Leonardo
Volume 28, No. 3 (1995)
Issue Contents
June/July 1995
Leonardo is a print journal, edited by Leonardo/the International Society for the Arts, Sciences and Technology, and published by the MIT Press. Subscriptions and individual issues can be ordered from the MIT Press.
TO ORDER
THE LEONARDO GALLERY
by REJANE SPITZ, ULYSSES NADRUZ, CARLOS AZAMBUJA, CARLOS RANDOLPH, HELOISA SIFFERT, MILTON MONTENEGRO, CELSO WILMER and CHRISTIANA LARA RESENDE
Brazil is notable for its music, for its natural resources, for its soccer, for its beauty. There was a time when these factors alone proved our old saying that God is Brazilian. But today
Brazil is widely known for its dramatic social contrasts---a country where the astonishing rate of infant mortality verified in the poorest end of the population rises in parallel with the increasing popularity of electronic technologies in middle and upper classes.
It is essential to consider Brazilian electronic art production from a social perspective. Although most of those who have access to high-end resources belong to the top layers of the country's economic pyramid, electronic art is definitely the new channel through which many Brazilian artists criticize and interfere in the social scenario, express their emotions and discuss human needs and desires.
These approaches are embedded in the works presented in this gallery by artists Ulysses Nadruz, Carlos Randolph (Muti), Milton
Montenegro, Heloisa Siffert, Carlos Azambuja, and Celso Wilmer with Cristiana Lara Resende.
SPECIAL SECTION
CREATIVITY AND COGNITION CONFERENCE PAPERS
Introduction
by ERNEST EDMONDS
In April 1993, a gathering of artists, cognitive scientists, computer scientists, designers and musicians from North America, Japan, Australia and Europe took place at Loughborough University
of Technology, in the U.K. This was the first International Symposium on Creativity and Cognition. The main aim was to bring together leading practitioners from the fields of creative practice, the study of creative thought and computer support systems for creative tasks, in order to promote dialogue between these different perspectives. This special section of Leonardo brings together several of the presented papers that, in part at least, reveal the open, diverse but fully engaged nature of the symposium.
My Mother's Letters: Simulation by Computer
by VERA MOLNAR
ABSTRACT
My Mother's Letters is an attempt at simulation, an artificial re-creation of the handwriting of the artist's mother. This work presents two different approaches: (1) to get as near as possible to the formal aspects of the handwriting and (2) to reconcile the ill-balanced aspect of the letters (almost regular on the left-hand side, close to chaotic on the right-hand side) and a classical method of picture composition, working with principles such as symmetry, rebalanced asymmetry or countercomposition. The drawings were done with the help of a computer and a plotter, except for one series, where the artist used a printer instead of a plotter. The last pieces show the overlapping of plotter-tracing and actual handwriting: a kind of dialogue between human and machine.
Creative Participatory Behaviour in a Programmed World
by STEPHEN BELL
ABSTRACT
The author has created and used a suite of computer programs called Smallworld to identify the essential characteristics of participatory works of art that use computer technology. The origins and development of Smallworld are described here and the findings of the research summarized. The author identifies as most significant a compound characteristic that emerges as common to all participatory works of art that use computer technology:
the degree and manner of control afforded to participants. Artists can be seen as composers of the changing degree and manner of control. Participants interpret the compositions, just as musicians interpret musical compositions. The quality of the realization of the work will depend on participant skill in using the physical and programmed interface.
Extensionalism and Twistor Space
by FRE ILGEN
ABSTRACT
The author proposes the theory of extensionalism as an approach to understanding our reality perception. This approach starts with the extension of the self and can be understood by studying a certain kind of art. Twistor space is the fundamental concept of English mathematician Roger Penrose's twistor theory, an approach to solving problems relating to space/time and reality. Comparison of these theories is presented as an illustration of the similarities between artistic and scientific approaches to creative and cognitive processes. Both Penrose and the artists whose work is discussed here (Charles Beiderman, Hans Hinterreiter and others) have been inspired by projective geometry, the study of the curvature of lines of force and light.
Aesthetics, Representation and Creativity in Art and Science
by ARTHUR I. MILLER
ABSTRACT
This paper explores the relation between art and science using an investigation of aesthetics, modes of representation and creativity in these disciplines. Emphasis is placed on case studies of artists and scientists.
The Idea of Construction as the Creative Principle in Russian Avant-Garde Art
by PATRICIA RAILING
ABSTRACT
The enormous creative potential of the constructive principle as it is found in the work and ideas of the Russian avant-garde helps to account for the great variety of work produced between 1912 and 1932 in all the arts. Its various sources and ideas appeared in the writings of artists and theoreticians and gave rise to many interpretations of the notion and application of construction. This small tool-box of terms is a precis of the sources and applications of the notion of construction.
