No photos harmed/growing paths from seed: an exhibition

Abstract

We report on an exhibition centered around a dialogue between a Computational Creativity researcher presenting artwork generated by a computer program and a classically trained artist taking inspiration from the computational processes. The main purpose of the exhibition was to place software-generated art (where the program takes on some aesthetic and generative responsibilities, rather than acting as a mere tool) in both an art-production context and an art-historical context, by exploring the themes of creative responsibility and the loss of aura surrounding a work of art. A secondary purpose was to highlight the fact that computer generated art can be representational without relying on digital photographs as inputs. We describe certain technical hurdles we overcame in the production of the exhibition and the feedback we gained, in addition to elaborating on how the event and the project as a whole fits into an art-historical context. We conclude with brief details of another exhibition involving art generated by the same software system, where the notion of progression was explored; by describing a planned exhibition, where autonomy and independence in the system will be highlighted; and by providing a partial roadmap for progress towards autonomously creative software in the visual arts.