Cyborg imagery can suggest a
way out of the maze of dualisms in which we have
explained our bodies and our tools to ourselves.
This is a dream not of a common language, but of
a powerful infidel heteroglossia.
- Donna Haraway, A Cyborg
Manifesto (1)
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Introduction
While there exists no official
consensus on the definition of generative art, Philip
Galanter’s descriptor has been the most frequently cited
in recent years:
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 set into motion with some
degree of autonomy contributing to or resulting
in a completed work of art.(2)
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Generative production methodologies are
employed by those in numerous areas of the arts
including; architecture, film, music, performance,
sculpture, video games, and visual art and design. As
such utilising such a broad definition becomes necessary
as artists operating in differing fields frequently end
up defining the practice “as being most like the work
that is closest at hand, namely their own generative
art"(3).
While it predates the twentieth century (for instance
Islamic geometric patterns were, and are, created
through generative systems) the contemporary practice is
now almost synonymously associated with computers.
Generative computer art, that being generative art
created via a system that employs computational
processes, traces it's lineage back the 1960s with
musical composers such as Iannis Xenakis and Gottfried
Michael Koenig, and visual artists such as Hiroshi
Kawano and Georg Nees (whose 'Generative
Computergrafik,' translates to English as 'Generative
Computer Graphics,' in 1965 is often cited as
the first exhibition of "graphic works algorithmically
generated by a digital computer"(4)).
Since the 1990s the practice has
experienced increasing growth, due in no small part to
the proliferation and availability of the home computer,
coupled in recent years with the development of a wide
variety of creative coding environments - typically
defined as programming languages designed specifically
for the development of digital artworks(5).
And while a computer is not necessarily a requirement
for generative art, it is widely acknowledged that it
does facilitate the creation of systems that would be
impossible, or impractical, to realise via
non-computational means(6).
Although the tools used for creating generative art have
seen huge growth, and have been expanded upon
extensively (for example creative coding environments
such as Max, Processing,
openFrameworks,
and vvvv are
all actively maintained and popular amongst contemporary
digital media artists as evidenced on websites such as
CreativeApplications.Net), much less has been invested
into the critical analysis and understanding of the
practice, and the subsequent artworks that emerge from
it. This has been highlighted by many writers on the
subject, such as Alan Dorin et al. who propose that a
framework for understanding and evaluating generative
art is needed(7).
Using the aforementioned tools
contemporary generative artists are routinely developing
software systems for art making that grant such levels
of autonomy to the computer that it may itself be viewed
as a creative agent(8).
However we currently lack a clear classification, and
therefore understanding, for describing this new type of
relationship that exists between generative artists and
the digital systems they create. Viewing these type of
autonomous generative systems as simply inert tools that
the creative human artist exerts control over is
inaccurate. However it is equally false to describe them
as autonomous agents on par with, and comparable to,
human collaborators. In reality the truth lies somewhere
in between. It is precisely because of this that the
metaphor of the cyborg is one that is particularly
fitting when discussing the practice. First imagined by
Manfred E. Clynes and Nathan S. Kline as a homeostatic
system intended for survival in space ("For the
exogenously extended organizational complex functioning
as an integrated homeostatic system unconsciously, we
propose the term 'Cyborg.'"(9)),
and later recontextualised as a metaphor for the
disruption of strict binary classifications relating to
identity by Donna Haraway in her seminal essay 'A Cyborg
Manifesto' (1985), the cyborg has gone onto become a
powerful symbol for the many differing potentials
presented to us via newly emerging forms of
human-machine interaction that are present in our
digital society.
Not only does the generative computer
artist meet the criteria of Donna Haraway's concept of
the cyborg (as the production methodology involved in
generative computer art results in a coupling between
human and machine that actively dissolves boundary
distinctions between the two), but it also fits with
Clynes' and Kline's original definition, as the modern
practice has roots in the cybernetics and general
systems theory movements of the mid-twentieth century(10).
These cybernetic origins are manifested in contemporary
practice as generative computer artists actively engage
with quasi-autonomous systems during the art-making
process. In all forms of art making the artist engages
with their tool, and environment, to form an integrated
cybernetic system resulting in feedback loop. However in
traditional forms of art this feedback loop is
internalised(11)
with changes to the integrated system occurring only
through direct action from the human element. This is
because in this scenario the artistic tools are inert
forces that are to be acted upon, their responses can be
easily predicted - predictability being a desirable
attribute in this instance. In the practice of
generative computer art this is different as both the
human and the tool both become discrete autonomous
agents in the creative process. Here both human and tool
are free-running entities that actively interact with
each other, resulting in an integrated cybernetic system
that more accurately reflects the original cyborg
vision. It is hoped that the analysis and classification
of generative computer art as being cyborg in nature
will help in constructing a dialog around the practice,
extending it so as to incorporate and reflect upon
external cultural, philosophical and political factors
relating to the ever-evolving relationship between
humans and technology, as well as definitions and
understandings relating to human identity.
