Creative coding

A heavily modified version of the classic 1980's computergame Breakout produces visually interesting glitches.

Creative coding is a type of computer programming in which the goal is to create something expressive instead of something functional. It is used to create live visuals and for VJing, as well as creating visual art and design, art installations, projections and projection mapping, sound art, advertising, product prototypes, and much more.

History

Using programming to create art is a practice that started in the 1960s. In later decades groups such as Compos 68 successfully explored programing for artistic purposes, having their work exhibited in international exhibitions. From the 80s onward expert programmers joined the 'Demoscene', and tested their skills against each other by creating "demos": highly technically competent visual creations.

Recent exhibitions and books, including Dominic Lopes' A Philosophy of Computer Art(2009) have sought to examine the integral role of coding in contemporary art beyond that of Human Computer Interface (HCI). Criticising Lopes however, Juliff and Cox argue that Lopes continues to privilege interface and user at the expense of the integral condition of code in much computer art. Arguing for a more nuanced appreciation of coding, Juliff and Cox set out contemporary creative coding as the examination of code and intentionality as integral to the users understanding of the work. [ibid.]

Currently there is a renewed interest in the question why programming as a method of producing art hasn't flourished. Google has renewed interest with their Dev Art initiative, but this in turn has elicited strong reactions from the a number of creative coders who claim that coining a new term to describe their practice is counterproductive.

Tools

A number of libraries have been created that aid in the rapid prototyping and development of these works. There are libraries for various functionalities, such as computer vision, as well as motion detection devices such as the Microsoft Kinect camera and Leap Motion. Popular larger toolkits that are used (and often created by) creative coders are:

• Processing
• openFrameworks
• Cinder
• Vvvv
• Pure Data
• Max MSP
• GNU Octave
• TouchDesigner

Gatherings

Two of the largest festivals in which creative coders gather and discuss their work are EyeO in the United States, and Resonate in Europe. Smaller festivals and meetups are organised all over the world, e.g. NODE Forum for Digital Arts in Frankfurt/Germany by the community around vvvv.

External links

• The Art of Creative Coding Video produced by Off Book (web series)
• Creative Application Network, a website that showcases new work
• Dev Art - Art made with Code, a project by Google
• CreativeCode.io, an education initiative of GrayArea.org
• push.conference is a series of events and workshops aiming to unite Creative Coders & User Experience Designers
• oF COURSE is a creative coding program to give both hardcore coders and designers with no programming experience the hands on experience,tools, ideas, and full support for making their own stunning projects.
• http://natureofcode.com/book/ is an exploration of natural phenomena in code. An introduction to Processing and coding as a 'second semester class'. It teaches an intuitive approach to coding through real world experience. Nature of Code Free Online Class

References

• Maeda, John (Jan 1, 2004), Creative Code: Aesthetics + Computation (1st ed.), Thames & Hudson, Limited, p. 239, ISBN 0500285179
• Greenberg, Ira (May 28, 2007), Processing: Creative Coding and Computational Art (Foundation) (1st ed.), friends of ED, p. 840, ISBN 1-59059-617-X