[eu-gene] Software / generative / whatever

[Marius Watz]

Hi list,

This is maybe a stupid thing to say, but I continue to be surprised at 
how much time is devoted to negatives on this list - i.e. defining 
dichotomies, disproving other people's arguments and generally splitting 
hairs.

Alex, your point that there is a schism between generative art (as 
popularly understood) and software art defined by Arns and yourself is 
self-evidently true, and it seems superfluous to discuss it at length. I 
had the same reaction when Arns' article first came out: Why the need to 
create a greater distance when the distance is already significant? Is 
it because software artists disapprove of generative art, or is it just 
a strategic art world stratagem? The antipathy is not mutual, by the 
way, I have never heard a "generative artist" say a bad thing about 
software art.

Since Arns' original publication of that article "generative art" has 
become a popular yet much-abused term that is now all but devoid of 
meaning as a description of artistic practice. "Software Art" was always 
a much more clearly defined concept, neatly circumscribed within a 
certain set of concerns and strategies. I for one am sad to see that 
Software Art hasn't gotten the attention it deserves, as it represents 
an interesting and even necessary take on the rise of computation as 
cultural artifact.

The deliberate vagueness of the term "generative art" has been very 
useful (thanks Philip!) for those promoting computational aesthetics to 
a broader audience. But it describes a "how" and not a "why", and thus 
can't describe a conceptual framework or an artistic movement. I have 
suggested (half-jestingly) elsewhere that one could talk about "Software 
Abstraction" as a way to reference traditions in art history that are 
much more apt to describe the practices of generative artists than the 
political / critical narrative of classic media art.

Finally I am unsettled by the implied disdain for formal aesthetics as 
an artistic concern that runs through Arns' text as well as your post 
(i.e. the "educational museum exhibits" comment.) It seems to suggest 
that formalism is an invalid artistic position, which might as well 
cease to exist.

Is that really your intent, or am I misreading you?

thanks, Marius

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Marius Watz

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