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Hiroshi Kawano Design
3-1, Color Markov Chain Pattern (1964)
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Artistic
Representations of Human Augmentation
In fiction the mutable cipher of the
cyborg is most frequently employed to relay the
simultaneous feelings of optimism and apprehension that
accompanies our relationship towards rapidly evolving
technologies. The endurance of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
(1818) lies partly in its representation of this
duality, presenting a scenario where the human subject
can be both augmented and dehumanised by scientific
technology(12).
Contemporary cinema has explored similar territory, as
in RoboCop
(1987) where a human police officer, Alex Murphy, is
kept alive through the use of robotic implants. Here the
human character of Alex Murphy dies and is resurrected
as the cyborg RoboCop. Although the resurrection/birth
of this new identity empowers the body of the subject
through various cybernetic augmentations that increase
strength, speed and vision, the integration process is
not one that Murphy/RoboCop easily takes to. Although
the new cybernetic enhancements position RoboCop as the
epitome of masculinity, the new hybrid identity feels a
distinct agonising loss of manhood(13)
as he begins to recall memories from his former life as
a human.
Although Donna Haraway's vision of a
future "in which people are not afraid of their joint
kinship with animals and machines, not afraid of
permanently partial identities and contradictory
standpoints"(14)
does not come to pass in RoboCop,
this particular version of the cyborg is quite
extensively explored in other cinematic works, such as
Ghost in the Shell (1995). The film, based in a
near-future where cyborg augmentations to the human body
are not only possible but enthusiastically embraced,
follows a secret paramilitary wing of the police force
which specialises in cybercrime investigation. This
group is led by Major Kusanagi Motoko, herself a full
cyborg - every element of her body, including her brain,
has been replaced with cybernetic implants. However
unlike Murphy/RoboCop, Major Kusanagi embraces this new
cyborg persona, and while there are points during the
plot where she questions the validity of her identity,
the film concludes with her willingly merging
consciousness with an artificial intelligence, forming a
new hybrid life-form in the process.
In these examples the classic cyborg
depicted in fiction is just that; fiction. These
fictional events provide us with alternative simulations
of reality, through which we are offered new angles as
to view and interpret our own. As contemporary
generative computer art can trace a direct lineage to
the conceptual art movement of the 1960s(15)
the resulting artworks can sometimes be quite cerebral
in nature, therefore lacking an easily identifiable
narrative. Additionally it should be noted that
generative computer art does not represent a traditional
art movement as such, rather it exists as a particular
methodology of production used by artists(16),
the results of which are manifested through a wide
variety of forms and mediums(17).
Accordingly it is not necessarily the resulting art from
any generative computer artist that it is to be
interpreted as being symbolic of the cyborg, rather it
is the very artistic methodology and practice that
classifies it as such. The importance of art in
understanding and exploring the concept of the cyborg
was noted by Haraway, as she claimed a debt to "writers
like Joanna Russ, Samuel R. Delany, John Varley, James
Tiptree, Jr, Octavia Butler, Monique Wittig, and Vonda
McIntyre"(18),
referring to them as cyborg theorists, crafting stories
of embodiment in future high-tech worlds. Cyborg
narratives, either literal or abstract in nature, allow
for the initial concept of the cyborg, one borne from
militarism and capitalism, to be reinterpreted and
recontextualised through the arts.
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Major Motoko Kusangi in Ghost
in the Shell (1995)
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How
the Generative Computer Artist Disrupts Established
Thinking Pertaining to Traditional Art Practice
The concept of 'the artist as a genius'
has been well established since the nineteenth-century(19),
with the link between both upheld in traditional views
on aesthetics as outlined by philosophers such as
Emmanual Kant (Critique of Judgemeant (1790)), and
Arthur Schopenhaur (The World as Will and Representation
(1818)), where both claim a direct link exists between
the artist and the human attribute of genius. Further to
this Martin Heidegger, in The Origin of the Work of
Art (1950), states that the artist and the work
of art exist in an almost symbiotic relationship.
