Programming Art

By Sergio Grande Hortigüela

Have you ever thought about the meaning of art? It is difficult to define something you create with your feelings in an attempt to express yourself to the rest of the world. You can do this in many ways. You can create sculptures, paint, build, dance or use many other ways of expression. But have you ever considered making art with a computer?

Last Monday, a group of teens from IES Príncipe Felipe , including myself, were offered to go on a trip to the International Institute in Madrid (link below). This building was originally built to make it easier for women in Spain to study. The building was funded by Alice Gordon Gluik, an American woman concerned about the problems women were facing in Spain the 19th century. Now, the International Institute offers a wide range of activities and even hosts an internship program for American students.

Group in the entrance of the International Institute 

The activity we were invited to was presented by Olivia Jack, an American artist specialized in live art programming. This consists in programming your own art in front of an audience while you expose the code you are using. This is similar to the performances that musicians give, but using a computer instead of an instrument. Jack introduced and taught us some basic coding for a platform called HYDRA mostly used to make artistic patterns. We were then left some time to start programming our own patterns, and we were able to transform them according to the outside stimuli using input devices such as the computer webcam.

Student programming a pattern being changed by the camera with HYDRA

Although you can find plenty of creators who are really experienced at live art programming, some people argue that programming art is not possible. They defend that art is the expression of our emotions and it can only be transmitted through poetry, dance, painting or sculpture. This doesn’t include other methods such as coding or other bizarre forms. In fact, I shared their point of view before participating in this experience; I only considered art those paintings or sculptures that transmitted some emotion. As I had never given electronic music a try, I didn’t know how it worked so I defended coding art is impossible not because I didn’t like it, but for complete ignorance. However, since I took part in this experience, I’ve made up my mind about live art programming. I’ve found it an efficient way of conveying artists’ emotions, as well as a great hobby.

So, readers, what do you think about coding as an art?

Please, share your comments below.

For more information, visit the International Institute website: https://www.iie.es/