Random-Oriented Morphology in Generative Art: Virtual Sculptures Formed and Composed Using Random Factors

1-1 Random Expression in Art

The artistic application of randomness has been historically evident, leaving traces in various places, including rock paintings like Cueva de Las Manos dating back around 9,000 years [1]. Art historically, Dadaists represented by Marcel Duchamp and Jean Arp declared chance as a tool of artistic expression and experimented with the possibilities of random expression through their art [2]. In Jackson Pollock's Action Painting, the generated random effects infuse the paintings with vitality and liveliness. Although his actions may appear spontaneous and unconscious, Pollock explains that every aspect was controlled [3]. Font Flurry, designed by Peter Kin-Fan Lo, is an experimental typography drawn randomly with multiple layers in a state of unconsciousness. Compared to traditional typography styles, it appears unpredictable and brimming with vitality [4]. We enjoy using random expressions as forms of style and beauty in our everyday life, ranging from painterly expressions like brushstroke, dripping and overlapping to ink smudging effects seen in Eastern paintings, and even torn jeans.

1-2 Aesthetic Motivation

Not limited to natural occurrences, all the human activities including the creation of artwork also possess random factors. Random technique is widely used in many areas like art, statistics, biological systems, and information security [5]. The accidental outcome is sometimes beyond one’s expectation as shown in Fall (Fig. 1). This work portrays the nostalgia and spirit of a Fall. A circle formed by cylindrical rods under the sphere symbolizing a moon, is transforming to a cubic lattice structure encapsulating the moon. The compositional beauty of cylindrical rods with the random arrangement is the visual highlight of the work that was accidentally generated in the process of transitional animation. After this incident, the randomness has always been the focus in author’s artwork production and intended to be employed from the initial step of the work.

Fig. 1.

Jin-Hee Kim, Fall, 3D animation, 1995. Cylindrical rods are in the middle of transformation, showing a random arrangement.

1-3 Propose of Study

Several decades ago, Fred L. Whipple introduced the probabilistic approach to painting and his thoughts in his paper as follows [6]. "Stochastic paintings are those in which shapes and/or colors are structured randomly. A stochastic painting must be based on a set of rules governing the nature of the randomness. Thus, stochastic painting does involve creativity and self-expression. Stochastic painting can be fun because the outcome of a specific set of rules is so unpredictable."

In recent article, L. Alvarez et al. presented research on Aesthetic Abstract Textures (AAT) as a platform for artists and designers to generate new images without the need for programming skills [7]. AAT allows users to interact with parameters to reproduce the forms and composition principles used in abstract painting or experiment with random combinations based on shape, composition, and rendering rules, enabling the creation of artworks in new styles. And random elements are utilized within a complex structure composed of multiple layers in the tree hierarchy, allowing for interactions with other elements.

In this study, random elements are more decisively and directly involved in the process of image formation. In the case of AAT, random is applied to images and form motif selected by a user and random factors modify and transform form and image secondarily. On the other hand, in this study, the user directly forms the shape or image by utilizing random elements without referencing any other visual elements. Although the random effect is not expressed in relation to visual elements from external sources, it is designed to interact with internally defined geometric forms and concepts.

Fred L. Whipple introduced an approach similar to this study in his 1968 paper [6]. As seen in his work 'Clarissa (1966), Stochastic Painting,' random elements are combined with the sequential execution of image formation rules, allowing randomness to be directly and primarily involved in the formation of shapes.

In the oil painting "Untitled (2010)," created through the collaboration of Harold Cohen and AARON, random elements also play a primary and direct role in shaping forms and images. AARON is an Artificial Intelligence program created by Harold Cohen (1928–2016), and according to Louise Sundararajan in her recent paper [8], Cohen regarded AARON as a collaborator, communicating with it throughout the creative process.

These two examples are similar to this study in that random elements are directly and primarily involved in forming shapes and images. However, in these two cases, a single action with randomness is implemented physically in a way that makes the physical modification of the image impossible. In contrast, in this study, the image is implemented by iteratively performing random variations interactively, allowing for computer-processed modifications and adjustments to the image, unlike the two previous examples. In other words, this study aims to derive the best result (within a limited range) that is randomly created by repeatedly executing commands with random variations (within a certain range). And in this research, the artist's utilization of computer language, including probabilistic, repetitive, and interactive technique, to create own artworks is introduced. Through this, a methodology emphasizing the artist's closer and customized involvement in the creative process of generative art is proposed.