Similar to how in traditional cyberpunk narrative
fiction the human augmented by mechanical implantations
becomes a cyborg, so the human who creates a work of art
becomes an artist. It is this act of art making that
creates and sustains the image of the artist. Therefore
the act of observable autonomous art making becomes
extremely important to this traditional image, one where
the artist exerts themselves on inert tools. Here the
mastery of the artist is allowed to shine through, the
tools are merely a lifeless vessel. The artist is not
slave to their tools, they have mastered them. The
artist becomes a mythical figure, a genius in society,
with the art making process obscured. Generative
computer art differs in that it mechanises this art
making, via the creation of a system that automates
various elements of the process. In turn what does this
then say about the traditional obfuscated view of
artistic creation? The process, and the result of said
process; the artist, is no longer mystified. Here,
similar to RoboCop, there is the potential for feelings
of dehumanisation (both from and towards the artist) as
previously coveted human actions become mechanically
automated.
This connection between the act of art
making and genius is an idea so deeply embedded within
our society that it results in an overly humanist
approach from artists towards their tools, whereby human
artist and tool(s) are strictly classified as distinct
and separate entities(20).
This type of binary thinking not only overly favours the
human artist, but it also plays directly into societal
fears of technology. In this context the very notion of
the generative computer artist is one that attempts to
disrupt these traditions. In the practice the tools are
not only acknowledged, they are actively celebrated and
embraced as the artist willingly cedes certain aspects
of creative control to them. The system that the
generative artist creates becomes a cerebral
augmentation, allowing the shifting of certain
(creative) cognitive processes outside of the brain, to
be stored within a digital computer and recalled at
will. This system becomes a proxy, which the artist uses
to store a piece of their creative identity within.
However the generative system is much more than a simple
storage hub, as the artist grants it a certain type of
autonomy. This new cyborg artist - an amalgamation of
the human combined with the autonomous generative
computer system - allows for the discovery of new ideas
and perspectives that would be impossible to realise
using traditional methods.
However relinquishing any type of
creative control to this system automatically invites
questions relating to artistic agency. As in this
scenario the human primarily takes on the role of tool
maker, with the traditional role of artist being dually
occupied by said human and the resultant generative
system. This dissolution of clear boundaries used to
distinguish previously well defined roles encourages us
to think about the dual possibilities that a cyborg
future represents. In one passage of A Cyborg Manifesto
Donna Haraway offers two contrasting outlooks on the
cyborg:
However relinquishing any type of
creative control to this system automatically invites
questions relating to artistic agency. As in this
scenario the human primarily takes on the role of tool
maker, with the traditional role of artist being dually
occupied by said human and the resultant generative
system. This dissolution of clear boundaries used to
distinguish previously well defined roles encourages us
to think about the dual possibilities that a cyborg
future represents. In one passage of A Cyborg Manifesto
Donna Haraway offers two contrasting outlooks on the
cyborg:
From one perspective, a cyborg
world is about the final imposition of a grid of
control on the planet, about the final
abstraction embodied in a Star Wars apocalypse
waged in the name of defence, about the final
appropriation of women's bodies in a masculinist
orgy of war. From another perspective, a cyborg
world might be about lived social and bodily
realities in which people are not afraid of
their joint kinship with animals and machines,
not afraid of permanently partial identities and
contradictory standpoints."(21)
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The artistic form of generative
computer art proposes a similar dichotomy, with the
created cybernetic extension at once representing both
domination of, as well as compliance to, technology.
Dominance in the act of creating an art making machine
that produces work ad nauseam for the artist, and
compliance as certain creative and artistic choices are
ceded to this system. It is multiple states at once, the
practice is a literal realisation of both of potential
perspectives.
Computer Software as a Cultural
and Political Weapon in the Construction of the
Posthuman
One of the significant differences
between the human and the posthuman is that the former
is an organic creation (a result of the natural process
of genetic evolution), whereas the latter is a
constructed entity(22).
During the production process of any generative computer
artwork the artist may sometimes choose to construct a
system created entirely from their own custom
algorithms. Alternatively they may make use of already
existing general-purpose algorithms(23),
or employ a generative system built entirely by another
party. In these latter scenarios the artist is engaging
not only with the generative system, but also those who
originally constructed it. As we move towards a literal
realisation of cyborg/posthuman identities, it becomes
pertinent to ask; who exactly is involved in
constructing the digital tools that we so readily adopt
and incorporate into ourselves? These new identities,
these new posthuman beings, will be constructed not by
large scale species interaction with nature and the
resultant evolutionary process, but instead by human
engagement with digital tools that are developed by a
relatively small number of individuals (in relation to
the totality of humanity).
