CONTEMPLATIVE
COMPUTATION
MFA Thesis Candidacy => {statement} {context} {critical-stance} {output-speculations}
Islamic Art <
7th Century >>
?
> Computational Art
1950s >>
7th Century >>
?
> Computational Art
1950s >>
Islamic and computational art at first glance might not seem to have any connection with each other, because of where each one originated, and the time gap between them. But at a closer look between the two, connections and similarities are found.
One connection is how both art forms are based on algorithms, systems, and mathematical formulas. And the term algorithms itself originated from the latinization of Al-Khwarizmi's name, the father of algebra.
The connection between the two came to my attention when this book was recommended to me: Enfoldment and Infinity by Laura U. Marks, which follows the Islamic genealogy of new media art, and traces the strong similarities, visual and philosophical, between these two kinds of art.
One connection is how both art forms are based on algorithms, systems, and mathematical formulas. And the term algorithms itself originated from the latinization of Al-Khwarizmi's name, the father of algebra.
The connection between the two came to my attention when this book was recommended to me: Enfoldment and Infinity by Laura U. Marks, which follows the Islamic genealogy of new media art, and traces the strong similarities, visual and philosophical, between these two kinds of art.
Islamic Art <
enfoldment and infinity by laura u. marks
> Computational Art
*this video shares a excerpt from the book that highlights a few of the similarities, as a voice over John Whitney’s computational animation film “Arabesque” from 1975
enfoldment and infinity by laura u. marks
> Computational Art
*this video shares a excerpt from the book that highlights a few of the similarities, as a voice over John Whitney’s computational animation film “Arabesque” from 1975
Comparing the Arts
Laura identifies three main connections; image, information and the infinite:
Laura identifies three main connections; image, information and the infinite:
> Image being the art we perceive
> Information is the underlying cause and structure;
such as the code in computational art, and mathematical/geometric grids in islamic arts.
> and the Infinite, is the source, inspiration, or root;
such as the infinite generations/possibilities within code,
and within Islam, the art is inspired and stems from reflecting on the infinite knowledge and power of Allah swt
> Information is the underlying cause and structure;
such as the code in computational art, and mathematical/geometric grids in islamic arts.
> and the Infinite, is the source, inspiration, or root;
such as the infinite generations/possibilities within code,
and within Islam, the art is inspired and stems from reflecting on the infinite knowledge and power of Allah swt
*islamic arts: drawings by mirza akbar, al- 'attarir madrasa in fez, dome ceiling of jame’ mosque of yazd iran, muqarnas in alhambra
*compuational arts: fortran statement punch card, ortran explor code example by ken knowlton, pixillation by lillian schwartz and ken knowlton, theory of relativity by eduardo paolozzi, hemisphere by langheinrich, vega-köntösh by victor vasarely