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Simulation, Systems, Artifice

by Jon McCormack

THURSDAY CLUB

Senior Lecturer in Computer Science and co-director of the Centre for Electronic Media Art (CEMA)
at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia.

THURSDAY CLUB

www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jonmc



September 7, 2006, Lecture Hall, BPB @ Goldsmiths, 18h -- 20h

Thursday Club event

Digital Studios @ Goldsmiths College


Abstract

In this talk I will give an overview of how I have used generative  processes as a creative system. My aim is to enable new modes of  creative expression with computation that are unique to the medium. Most  existing software tools borrow their operational metaphor from existing  creative practices: for example Photoshop uses the metaphor of a photographer’s darkroom; 3D animation systems borrow from theatre, film  and conventional cell animation. In a tool with an oeuvre as diverse as  the modern digital computer, one would hope that computation itself as a medium might have things to offer that are not based on metaphors  borrowed from other media. I will illustrate some possibilities using  the software systems I have developed over the last 15 years and the  creative works that I have produced with them.
These works include: 
Examination of these works will be placed in a philosophical framework and historical context. I will also discuss some possibilities for future development of generative software based on these ideas.

Short Bio

John is an Australian-based electronic media artist and researcher in Artificial Life and Evolutionary Music and Art. His research interests include generative evolutionary systems, machine learning, L-systems and developmental models. He is currently Senior Lecturer in Computer Science and co-director of the Centre for Electronic Media Art (CEMA) at  Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. CEMA is an interdisciplinary research centre established to explore new collaborative relationships  between computing and the arts. John’s artworks have been exhibited  internationally a wide variety of galleries, museums and symposia, including the Museum of Modern Art (New York, USA), Tate  Gallery(Liverpool, UK), ACM SIGGRAPH (USA), Prix Ars Electronica  (Austria) and the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (Australia).

www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jonmc


The Thursday Club is an open forum discussion group for anyone interested in the theories  and practices of cross-disciplinarity, interactivity, technologies and  philosophies of the state-of-the-art in today’s (and tomorrow’s)  cultural landscape(s). Originally set up in October 2005 by Goldsmiths Digital Studios (GDS) as  a more informal setting for research discussions, it has grown to  include over 80 members, artists, technologists, scientists, in fact, a  growing diversity of people from different communities worldwide, that  are now connected via an online forum and discussion group. There are also regular meetings in ‘real space’ at the Ben Pimlott site  of Goldsmiths, University of London. Anyone can attend these events.  They are free, and in keeping them informal they allow for a more  diverse and open ended discourse for people who perhaps would not have  the opportunity to discuss ideas outside of their chosen discipline.

For more information on the Thursday Club check
http://www.goldsmiths.ac.uk/cccc/thursday-club.php
or email Maria X: drp01mc(at)gold(dot)ac(dot)uk


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Last update: Sept. 6, 2006.