The homogeny prevalent in modern music
making software (the majority of the tools being created
in either Germany or the United States) prompted Jace
Clayton (who produces music under the alias DJ/rupture)
to develop a series of experimental musical devices
based on the traditions of Moroccan music. The devices,
entitled Sufi Plug Ins, are an experiment in
creating musical software that intentionally deviates
from the traditional Eurocentric/Western norm(24).
And while the generative computer artist does not
necessarily have to develop the entirety of the system
they use in their art making, the focus that the
practice places on the construction of systems forces
both the artist and the audience to explicitly confront
both the benefits and dangers that a cyborg future
presents us with. As we move towards a future of tighter
and increased integration with technology, are we to be
granted more autonomy and increased customisation, or
alternatively are we heading towards a homogenous future
whereby identities are formed from digital tools
constructed by a minority?
Digital technology has already made a
significant impact on how modern music is made, not only
in relation to how artists create, but also in the
culture surrounding the entire music making industry(25).
If we are to interpret a cyborg as an augmented figure
(one which according to Haraway can help us escape the
binary oppositions present in our current form), then it
only seems rational that this augmented figure must
adapt itself so as to best fit the current environment.
This current environment is digital, and computer
algorithms are the connective tissue holding it
together. However computer algorithms are not objective.
As Cary Wolfe writes:
What is paradoxical about this
desire for "objectivity" is that it issues from
a line of critique that has reminded us again
and again that putatively "objective" scientific
accounts are just as socially constructed as any
other, and that indeed what we might call the
ideology of objectivity has typically operated
much to the detriment of women and other
marginalized people.(26)
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In relation to the above the practice
of generative computer art is interesting because it
actively encourages confrontation with the lack of
objectivity that is prevalent in digital systems. As
society becomes further enveloped within a digitally
augmented reality it becomes not only advisable but
necessary to actively challenge the perceived notions of
objectivity that are attached to the tools that we so
willingly integrate into our identities. The
presupposition of caution is not one borne out of
paranoia, but rather from genuine fears owing to the
militaristic origin of the cyborg. Generative computer
art encourages active engagement with the tools of
technological control in our society (ones that play an
increasingly active role in the construction of
identities in the twenty-first century), as it places a
distinct focus on the construction and analysis of
digital systems.
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Cycling '74's Max is a visual
programming environment frequently used for the
creation of generative sound and visuals.
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Summary
This short essay has been a brief
attempt to highlight some of the conceptual similarities
that exist between the practice of generative computer
art and the symbol of the cyborg. The image of the
cyborg as a signifier of the future, representing at
once both a literal and imagined reality, is so powerful
because it is a construction of both technological
practice, as well as artistic narrative discourse(27).
Traditional depictions of the cyborg in art have
primarily focused on the idea of a human very literally
modified by technology, usually presented as very
identifiable and observable changes to the body (for
example the adoption of robotic limbs). It could be
argued that this representation is overly restrictive
and not accurately representative of our current
society, where the concept of human augmentation occurs
more subversively via technologies that are more often
than not external to, rather than embedded within, the
body. This type of cerebral augmentation is very similar
to the concept of extended cognition, this being the
view that elements extraneous to the human body (such as
a computer or piece of paper) are directly included in,
and part of, mental processors carried out by the mind(28).
If the cyborg exists primarily as a representation of
the constantly evolving relationship that exists between
humanity, technology and politics, then it becomes
necessary for it to adapt so as to more accurately
reflect current processes of cyborgification that are
occurring in societies enveloped in digitality.
Generative computer art is quite similar to the
construction of the cyborg in that the practice is a
convergent point for both artists and scientists.
However, unlike the traditional image of the cyborg the
generative computer artist engages in cerebral, rather
than body, augmentation. With one of the primary
concerns of the practice being notions of artistic
agency, it becomes useful to analyse prior
interpretations and viewpoints of the cyborg so as to
better understand the simultaneous fear and attraction
that such a symbol represents. As such, while generative
computer art provides us with new ways of interpreting
potential cyborgian futures, utilising the metaphor of
the cyborg also helps present new ways of analysing the
contemporary practice of generative computer art, with
both areas becoming ever more pertinent as we become
increasingly engulfed in a digitally augmented reality.
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NOTES
(1) ^
Haraway D. "A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and
Socialist-Feminism in the Late Twentieth Century". In:
Haraway D, ed. Simians,
Cyborgs, And Women. 1st ed. Routledge;
1991:149–81.
(2) ^
Galanter P. "What is Generative Art? Complexity Theory
as a Context for Art Theory". In: GA2003 – 6Th
Generative Art Conference.; 2003. Available at: http://www.philipgalanter.com/downloads/ga2003_paper.pdf.
