code as art
I wrote this in response to the following question on the opensource mailing list:
Just want some opinions on a couple questions. Sincel iterature and other forms of writing are copyrighteds hould code be? To take it further forms of writing can be though of as art, does or can computer code be considered art?
I would argue that code is art, and that the artistic nature of code lies within the algorithm as well as the elegance of implementation. To appreciate code as art, I think it's first important to realize that typical feats of engineering, design, architecture, or any sort of utilitarian object can be appreciated as art. Now, the question of whether having something displayed in an art museum makes something art is open to a great deal of debate, but I think that it's certainly an affirmation that a work at least has some artistic qualities. So, go to any art museum and one is sure to find numerous instances of objects, which initially had a great deal of utilitarian value (ceramics, armor, tools, etc), now appreciated as art. Similarly, take something like a Frank Llyod Wright building. I'd really like someone to argue that doesn't at least approach art. I think the last example is particularly interesting because with Wright's architecture, the form is completely inseperable from the function. That is, rather than the artistic qualities being simply adornments to a utilitarian central theme, the artistic elements are the central theme, from which the utility follows.
So, I think that code can be considered art. Let's take a pretty easy example. Last year at the Wexner center, they had a clock which was synchronized with satellites and displayed images of human faces for the hour, minute, and second places of the digital clock. Obviously for the art to exist, it requires the use of some sort of programmed code. It is important to make the distinction between this sort of art, where the executable code is essential to the work as a whole, and computer-generated art such as the latest pixar movie or one of Csuri's works. In these cases, the art is a by-product of code, rather than the art being inexorably linked with running code.
So where does this leave source code? I would argue, that if one accepts that the image clock example represents code as art, then source code must also be art. Since running code is just a transformation of the source code (that is, the essential quality, the algorithm is preserved), the source code has all of the artistic qualities of the executing code. This follows the argument, that I agree with at least, that a print of a famous painting still constitutes art since it captures the essential quality of the artwork. The fact that it is viewed with some extra levels of indirection is inconsequential. To argue that source code is not art, because it is just a string of ASCII text would be like arguing that a work of "real" art is not art because it cannot be perceived by all viewers in the same manner. Certainly a computer programmer, viewing someone's source code, could gain a reasonable perception of it's manifistation when viewed through multiple levels of indirection (e.g. compiled, linked, loaded, and executed). Another good example of my claim is HTML. One can generate some visual objects which, I would argue could easily qualify as art. However, if one actually wanted to obtain the work of art itself, one would receive an ASCII text file. I think one could argue successfully that the artistic properties of the work are inherent to the ASCII file, whether it is viewed in a text editor, or interpretted by a web browser.
posted by geoff on 1/24/2002 09:46:55 AM
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webcam
I don't have internet access at my flat, so my real-time webcam isn't running. However, I wrote a perl script to upload archived webcam images to the web server so one can see snapshots of me from the last 24 hours. Check it out here.
posted by geoff on 1/24/2002 09:30:55 AM
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city run
Originally written on 20.01.2002.
I went for a run this morning, the first time since I've been in Scotland. It was a pretty nice day when I walked out the door, it wasn't too cold, and the sun was *gasp* shining. However, by the time I hit Dalkeith road, the wind was picking up pretty hard. I ran past the community pool, and the university dorms to a huge set of hills/cliffs just outside of the center city called Arthur's Seat (I think). These things are enormous and imposing. Looking across the city skyline, one can't help but see them in the horizon. Well, by the time I was at the cliffs, my run had turned into a hike, but hey, the hill was steep. As I climbed the path, gulls circling overhead, I got an amazing view of the city and got a really good idea of how big the city is. Hey! I can see my house from here. My house as well as the football stadium, the castle, the big domed building by Bristo square, and way off in the distance, the Firth of Forth. When I came down from the hill, I ran through the streets of town, still sparsely populated on the Sunday morning. I headed west on the Cowsgate, before cutting back towards my flat through the meadows, this big grassy park in the middle of Edinburgh. It was a good run, and a good way to see the city.
posted by geoff on 1/21/2002 08:23:17 AM
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boys of the lough
Originally written on 20.01.2002.
First an art gallery. Then a concert of Celtic traditional music. How much culture can a kid take. Last night, I went to a concert by the band Boys of the Lough. As I mentioned before, they play a selection of Scottish and Irish traditional music. Sort of along the lines of bands like the Chieftans. They've got the full lineup - mandolin, fiddle, pipe, accordian, guitar, and cello and they masterfully blend these instruments through reel, jig, and walking song (though my undiscerning ears can't make out the difference). Traditional music isn't really my thing, but they were super talented and I enjoyed hearing about the history behind some of the selections. At times, they seemed a bit too professional and calculated, like the music definitely belonged at a crowded concert hall instead of a country dance. There were some definite high points, though. At a couple of points during the concert, the boys brought on an older female vocalist who sang both a cappella as well as accompanied by the band. She was singing songs that she had been singing her whole life and was visibly moved to sing them once again in front of the eager audience. Earlier that evening, I was watching this show called "Pop Idols" on television. The premise of the show is that teenaged crooners compete against each other on national TV for a spot at a big time record contract. This week they were singing big band standards, and for the most part, they sucked. Watching this older woman made me think about the persistence of traditional music. There she was, singing songs that were hundreds of years old. The pop kids might have their 15 minutes on the television, singing their little hearts out in cheesy, radio ready voices, but will their songs fill concert halls in 300 years?
