Compose styles
Rather than blending styles toward a middle, this gives them roles. The first one carries the structure, the next comes in as the accent, and anything after that shows up in a single detail. Where they fight each other, it says so before you start.
How to divide the work
- Composition
- Follow Generative Art: Seed and random range set, outputs laid side by side to inspect the spread
- Type
- Set in Generative Art's manner (Letters handled as coordinates and repetitions with the face itself fixed), and let Reaction–Diffusion's lettering (Place copy in low-density regions instead of eroding every letter with the pattern) appear only where you want the eye to catch.
- Material
- Ground in Generative Art's material (Lines assumed at a plotter's constant weight, tone made by overlap density); bring in exactly one thing from Reaction–Diffusion (Set reaction terms, diffusion rates, feed and kill rates, then iterate from a small perturbation).
- Colour
- Build on #fbfaea, #7a4ab8, #2c2e18 and admit one accent from #101B2E, #38C6A3, #F4E56B.
Where they fight
- Generative Art and Reaction–Diffusion are techniques rather than looks. Decide which one runs last in the process, because that is the one that will show.
Caution
- Generative Art A random range set too wide widens the gap between good and bad results and leaves a pile of output instead of a work.
- Reaction–Diffusion A hand-drawn animal print is not reaction-diffusion. Time and parameter changes must remain visible in the pattern.
Image prompt
Produce four original images that take their structure from Generative Art (technique, 1965-) and their accent from Reaction–Diffusion (technique, 1952–). ## What to make Make the kind of thing Generative Art exists for: letting a machine make identifiers or one-off tickets that must all differ, or exhibitions or works where designing the rule is what is on show. Choose one subject and hold it across all four. ## Structure comes from Generative Art - One simple element repeated to fill the field - Variants of a single rule shown side by side - Repetition drifting in angle and position - A density and precision no hand could reach Composition: Seed and random range set, outputs laid side by side to inspect the spread. Type and lettering: Letters handled as coordinates and repetitions with the face itself fixed. ## Accent comes from Reaction–Diffusion, used sparingly - Round spots dividing at even distances - Continuous curving maze stripes - Coral or cellular boundaries branching from edges - Self-organized marks of nearly constant thickness Let one material quality come from it: Set reaction terms, diffusion rates, feed and kill rates, then iterate from a small perturbation. ## Colour and feeling Build the ground on #fbfaea, carry the structure in #7a4ab8 and #2c2e18, and let a single accent come from #38C6A3. These are read off real works, so a direction rather than a fixed palette. Feeling to carry: technique, calm, play, futurity, exhilaration. ## Where they fight - Generative Art and Reaction–Diffusion are techniques rather than looks. Decide which one runs last in the process, because that is the one that will show. ## What goes wrong - Generative Art: A random range set too wide widens the gap between good and bad results and leaves a pile of output instead of a work. - Reaction–Diffusion: A hand-drawn animal print is not reaction-diffusion. Time and parameter changes must remain visible in the pattern. ## Across the four Keep the roles fixed in all four. Vary the framing, the scale and the arrangement so the set shows what this pairing can do rather than four versions of one picture. ## Constraints - Do not imitate, reference or name any specific artist, studio, brand, character or copyrighted work. - Do not reproduce the composition of an existing work. - Produce original compositions in the general period languages described above.
Related entries
- Generative Art 1965- / Technique / Digital Art
A way of working in which the maker writes only the rule and the randomness, leaving the drawing to the machine. As in Nees's plotter work, the result is shown as several variants born of one rule.
- Reaction–Diffusion 1952– / Technique / Computational Expression
Reaction-diffusion simulation lets substances react locally while spreading at different rates, self-organizing small disturbances into spots, stripes, mazes and coral-like patterns.
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