Flow Painting

Inspired by Hiroshi Kawano’s assertion that “computer art should be the work of a computer artist, not a human,” ykxotkx has designed an algorithm that generates a painting independently of his own intention. In previous works, the artist has meticulously designed algorithms to realize an envisioned outcome, thereby stressing the human’s creative agency. However, for the exhibition Patterns of Flow, he placed emphasis on the computer’s creative autonomy instead.

In Flow Painting, the artist divided the program into two parts according to Kawano’s framework, comprising a control system (the “necessary conditions”) and a material component (“sufficient conditions”). The work’s composition is determined by a simple control algorithm that uses random numbers, recursive subdivision, and noise-based coordinate transformation. When drawing the objects based on this composition, the artist then applied his own selected color palette and textures to generate a painterly output that reflects his own personality and aesthetic sensibilities.