2-1 Creation Principle

In author’s artistic viewpoint, 'random aesthetics' is a very essential part. Things created by chance can be more harmonious than intentionally created ones. In the creative process, a random approach has a higher potential to provide the foundation for works that surpass the limitations of our conventional thinking. In fact, the essential nature of art is intentional artifacts rather than natural ones, and it can be considered as the deliberate combination of any form and color. On the contrary, the characteristic of randomness is a representation closer to natural phenomena. Therefore the randomness was actively utilized, but it is done within a deliberate and structured framework with limited boundaries. The deliberate selection and composition of patterns and colors, as artificial elements, intertwine with random factors in the process of creating the artwork. Visually reinforced morphology is created by actively utilizing random factors within a purposely defined range.

2-2 Production Principle

In the art making process random variations in form and pattern are considered from the early stages of the process and establish a set of rules. Based on these rules, when the image is sequentially composed, all visual elements are randomized. In addition, the interactive nature of computer processes and the ability for infinite production to contribute to the creative improvement of artworks have been used. The random process created based on a set of rules were repeated to generate numerous outcomes with various details. As Whipple pointed out, author's expression is included in a set of rules for image formation. The visual conception of each individual work includes expression. The creation of the work is developed sequentially, and various decisions, including the range of randomness applied at every step, are part of the process of expression. The application of random expression and the range of its variation are set differently depending on the characteristics and progress stages of each work, serving to enhance its aesthetic aspects. To ensure meticulous adjustments, the step-by-step process is conducted in an interactive manner. All these decisions are intentional processes and methods of expression. The relationship between the aesthetic elements and random expressions of each work is explored in detail in the 'Ⅴ. Case Reviews: Random Oriented Morphology' section. It explains how the unique forms and intention can be strengthened by using the random effect in actual artworks.

3-1 Randomized Forms

Random factors promote deformation to various three dimensional forms. Arbitrary expressions are essential elements in constructing basic geometric objects such as cubes, spheres, cylinders, and pyramids of author’s artwork. Thus the random factor is considered from the beginning stage of the creating process. For example, two objects of (a) and (b) in Fig. 2 have different 3D-forms and details, even though they are generated from the identical algorithm. The 3D-form of hexahedron itself are determined by arranging the imaginary position of 8 vertexes of a hexahedron in random within an observable range. The details are settled by arranging position, length, and thickness of lines (looks like lines, though, but actually they are thin polygons) randomly on 6 imaginary planes of a hexahedron.

Fig. 2.

Two different 3D-forms are shown in detail as (a) and (b). They are generated from an identical algorithm.

3-2 Randomized Composition

The random function is used to assemble the whole composition of algorithmic artwork. The majority of author’s works are produced by imagining the configuration of abstract images based upon simple geometric forms such as spheres, cubes, and cylinders. Therefore, they are not depicted but rather configured to upper-level forms using essential lower-level constituents [10]. In this configuration process, the random manipulations are involved. In Fig.3 the positions of spheres are maneuvered by random numbers to get an unexpected composition. In this piece the composition of entire work is defined by the positions and the sizes of seven spheres. In each execution the spheres will be moved to random positions within an intended range. As a result, it shows the two different version of compositions of (a) and (b) in Fig. 3 according to random variation that are generated from the identical algorithm. Fig. 3 where the composition of artwork is determined in real time using random factors can be contrasted to Fig. 4 where the overall specific composition is fixed in advance and only details are produced in real time.

Fig. 3.

Two different compositions are shown as (a) and (b) which are generated from an identical source.

Fig. 4.

Jin-Hee Kim, Mount #3, Virtual Sculpture, 2019. An example of a pre-fixed composition.

4-1 Randomized RGB Color Expression

In computer system, the color is expressed as RGB tripet (r, g, b) and each component value is an integer in the range of 0 to 255 that 8-bit byte can offer. Instead of fixed numbers, the random numbers are combined in the RGB numbers. In specific, each number of R, G, and B components is limited to a narrow range for specialized color formulation rather than full range of 0 to 255. After randomly picking the number within the limitation, we use the randomized R, G, and B numbers as a combination of RGB color in the repetition process of algorithm. The example of compact description is shown as below.