Cognitive and Physiological Processes Underlying Drawing Skills
by CHRIS FRITH and JOHN LAW
ABSTRACT
The authors discuss some of the cognitive processes that underlie drawing skills. Experimental evidence from recent brain imaging studies reveals the physiological systems that underlie these cognitive processes. These studies show that information from the visual scene is fragmented into many largely independent components. Many of these components remain outside conscious awareness, while still having a vital role in the control of movement. By studying how these components interact, we can begin to glimpse the process by which the brain converts creative ideas into movements of the artist's hand.
Artificial Creativity
by MATTHEW ELTON
Can we build machines that are creative in their own right? The author argues that we can. To this end he outlines an account of creativity and then goes on to argue that computer systems can meet the necessary criteria. The paper concludes with some remarks about what the field of artificial creativity can contribute to our understanding of machines and ourselves.
What is artificial creativity? It is the art of constructing machines that are creative in their own right. Is artificial
creativity possible? Why should we want to construct such devices? And, if we intend to try, what can we learn from such efforts? These are the issues addressed in this essay.
Navigating through Compositional Space: The Creativity Corridor
by J. L. ALTY
ABSTRACT
This paper discusses some aspects of the traditional compositional process in music. The process is likened to a planning or navigational task and is described through a concept borrowed from the Artificial Intelligence field: the idea of a state space within which a rule-based system operates. The
concept of musical state space is postulated and the compositional process described in terms of moves through this space using different planning horizons. The importance of the short-term planning horizon in the creation of an individual style is highlighted, resulting in the definition of a "creativity corridor." An individual short-term planning style is thought to be an essential prerequisite to handling the vast musical state space in a meaningful way. Longer term planning horizons are thought to be more concerned with quality of output.
Generative Processes in Algorithmic Compositions: Chaos and Music
by JAMES HARLEY
ABSTRACT
Models of music composition implemented on computer as generative algorithms are examined from a historical viewpoint. Correlations between chaos theory and music are described, and serve as the basis for the computer program CHAOTICS, a set of modules which serve as tools for composition. The relationship between composer and computer is seen in terms of a feedback loop.
"Emotions" and Architecture which Bias Musical Design
by DOUG RIECKEN: WOLFGANG
ABSTRACT
This paper discusses, from a general perspective, the design and implementation of a system called WOLFGANG that composes tonal monodies. The examination focuses on defining the evaluation criteria guiding WOLFGANG's compositional processing. The thesis of the work presented is derived from the hypothesis that a system's "innate" sense of musical sound strongly influences the development of its "perception" as well as composing habits. As the system develops its musical skills, it also develops a subjective use of a musical language biased by its sense of musical sound, and its adaptation to the cultural grammar of its environment.
SOLART GLOBAL NETWORK
Introduction
by JURGEN CLAUS
The "Law of the Sun," to quote Le Corbusier, guided builders and architects from the beginning on. Part of the SolArt Global Network '95 is a reinforced discussion of how that law is applied in research and practice of today's architecture. We don't mean the simple application of a photovoltaic panel on top of a roof---even if this may have some practical results. What we mean is a research-based work of art and architecture, where new materials and new processes are guided toward a "new aesthetic." Solar art and solar architecture are meeting each other toward a better use and a better understanding of the natural, renewable energies that are supplied by our Biosphere.
This section presents articles by Helmut Tributsch, Andrew Pepper and Marie-Christiane Mathieu on the theme of Solar Art and Solar Architecture.
Living with the Sun: Modern Technology in Solar Architecture
by HELMUT TRIBUTSCH
ABSTRACT
Modern solar architecture has been greatly enriched by the scientific understanding of the natural laws of heat and light radiation as well as by drawing on information from traditional architecture. In the future, the function of solar buildings will be increasingly similar to that of living organisms whose outer skin systematically regulates and controls inner requirements. This article investigates modern advances and future directions in the field of solar architecture.
Holography as Large Scale Event
by ANDREW PEPPER
ABSTRACT
The use of holography in non-gallery situations is not limited to art commissions. This article looks at works by Melissa Crenshaw, and Graham Tunnadine, where the medium has been used for large-scale works. These pieces could not be considered primarily as art, but they have brought the medium of holography into direct contact with people who would not normally have access to it. Both works were produced by artists for large public festivals.
Experimental Solar Holography
by MARIE-CHRISTIANE MATHIEU
ABSTRACT
The artist discusses her holographic work Project Solaris, in which she employs a variety of techniques to test the effects of natural phenomena on emulsions. The holographic structure will be erected in spring 1995 at a preselected site in Montreal and, over a 6-month period, will be filmed or photographed at specific times.
