Author Description

"Computers are capable of an unimaginably greater number of things than any specific piece of software might lead one to believe. I believe individual artists should dictate the possibilities of their chosen media and not some big companies like Adobe and Macromedia" Golan Levin Tools can control as well as serve. Across the web, pioneering artists and designers are recognising the exhilarating freedom and unparalleled control offered by programming. The 4x4 Project invited four influential and respected artists renowned for their stunning experiments with code and art, to work together on the theme of Life and Oblivion. The 4 authors Golan Levin, Adrian Ward, meta and lia have been responsible for some of the most ground breaking and influential sites on the web. 4x4 Generative Design requires no prior knowledge of programming, only an appetite to control your own creativity. The four authors provide the inspiration and information to allow you to create and to generate using different programming languages including: Java, DBN, Auto-Illustrator, Lingo, MAX and Nato. The point is not to follow or to replicate but to mutate, transform, hack and move on. This book and the accompanying web site immerse you in the four phases of the 4x4 process: Theory: personal accounts of the creative process, manifestos, diaries, mental sketchbooks, and associated ephemera Life and Oblivion: access to the finished applications online, and artwork from the pieces presented in the book Process: detailed, firsthand, technical descriptions of the creation of each piece, along with relevant source files on the web site Noise and Interference: the four authors discuss the project and mechanically reclaim each other's works creating beautiful and arbitrary hybrids This book is one of a set of four which explores the creation of original Photoshop artwork. If you feel strongly about the work you see here, there is a forum on friendsofED.com where you can