4-2 Randomized Mapping

In the case of thousands of small components gathered to form an object as a whole, author applies an image map randomly picked among many to each component instead of a fixed map in the repeat process. In recent works the maps are randomly assigned to thousands of thin polygons and the partially cropped resultant images are shown in Fig. 5.

Fig. 5.

Each color sample is brought from individual works, showing randomly mixed colors.

5-1 Population Explosion, 2009

The change in human population throughout history is simulated as a virtual sculpture, shown in Population Explosion (Fig. 6). The work is produced by employing the historical human population data of International Data Base (IDB) from BC to the present. The IDB was developed by the U.S. Census Bureau to provide demographic information around the world needed for research, program planning, and policy-making decisions, in the U.S. and globally [13]. The provided data utilize historical estimates of population. The change is mainly due to the explosive quantitative increase in the population, and thus the virtual sculpture shows the accelerative tendency as approaching to the present. Visual effects were sophisticated and emphasized by random factors. Spheres, denoting a million people, are randomly spread within the invisible circular planes (disks) that are chronologically separated. The overall shape of this sculpture is coordinated by the intervals between virtual disks and their sizes. The number of spheres is directly proportional to the population data, while the size of disk was modulated to provide the aesthetic to the whole figure and to emphasize the feeling of ‘explosion.’ The spheres are randomly placed on invisible disks, and as a result, the visual effects are meticulously rendered by random elements to evoke the feeling of a starry night sky [14].

Fig. 6.

Jin-Hee Kim, Population Explosion, Virtual Sculpture, 2009. Visual effects are sophisticated by random factors causing feeling of stars.

5-2 Cylinder, 2015

The three-dimensional geometric shape, cylinder, which everyone knows, became more special using a random factor. This common structure is reinforced by random morphology as shown in Cylinder (Fig. 7). Randomly scattered numberless thin polygons reflecting natural objects like bushes or grasses floating on water are building a formal form, a cylinder. The three-dimensional sense is expressed solely by random arrangement of a number of thin polygon meshes at the invisible cylindrical surface. Random, a naturally occurring factor, is combined with a formal geometric artificial feature. The length, thickness, and position of a polygon are modulated into many variations using a random function within the intended range. The numberless objects are irregularly aggregated, but at the same time precisely arranged at the surface of a regular cylinder. The randomly arranged elements that construct a porous cylinder are reinforcing the cohesion of an object, cylinder. This is identical to that an irregularly tangled skein appears to be more cohesive than a regularly wound lump of thread. Also, distinctively dissimilar details are produced at each execution and the random expression represents the main visual characteristic of this artwork.

Fig. 7.

Jin-Hee Kim, Cylinder, Virtual Sculpture, 2015. Distinctive details produced by random factors present the main visual characteristics.

5-3 Rainbow #1, 2020

The interactive creation methods were applied to the production of artwork as shown in Rainbow #1 (Fig. 8). At the first stage the composition was examined by the progressive build-up solution. First, seven cubes are piled up from bottom to top with some regulations. However, in this procedure, the composition is settled with considerable random variations of size, position, ratio, and orientation of cubes. This process was repeated until a satisfactory result comes out. If a result seems meaningful or if it inspires something and looks aesthetic, then usually stops there and adjusts the spheres interactively to finalize and fix the composition. In the case of Rainbow #1 it reminds a rainbow. At the second stage, thousands of lines (thin polygons) were connected from the surface of the nth cube (from the bottom) to the surface of (n+1)th and (n+2)th cubes. Although starting and finishing points of the lines are limited to the surface of cubes, the positions are random within it, suggesting the contrast of regularity and irregularity. Random threads of a cobweb make the composition dense, unify the objectivity, and show different details. The overall color tone (rainbow pastel tone in Rainbow #1) and the color variation patterns are determined in advance. The image maps that will be applied to the meshes themselves already have thematically varied colors in their pixels. Also, because the map that is randomly picked among the several ones instead of a fixed one is applied to each thin mesh, a different hue of color is generated at each execution, providing the audience a slightly different impression of each piece. The work flow of Rainbow #1 is presented in Fig. 9.

Fig. 8.

Jin-Hee Kim, Rainbow #1, Virtual Sculpture, 2020. The numberless lines, randomly connecting cubes, are reinforcing overall morphology.

Fig. 9.

The work flow of Rainbow #1