My favorite method of productive procrastination is either coding or art. A few years ago, I put the two together.
What does it look like when you let a robot start making art? To find out, I write a few simple algorithms. Then I let the code pick random parameters, I hit enter, and out comes art that has never been seen before.
The question I’m always asking is: why do we find certain things beautiful or appealing or interesting? Is it based on pattern recognition or something more?
You can see my experiments here. Keep in mind, when you click on one of these little robotic art projects, you will be getting a piece of art custom made for you. They are randomly generated. You might like it. If you don’t, click again. Ask yourself why you find one thing better than another. Right now there are 86 different algorithms to choose from.
Some of my favorites: Yarrow, Tree, Swoosh, Snowflake, and Moiré Petals.
I write in these in PHP. Sometimes I’ll use Javascript or the Processing library as well, which allow animation as well (you’ll find those experiments on Instagram).