Accessed May 10, 2015.
(3) ^
Ibid.
(4) ^
compArt daDA: the database Digital Art. Georg Nees:
Computergrafik | Database of Digital Art. Available at:
http://dada.compart-bremen.de/item/exhibition/164.
Accessed May 10, 2015.
(5) ^
Valitutti A. "Creative Coding for Humor Design: A
Preliminary Exploration". In
Computational Humor.
2012. Available at: http://tuhat.halvi.helsinki.fi/portal/files/
25634980/IWCH2012_Valitutti.pdf. Accessed May 10,
2015.
(6) ^
McCormack J, Bown O, Dorin A, McCabe J, Monro G,
Whitelaw M. Ten
Questions Concerning Generative Computer Art.
Leonardo. 2014;47(2):135–41.
(7) ^
Dorin A, McCabe J, McCormack J, Monro G, Whitelaw M. "A
framework for understanding generative art." Digital
Creativity. 2012;23(3–4):239–59.
(8) ^
A term frequently used at the Chaos Computer Club's 30th
Chaos Communication Congress in Hamburg, December 2013,
and also very recently by (Gurstein).
(9) ^
Clynes M, S. Kline N. "Cyborgs and Space". Astronautics.
1960. Available at: http://web.mit.edu/digitalapollo/Documents/Chapter1/cyborgs.pdf.
Accessed May 10, 2015.
(10) ^
Boden M, Edmonds E. "What is generative art?". Digital
Creativity. 2009;20(1–2):21–46.
(11) ^
Jones D, Brown A, d'Inverno M. "The Extended Composer:
Creative Reflection and Extension with Generative
Tools". In: McCormack J, d'Inverno M, ed. Computers
And Creativity. 1st ed. Springer; 2012:175–203.
(12) ^
Cavallaro D. Cyberpunk
And Cyberculture: Science Fiction And The Work Of
William Gibson. London: Athlone Press; 2000.
(13) ^
Fuchs C. "Death Is Irrelevent". In: Gray C,
Figueroa-Sarriera H, Mentor S, ed. The
Cyborg Handbook. 1st ed. Routledge;
1996:281–300.
(14) ^
Haraway D. op.cit., 153.
(15) ^
Lewis D, Wrigley P. "Digital Minimalism: Generative Art
as Avant–Garde Strategy". In: GA2000
(Generative
Art Conference).; 2000.
(16) ^
Pearson M. Generative
Art. Shelter Island, NY: Manning; 2011.
(17) ^
Watz M. "Closed Systems: Generative Art And Software
Abstraction". 1st ed.; 2010. Available at: http://mariuswatz.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/201005-Marius-Watz-
Closed-Systems.pdf. Accessed May 10, 2015.
(18) ^
Haraway D. op.cit. 169.
(19) ^
Madigan P. Expressive
Individualism, the Cult of the Artist as Genius, and
Milton's Lucifer. Hey J. 2013;54(6):992–998.
doi:10.1111/heyj.12004.
(20) ^
Porter J. "Why technology matters to writing: A
cyberwriter's tale". Computers
and Composition. 2003;20(4):375–394.
doi:10.1016/j.compcom.2003.08.020.
(21) ^
Haraway D. op.cit., 153.
(22) ^
Hayles N. "The Life Cycle of Cyborgs, Writing The
Posthuman". In: Gray C, Figueroa- Sarriera H, Mentor S,
ed. The Cyborg
Handbook. 1st ed. Routledge; 1995:321–35.
(23) ^
Jones D, R. Brown A, d'Inverno M. "The Extended
Composer: Creative Reflection and Extension with
Generative Tools". In: McCormack J, d'Inverno M, ed. Computers
And Creativity. 1st ed. Springer; 2012:175–203.
(24) ^
Clayton J. "SUFI PLUG INS ARE REAL. DEMO VIDEO +
DOWNLOAD. mudd up!". 2012. Available at: http://www.negrophonic.com/2012/sufi-plug-ins-are-real-demo-video-download.
Accessed May 10, 2015.
(25) ^
Prior N. Software
Sequencers and Cyborg Singers: Popular Music in the
Digital Hypermodern. New Formations.
2009;66(1):81–99. doi:10.3898/newf.66.06.2009.
(26) ^
Wolfe C. In Search of
Post-Humanist Theory: The Second-Order Cybernetics of
Maturana and Varela. Cultural Critique.
1995;(30):33. doi:10.2307/1354432.
(27) ^
Hayles N. op.cit.
(28) ^
Clark A, Chalmers D. The
extended mind. Analysis. 1998;58(1):7-19.
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