Postmodern Modernist Generator Updated in 2010!
Postmodern Modernist featured in Art Digital Magazine September-October 2010
Postmodern Modernist updated with modified algorithms and the ability operate autonomously! This project now creates art and promotes itself on the web without any intervention on my behalf.
You can follow it on its blog, twitter, tumblr or facebook page:
http://pmmg.posterous.com/
http://twitter.com/Hawt_Modernista
http://hawtmodernist.tumblr.com/
add Hawt Modernista as your facebook friend today!
I have added the ability for the Postmodern Modernist to read news feeds and create works based off of current events. At the time of this update Lindsay Lohan is in the news so it will create works seeded by her image with greater frequency.
The updatede algorithm is much improved from version 3.0 below. It now has a much wider variety of types of abstractions at its disposal. Its color database has been updated with new colors and it can generate a suite of color relationships from photos it discovers while reading the news feeds. The above color combination is pulled from a photo of R&B artist Mario who recently is alleged to have assaulted his mother.
The new algorithm still generates works completely from scratch like "boyfriend clammy #288" (shown above) as well and it now saves out a print resolution version of each file before it resizes it down to a more web friendly size. If you would like a print send me an email and let me know.
Postmodern Modernist Art Generator version 3.0
This project explores automating the artist's design process in a lighthearted manner. I systematically break down
and simplify the design process for automation by an art generator.
A shockwave version of the art generator version 3 is here (opens in new window 48k).
A shockwave version of the art generator version 2 is here (opens in new window 38k).
A shockwave version of the art generator version 1 is here (opens in new window 99k).
See also:
Micro Modernist Art Generator Google Gadget
or the
Postmodern Modernist Art Generator Screensaver
First of all, automating the processes exactly that an artist does while creating a piece of artwork is nearly an impossible task. Artists typically
are inspired by a variety of things and their creativity generally follows intuition more than a set process. Differences in how artists perceive their
subject matter and the choices they make while rendering their works create endless controlled variations in output. The best we can hope to do with
an computer emulated artist process is going to be an approximation of a set of potential artist creative paths that lead
to a graphic result.
As we add logic to the decision algorithms, add chaos to the system and increase the set of systemic processes available to the emulated artist, the possible
set of paths and subsequent results will approach infinity. It will by no means consistently generate better looking designs than
a real human will, however it will generate good output fairly often and much faster than a real human artist can.
For the purposes of this project we will simplify the process to a set style of abstract modernist for now. We will focus on
automating the color choices, subject matter, layout, image manipulation and the abstraction process in the digital environment using
mostly processes that a digital artist would use. Digital processes in the digital realm are convenient since emulating actual drawing
or painting processes would require robotics. If you are interested in algorithmic robotic art you should check out one of the very first artists
to attempt algorithmic work using programmable eproms and crude robotics in the 80's Roman Verostko's work. I think the
future of algorithmic robotic art lies in nanotechnology but alas that is another project. While the program generates abstract modernist looking
output the overall concept of creating an automated artist process is somewhat of a postmodern concept, hence the title "Postmodern Modernist Generator".
The Process behind version 2 is different and better (at least I think it is), version 1 sampled a small bitmap to seed the algorithm, version 2 is 100%
generative. The first thing the program does is load a color lookup table of color palettes with 6 colors each (fig 1). Most of the color combinations are
sampled from artist and color theorist Josef Albers
works and works by other artists that I admire. However I fully intend to write a palette generator that will always select
colors that work well together based on modern color theory like the web color selector at wellstyled.com.
The Process behind version 3 is the same as version 2, with the added step of manipulating some vector shapes in the foreground.
 fig 1 |
 fig 2 |
 fig 3 |
 fig 4 |
 final output |
The engine then generates a 3d virtual world, populates it with primitive objects and assigns them shaders from the current loaded palette. This takes care of the general layout and also creates some volumetric shapes and lines that can work their way into the design. The program then extracts the image from the 3d objects (fig 2 above). A decision tree determines how the image is deconstructed and reconstructed (fig 3 above). The decision tree spawns graphic layers in memory much like layers in Photoshop and manipulates them before merging them into one image layer. This process iterates a couple of times randomly choosing various manipulation processes and blending effects then all resulting layers are then randomly assigned a stacking order and lastly they are merged ( sample layer fig 4 above). Finally rectangular shapes are drawn in the foreground and randomly assigned a blend and the process is complete(final output above).
When the graphic processes are complete the program assigns the work a title by combining a noun, an adjective and a random number attempting in futility to assign meaning to the work. While this is a trivial task to program it is an important step in the process of creating a modernist work since modernism seeks to make sense out of the senseless and impose meaning through art where there is none.
New gallery up! Postmodern modernist gallery III! Thirty-five images generated by Postmodern Modernist Generator version 3.0.
 Congress Broken |
 Cushion Snobbish |
 Cyberspace Sad |
 Devil Domineering |
The Digital Postmodern Modernist Generator version 2.0
A shockwave version of the art generator version 2 is here (opens in new window 38k) for your endless enjoyment.
New gallery up! The Digital Postmodern modernist gallery 2! These 44 images were automatically generated in not a lot of time for your viewing pleasure.
 Ace Earthly #109 |
 Affection Muddled #469 |
 Allegory Gaudy #777 |
 Batch Accidental #647 |
The Digital Postmodern Modernist Generator version 1.0
New gallery up! The Digital Postmodern modernist gallery! Forty-four images generated by
resampling output from the Hilbert space filling curve algorithm. This collection of works is output from several generators. First, output from the Hilbert space filling curve generator is sampled randomly by an
alpha version of the new "lo-fi" art generator I am working on that has taken a life of its own and become the "The Digital Postmodern Modernist Generator". That output is then sampled, resized
smaller and then modified and resized larger for several iterations to create
these images.
A shockwave version of the art generator version 1 is here (opens in new window 99k) for your endless enjoyment.
Here are several sample outputs from generator version 1.0. You can see more output in the gallery.
 8 Bit Violence |
 Orange Level 3 |
 Full Time Killer |
 Rust in the System |