for smartphones that was originally created in Japan.

A QR Code can point to a URL, could contain a phone number, an SMS message or just plain alphanumeric text. When you point your smartphone with a QR code scanning application and capture the code your device will respond by opening up the correct application to handle the encoded data. This happens because of the FNC1 Application Identifiers that are embedded in the data.

The technical specifications for a QR Code are in the ISO-18004 standard. The only significant variations from one QR code to another is the number of modules required to store the data. A Version 1 QR Code is a 21x21 array of data elements and holds about 25 characters. The largest standard QR Code is a Version 40 symbol that is a 177x177 array and can hold up 4296 characters of alphanumeric data. When creating a QR Code for smartphones, a Version 4 or lower code works best.

A QR Code contains its own error correction data, internal orientation calibration and self-alignment markers.

createqrcode
goqr
www.qrstuff.com
qrcode.kaywa

Image from www.qrstuff.com

Navigation

CLICK@MoMA: Making Codes, Breaking Codes

Week 1:ART & CODE

Week 2: INVENTING INSTRUCTIONS

Etel ADNAN (2012)

Douglas COUPLAND (2004)

Jimmie Durham: Do-It-Yourself-Museum Project (1996)

Alison Knowles: Homage to Each Red Thing (1996)

Suzanne LACY (2012)

David LYNCH: Do It: How To Make A Ricky Board (2012)

Sol LEWITT A black not straight line is drawn at approximately the center of the wall horizontally from side to side. Alternate red, yellow and blue lines are drawn above and below the black line to the top and bottom of the wall. (2001)

Nicolas PARIS (2011)*

Phillipe PARRENO (2004)

Casey E. B. REAS (2012)

Hassan SHARIF (Black Lines (2012)

SHIMABUKU (2012)

Hannah WEINBRERGER: Untitled(2012)

Emmett WILLIAMS

Week 3: CODE PLAY (CONDITIONAL DESIGN in 2D)

Week 4: CODE PLAY 2 (CONDITIONAL DESIGN in 3D and performance)

Week 5: COMPUTING WORKS: PROCESSING

Week 6-7: COMPUTING FLAT WORKS: MAKING AND PRINTING IN 2D

Exercise from week 5

Week 7: COMPUTING FLAT WORKS: MAKING AND PRINTING IN 2D

Exercise from week 5

Week 8: COMPUTING PHYSICAL WORKS: PARAMETRIC ART & 3D PRINTING

Week 9-10: EXHIBITION DESIGN

Week 1:ART & CODE

Week 2: INVENTING INSTRUCTIONS

Week 3: CODE PLAY (CONDITIONAL DESIGN in 2D)

Week 4: CODE PLAY 2 (CONDITIONAL DESIGN in 3D and performance)

Week 5: COMPUTING WORKS: PROCESSING

Week 6-7: COMPUTING FLAT WORKS: MAKING AND PRINTING IN 2D

Week 8: COMPUTING PHYSICAL WORKS: PARAMETRIC ART & 3D PRINTING

Week 9-10: EXHIBITION DESIGN

Overview

Content

Code

Fluxus & Instructional Procedures

Sol LeWitt

Oulipo

Conditional Design

Activity

Algorithms

Generative Art

Parametric Modeling

QR Codes