Generative Art: Your full guide
In the world of digital art, a fascinating style has been blurring the boundaries between human creativity and computational algorithms. Generative art brings together human intention and the emergent patterns created by computational systems, opening new ways for artistic exploration.
The artist, or the creative coder, creates unique artwork that evolve and self-generate based on given set of rules. This fusion of creativity and code has become an essential part of digital arts — here’s an introduction to its origins, impact, and implications.
(1/161 unique artworks) Ateliers, 2023 by Sarah Ridgley
What is generative art?
Generative art refers to art generated by algorithmic codes or mathematical formulas. The generative artist creates a set of images, shapes, and colors, and adds certain rules to the code regarding what can and cannot be combined and how.
The algorithm then generates the artwork based on these boundaries — therefore the final outcome is determined by the algorithm itself and the code will bring about a different art each time it’s being run.
How do you make generative art?
Generative artists are also called creative coders, as generative art is typically created by algorithmic codes. There are four primary models for image generation: Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs), Variational Autoencoders (VAEs), Flow-based models, and Diffusion models.
Here’s a few recommendations for the best generative art software options:
#7/50 Centrifugal, 2023 by Marcelo Soria Rodríguez
What does generative art look like?
Even though most generative art incorporate geometric shapes and prime colors, there are virtually no limits to creative coding.
Generative PFPs like Bored Apes, Crypto Punks, and World of Women, for instance, involve manually designed features such as backgrounds, traits, and variations — the algorithm generates random combinations given simple rules.
The generative artwork at Pixelweaver by Daniel Canogar at Bitforms Gallery draws real-time financial information from international news channels and presents the data in the shape of a weaved ribbon.
Pixelweaver by Daniel Canogar at Bitforms Gallery
History of generative art
Generative art is often traced back to modern avant-garde art movements of Dadaism and Surrealism in the 1920s and 1930s. These movements highlight the elements of chance, unpredictability and automatic processes in making art.
The pioneering works of artists such as John Whitney, Georg Nees, and Frieder Nake during the 1960s can be considered the beginning of generative art as-we-know. These visionary artists recognized the potential of computing technology and its ability to generate art forms that surpassed traditional manual techniques. By embracing the emerging field of computer programming, they started to explore the intersection between art and mathematics.
Matrizenmultiplikation Nr. 2 Serie 2.5-5 (Matrix Multiplication), 1967 by Frieder Nake
One of the landmark generative art projects is Computer Generated Pictures by Frieder Nake in 1965. Nake is a German computer scientist who utilized algorithms to create striking visual patterns by plotting points and lines. His work laid the foundation for subsequent generations of generative artists.
In 1973 the abstract painter Harold Cohen created AARON, a computer program that could paint and draw. Cohen programmed the system to follow a set of rules which would lead to a piece of art being formed on canvas.
The computer program was capable of generating original artworks by simulating the decision-making process of a human artist. The program incorporated rules, probabilities, and visual feedback loops to produce an astonishing range of paintings. This is also considered to be one of the first instances of AI art.
Drawing, computer-generated, with hand coloring, by Harold Cohen, 1974. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Furthermore, artists like Manfred Mohr, Vera Molnár, and Casey Reas have contributed significantly to the generative art movement. Their innovative projects have explored the boundaries of algorithmic creativity, incorporating dynamic elements, interactivity, and even real-time data feeds.
Over the years, generative art has undergone significant evolution, thanks to advancements in technology and the growing accessibility of programming tools. Artists have explored various techniques, such as fractals, cellular automata, genetic algorithms, neural networks, as well as artificial intelligence, to generate complex and captivating artworks.
Letters from the Machine, 2022 by Ivona Tau
What is the difference between generative art and AI art?
Generative art is an umbrella term for code-based art, therefore AI-generated art is a type of generative art as it’s created using code.
While generative artwork is typically based on programming instructions which produce controlled sets of outcomes, AI art is created by a trained algorithm that brings about unpredictable outcome based on the training dataset. In other words, generative art is created using predefined rules whereas AI-generated art is created using machine learning techniques.
Ripple Waves, 2021 by Kaoru Tanaka
Why is generative art so popular?
Even though generative art has been around since the 1960s, we can owe its recent popularity to generative art NFTs.
To create a generative art NFT, the artist writes a code and runs an algorithm with a certain set of rules to generate the artwork — however, this time the generative art would be created once it’s minted using a smart contract, and would be kept forever on the blockchain.
The surprise element to the generative NFTs may be its most appealing aspect for the collectors: neither the collector nor the artist knows what the final piece will look like as the algorithm generates a random, unique piece once it’s minted.
#5/5 Automata, 2023 by Artemis
Where to buy generative NFT art
The Ethereum-based NFT platform Art Blocks has established itself as the go-to platform for generative art. They focus on “genuinely programmable on-demand generative content,” as stated on their website. The artists can use creative code to generate varied artworks directly on the blockchain, and Art Blocks mints a unique artwork based on the artist’s algorithm upon purchase.
Alternatively, the Tezos-based NFT marketplace fxhash is another platform to create and collect generative art.
What is an example of generative art?
Here’s a few examples of generative art NFTs you should know, from Tyler Hobbs’ Fidenza, to Snowfro’s Chromie Squiggles and Dmitri Cherniak’s Ringers.
Tyler Hobbs launched Fidenza in June 2021 and the project is one of the most recognized generative art NFTs on Art Blocks since. The collection consists of 999 unique NFTs featuring colorful curves and blocks, and valued at least 83 ETH (over $100,000) a piece.
#612 Fidenza, 2021 by Tyler Hobbs
Erick Calderon, or known as Snowfro, is the highly-praised generative artist and the founder of Art Blocks. He created the Chromie Squiggles in October 2021 and 9,675 of 10,000 available squiggles have been minted since then. Each Squiggle represents the character of the platform and the project is referred to as being the symbol of Art Blocks, as well as generative arts.
#2227 Chromie Squiggle, 2020 by Snowfro
Dmitri Cherniak is the Canadian artist and coder who created Ringers. Ringers includes 1,000 generative art NFTs that are characterized by a series of strings and pegs. The artist knew he was creating something special — the collection was generated on the Art Blocks platform and is one of its top-selling NFT collections with a floor price of 44.9 ETH (around $80,000). In fact, Ringers #879, ‘The Goose,’ is just sold for $5.4 million this week.
“I’m going to show you a project that I think is going to help people learn about generative art. Then all the people that I’ve been making work with online for the past five years like Manolo, Matt Deslauriers, and Tyler Hobbs will see it, and then you’ll see another level of generative art.”
#341 Ringers, 2021 by Dmitri Cherniak