posted by geoff on 1/21/2002 08:21:26 AM
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van meene
This was originally written Saturday, 19.01.2002
Ok, go dig out your copy of Weezer's Pinkerton. That's right, you, cool guy. I know you've got one. Now put on "Across the Sea" (which consequently is the best damn Weezer song ever) and set your CD player to repeat. That song will be the soundtrack for this journal entry. Why, you ask? (Other than the fact that it's the best damn Weezer song ever). Today I headed down to the
Her work is often met with some controversy. This is due to the eroticism sometimes exhibited in the photographs. For instance, in one of the photographs in the Japan series, a girl wearing only a bra (a news clipping at the gallery noted that the model was actually 24 and that she was glad below the waist) is slouched over the edge of her bed. In another, the faint outline of a nipple can be seen through a girl's shirt. In other photographs, which we saw in a book of Van Meene's early work, girls are shown topless. So, some children's protection groups claim that the photographs are exploitative at best, and pornographic at worst. Having seen some of the photographs, I'm inclined to disagree. As one news clipping noted, it is odd that our culture accepts Britney Spears and her hyper-sexualized flirtations displayed everywhere, but balks at artistic portrayals of youth which allude to some sexuality. Indeed, it seems we as a culture are able to accept the idea that it is okay for Britney to bounce and jiggle in the spotlight for the sake of commercialism and pop-culture, somehow appeased by her vows of chastity, while we are made very uncomfortable about honest, intimate peeks at the sexuality of youth, particularly young girls. I admit it, the idea even makes me uncomfortable. But it shouldn't. The antidote, I think, to reckless, cheap sexuality isn't to censor or block out every erotic reference. The only way that sexuality can be redefined is by forcing it to be personalized rather than forcing it to conform to a single culturally-accepted aesthetic. I think that Van Meene's photographs, which are sometimes erotic, but definitely not pornographic, do not so much entice the viewer with the cliches of beauty magazine culture, as give the viewer an occasional peek into the secret world of the budding sexuality of these girls.
The photographs in the Japan Series are quite good in general, and seem to share a common theme. In most photographs, the eyes of the subject are either closed or averted. This is an interesting effect which is particularly evident in one photograph of a young girl leaning against a door. Her dyed-blond, wig-like hair and garish makeup, to me, seem to allude to the cultural iconography of the Geisha, and seem to suggest that she wants to be noticed. However, under the scrutiny of the camera, she looks away. I think this captures perfectly the contrast between the shyness and the craving of attention that is so linked with adolescence. To contrast that photo is a photograph of two very young girls. One looks directly at the camera and both seem to be posing, hamming it up for the camera. This boldness of youth is a great comparison to the timidity of the young girls' older counterparts. In another photograph, a girl, clad from the waist up only in a bra, is slouched, seemingly uncomfortably, over the edge of her bed. Indeed, many of the subjects in this series seem to slouch, crouch, or hang within the picture frame. Again, I think a really great snapshot of the awkwardness of adolescence.
The backgrounds of Van Meene's photographs are notable as well. They are often simple, and represent the everyday environment of the photographs' subjects. In one photograph, the series' seeming signature piece, placed at the entrance to an exhibit, the background is filled with a tree sprouting many white blossoms. In the foreground is a teenaged girl, clad in a pure white overcoat. The white blossoms and the white coat seem to denote a metaphor, perhaps unintentional. As the flowers on the tree begin to blossom, so does the girl blossom from childhood to adulthood.
