Randomness
From Maze
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Quickly, in a paragraph or two, summarize the power of randomness in computational and aesthetic realms. | Quickly, in a paragraph or two, summarize the power of randomness in computational and aesthetic realms. | ||
===II. Randomness and Aesthetics, Pre-Computing=== | ===II. Randomness and Aesthetics, Pre-Computing=== | ||
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The role of randomness in creating patterns and designs, using analog methods of random generation. Burroughs and Cage will figure prominently here, but there are earlier examples, most notably, the 18th century Dominican priest Sebastien Truchet, whose randomly generated Truchet patterns eerily prefigure that pattern produced by 10 PRINT. | The role of randomness in creating patterns and designs, using analog methods of random generation. Burroughs and Cage will figure prominently here, but there are earlier examples, most notably, the 18th century Dominican priest Sebastien Truchet, whose randomly generated Truchet patterns eerily prefigure that pattern produced by 10 PRINT. | ||
Chance can mean the free association works of the surrealists (automatism) or allowing things to happen (paint to drip). It can also be a more strict/technical definition of 'random'. | Chance can mean the free association works of the surrealists (automatism) or allowing things to happen (paint to drip). It can also be a more strict/technical definition of 'random'. | ||
| − | As observant creatures, we remember and perceive, combing through one another's experiences and stories to thrive. In the process of acquiring that culture, randomness is a manifestation of surprise. That is how it so effectively accesses our emotions. | + | When scientific predictions are made, such as whether a meteor will destroy the planet, or whether a new drug will help people, surveys are made, and noise, or random events must be separated. |
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| + | As observant creatures, we remember and perceive, combing through each others' experiences and stories to thrive. In the process of acquiring that culture, randomness often causes surprise, which is how it so effectively accesses our emotions. | ||
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| + | Randomness heightens every other emotion, because, like Bruce Schneier has observed of technology, it obscures perception, and mandates further observation and investment. | ||
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| + | "Practice random acts of kindness" suggests that when combined with generosity, surprise makes something even better. | ||
Perceptually, random visual images can alert us to previously undiscovered compositions. Musically, random sound works the same. It can re-order sonic events or even produce original ones. which satisfy our need for emotion. | Perceptually, random visual images can alert us to previously undiscovered compositions. Musically, random sound works the same. It can re-order sonic events or even produce original ones. which satisfy our need for emotion. | ||
| − | Randomness heightens every other emotion, because, like Bruce Schneier has observed of technology, it obscures perception, and mandates further observation and investment. When combined with generosity: When combined with generosity "Practice random acts of kindness." When scientific predictions are made, such as whether a meteor will destroy the planet, or whether a new drug will help people, surveys are made, and noise, or random events must be separated. | + | Yet surprise elements have existed in music well before computers. Consider blues music - a genre which invites improvisation. It might be imagined as a personal music, in which the performer surprises himself though taking random chances in the notes played on an instrument. Imagine an evening's performance, a guitarist onstage, struggling to connect his inner feelings with the motion of his hands and the sound his instrument produces. As playing gets more intense, the body couples tightly to the instrument, and perhaps due to a bit of perspiration, a brief index finger slip near the 14th fret leads to a random “wrong note” which the player's and listeners' ears quickly detect. Yet, the skilled player perceives it not as a "wrong note," but an unexamined slice of his story, and incorporates the new pitch into the melody. Working the note back into the fold, the player relives that surprise moment with every pluck until it no longer becomes a surprise. |
Randomness implies a relationship between expectation and surprise, a violation of anticipation as well as a notion of temporariness and release. This notion of violated predictability is key to some modern musician's playing and composing styles, leading many to create “generative music,” such as Autechre (http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/apr04/articles/autechre.htm) who produce music using precisely-chosen strands of random numbers. | Randomness implies a relationship between expectation and surprise, a violation of anticipation as well as a notion of temporariness and release. This notion of violated predictability is key to some modern musician's playing and composing styles, leading many to create “generative music,” such as Autechre (http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/apr04/articles/autechre.htm) who produce music using precisely-chosen strands of random numbers. | ||
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| − | Yet surprise elements have existed in music well before computers. Consider blues music - a genre which invites improvisation. It might be imagined as a personal music, in which the performer surprises himself though taking random chances in the notes played on an instrument. Imagine an evening's performance, a guitarist onstage, struggling to connect his inner feelings with the motion of his hands and the sound his instrument produces. As playing gets more intense, the body couples tightly to the instrument, and perhaps due to a bit of perspiration, a brief index finger slip near the 14th fret leads to a random “wrong note” which the player's and listeners' ears quickly detect. Yet, the skilled player perceives it not as a "wrong note," but an unexamined slice of his story, and incorporates the new pitch into the melody. Working the note back into the fold, the player relives that surprise moment with every pluck until it no longer becomes a surprise. | ||
When used in art and performance, the surprise which random moments produce may even be contagious: Imagine the story in the previous paragraph from the perspective of a potential romantic couple: | When used in art and performance, the surprise which random moments produce may even be contagious: Imagine the story in the previous paragraph from the perspective of a potential romantic couple: | ||
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Must discuss Duchamp's 3 Standard Stoppages and their use in the Large Glass. | Must discuss Duchamp's 3 Standard Stoppages and their use in the Large Glass. | ||
| + | 3 standard stoppages = alternate views of what the meter could have been. | ||
| + | resulted in 3 meterstick-like objects with curvy edges... each a meter long, but "undermining the rational basis" (On Line: Drawing Through the Twentieth Century November 21, 2010–February 7, 2011) | ||
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| + | Large Glass: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Large_Glass | ||
| + | One of Duchamp's last works. Involves alternate physics. Notable materials for their longevity and craftiness (copper wire, glass). mysterious physical apparatus powered by previously designed curvy metersticks? "The Greenbox," DuChamp's explanation is no more revealing. but the piece has been described as a hilarious, erotic encounter between a bride in the upper half and her suitors below. | ||
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Gabrielle Buffet-Picabia quoted in Chance Imagery by George Brecht [Iversen 38] | Gabrielle Buffet-Picabia quoted in Chance Imagery by George Brecht [Iversen 38] | ||
| + | Chance-Imagery here: http://www.robertspahr.com/courses/ela/brecht_chance.pdf | ||
| + | quote in question: | ||
| + | “Dada wished to destroy the reasonable frauds of men and recover | ||
| + | the natural, unreasonable order. Dada wished to replace the logical nonsense of the men | ||
| + | of today with an illogical nonsense. That is why we beat the Dadaist bass drum with all | ||
| + | our might and trumpeted the praises of unreason. . . . Dada like nature is without | ||
| + | meaning. Dada is for infinite meaning and finite means.” (Gabrielle Buffet-Picabia, | ||
| + | 1949, ref. 8.) | ||
| + | I imagine the relevant part of the Buffet-Picabia quote is "infinite meaning and finite means," referring to the projection of meaning into the maze, and the limited resources of the computer's tiles?????? | ||
Sometimes, it is not merely a single random event, but an accumulation of them which really makes the world run, at least according to a theory science fiction writer Douglas Adams repeatedly referred to called "Infinite Improbability." | Sometimes, it is not merely a single random event, but an accumulation of them which really makes the world run, at least according to a theory science fiction writer Douglas Adams repeatedly referred to called "Infinite Improbability." | ||
