Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 9
Computer Programming in the Creative Arts
Alex McLean and Geraint Wiggins
Abstract
Computer programming is central to the digital arts, and is a compara-
tively new creative activity. We take an anthropocentric view of computer program-
ming in the arts, examining how the creative process has been extended to include
the authorship and execution of algorithms. The role of human perception in this
process is a focus, contrasted and ultimately combined with a more usual linguis-
tic view of programming. Practical impacts on the notation of programs in the arts
are highlighted, both in terms of space and time, marking out this new domain for
programming language design.
9.1 Introduction
Computer programming for the arts is a subject laden with misconceptions and far-
flung claims. The perennial question of
authorship
is always with us: if a computer
program outputs art, who has made it, the human or the machine? Positions on cre-
ativity through computer programming tend towards opposite poles, with outright
denials at one end and outlandish claims at the other. The present contribution looks
for clarity through a human-centric view of programming as a key activity behind
computer art. We view the artist-programmer as engaged in an inner human relation-
ship between perception, cognition and computation, and relate this to the notation
and operation of their algorithms.
The history of computation is embedded in the history of humankind. Compu-
tation did not arrive with the machine: it is something that humans do. We did not
invent computers: we invented machines to help us compute. Indeed, before the ar-
rival of mechanical computers, “
computer
” was a job title for a human employed