posted by geoff on 1/21/2002 08:11:10 AM
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out and about
This was originally written on 12.01.2002
A late night of Mariokart and sober onlooking of drunken antics left me pretty tired and I slept in until 10. I worked on entering some class notes into the computer and then went to fix some breakfast. When I entered the common room, Iain was there. He mentioned that he was headed for the local skate shop and asked if I wanted to go along. Of course I did, so after watching "The Family Guy" and playing a few more games of Mariokart, we went out. It was pretty cool to see some other parts of the center city that I wasn't familiar with. As we passed Bristo square, the throngs of skate kids made me think that it would be a good day for a skate. Iain agreed, and we headed on to the skate shop, stopping first at Avalanche, one of a chain of
independent record stores in Edinburgh. There are like 5 of these stores in a very small geographic area. The Edinburgh kids are quite lucky. Though some American staples are un-represented, there was still a really decent selection of independent, punk, emo, and hardcore records. We went to the board shop which had a ton of snowboard and skateboard gear and apparel. Unfortunately, I'm flat broke so I couldn't partake. After that, Iain took me to a street which he dubbed "Nu-metal Alley". The moniker was pretty appropriate with young kids decked out in baggy jeans with stripes, piercing, and backwards red caps everywhere. In some ways, it's sad, but in other ways, it's cool. Edinburgh seems to have tons of places where kids can just hang out, unaccosted. That's rad. I wish I could have just run around the city when I was younger rather than roaming surreptitiously from skate spot to skate spot or chilling outside of the Uni Mart or Taco Bell. "Nu-metal Alley" had a bunch of shops including a cheesy skate shop, a metal/goth apparel store, a slightly more mainstream record store, and a really cool and pretty inexpensive poster store. Edinburgh doesn't have the best live music scene but the shopping can't be beat. Why am I cooler than Tim and Peter? Well, I have a Weezer poster drawn by none other than Adrian Tomine (of Optic Nerve fame). It was growing late, and the light was fading, as is common around 3:30 in these northern parts of the hemisphere. I convinced Iain to come for a skate, despite his protests about an essay due on Monday. When we got there, it was packed with kids. A couple of really talented kids, and a ton of lurkers. It was like a crowded skate park-completely impossible to get a line. It was too much for Iain to deal with all the kids, but I took a few runs. On the way home from the square, I ran into Timothy, the kid I met at the orientation a week ago. He gave me his new phone number and I told him I'd give him a call about going to see Cave-In in Glasgow on Monday. I love running into kids on the street! There's no better way to feel like you actually live somewhere. The day was made complete when Iain offered to give me his spare mobile phone for the duration of my stay here. All I had to do was pay for the phone cards (evidently pay-as-you-go, or pre-pay as it's called in the states is pretty common here). Awesome! What a guy! So, I'm starting, albeit slowly, to ascend from luddite hell.
posted by geoff on 1/21/2002 07:57:08 AM
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dirty birds
Originally written 12.01.2002
Ok, so British and Scottish drinking culture seems really, really pervasive. Some of these kids can really take in the alcohol as well. Take for instance my flatmate Iain. He is quite a big fellow, so I guess I shouldn't have been surprised last night when he managed to drink more than 3 liters of some inexpensive cider alcoholic beverage. Well, by the time he was past his first liter, he was properly pissed. Not only that, but he was talking incessantly about doing his hair so he could "pull a dirty bird" at some club in Edinburgh called Opium which sort of caters to the alternative, nu-metal crowd. Apparently, the dirty birds really go for a unique haircut. Another flatmate, Marco, and I first gave Iain an astro-boy type doo, but that wouldn't do it. Neither would the Sum-41-lead-singer-esque style that we tried next. Only liberty spikes would do. This seemed to be a point of particular anxiety, and after a bout of uncharacteristic whining, we helped him put his hair into liberty spikes. He did the front, and did a pretty good job (evidently, he's spent hours on this in the past), while Marco and I did a slightly less than stellar job on the back. Even still, it was good enough to pull a dirty bird. Okay, so to clarify (because initially, I was probably about as confused as anyone reading this is now), a dirty bird is sort of a dirty girl. Yeah, and I thought the whole "bird" thing was just a stereotype. Apparently it's a full fledged member of the lexicon. So, I asked, how do you identify a dirty bird? Apparently, said Iain, a dirty bird is a girl who's ready for anything, anywhere. And how do you tell that? How to avoid mistaking a non-dirty bird for her fouler sister? Well, I guess the strategic placement of hands during the club experience serves as a means for dirty birds to make themselves known to potential mates. As for the term "pull", I thought it better not to ask for the details. I assume it has the ambiguous connotation somewhere between the phrases "hook up" and "score" in the American vernacular. Iain insisted that with his well coiffed appearance he would easily pull a dirty bird (which is a fairly easy task to begin with) and that he would be sure to make her scream "Geoff!" in a coital exclamation. Gladly, an altercation at the club and subsequent ejection from said club foiled any passionate midnight utterances of my forname. All of this spectacle was pretty amusing, but I also found it a bit unnerving. Sure, it's all between consenting adults, and, as I was told, it's not like it's unprotected. Still, such a primal, frivolous exchange of human sexuality seems a bit cheap and seems like it perpetuates the objectification of women. People can argue that the objectification is mutual, and therefore, no harm, and no foul. Perhaps things are different in the UK. It has been my observation, however, that the pressure to gain acknowledgement and validation through sexuality, is far greater for young women for young men. For young men, it's recreation, an extracurricular collegiate activity that doesn't go on the resume. But for young women, it seems like society has placed some artificial, added, significance to the acceptance of one as a sexual partner. Exploiting that inequality, even ignorantly, seems somehow wrong. So, at least for me, I'll leave the dirty birds for someone else.
A bit of an update, it seems that I got the totally wrong impression from Iain's drunken rantings. I don't think he was really intent on scoring a bird, he was just talking shit, which, except for maybe Pete, is the official pasttime of 29/5 Sciennes
posted by geoff on 1/21/2002 07:43:08 AM
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