Synopses & Reviews
The last decade has witnessed a proliferation of artists whose primary medium is software. Algorithmic processes, harnessed through the medium of computer code, allow artists to generate increasingly complex visual forms that they otherwise might not have been able to imagine, let alone delineate. The newest volume in our Design Brief series Form+Code in Design, Art, and Architecture is a non-technical introduction to the history, theory, and practice of software in the arts. Organized into themes linked to aspects of code—repetition, transformation,parameters, visualization, and simulation—each of the book's sections contains an essay, code samples, and numerous illustrations. An accompanying website (www.formandcode.com) features code samples in various programming languages for the examples in the book. An ideal introductory text for digital design and media arts courses, this unique primer will also appeal to students and professionals looking for a survey of this exciting new area of artistic production.
Review
DOMENICO QUARANTA
Elegant as an algorithm, clear as a program, and as enthralling as a video game, Form+Code is a powerful tool, both as a tutorial and as an in-depth analysis of the aesthetics of the information age.
Review
MICHAEL MEREDITH
Form+Code offers a concise overview of computation in artistic and design practices, but it isn't a textbook. It's filled with beautiful images but it isn't a coffee table book. It is a manual for those of us searching for alternative aesthetics and methods of creation. It provides views into other worlds which exist beyond the familiar.
Review
LAUREN CORNELL
Form+Code illuminates creative possibilities for code across a wide range of fields, demonstrating its potential to enliven existing forms and build new models for expression for artists, designers, and architects alike.
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KARSTEN SCHMIDT
This incredibly rich study of the history and possibilities of creating media through code is a must-have reference collection.
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JOHN MAEDA
The nature of form in the digital age is trapped in the invisible realm of code. Form+Code makes that world visible to the community that stands to gain the most from it: artists and designers.
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GREG LYNN
At long last, here is a publication that looks comprehensively at the contemporary digital medium with clarity, at its recent past and into the future. This book is filled with the most beautiful and intelligent images you can find in one book on digital design.
Synopsis
When using digital technologies, many types of dysfunction can occur, ranging from hardware malfunctions to software errors to human ineptitude. Many new media artworks employ various strategies of dysfunctionality in order to explore issues of power within societies and culture. When using digital technologies, many types of dysfunction can occur, from hardware malfunctions to software errors and human ineptitude. Robert W. Sweeney examines how digital artists have embraced the concept of the error or glitch as a form for freedomandmdash;imperfection or dysfunction can be an integral element of the project. In this book, he offers practical models and ideas for how artists and educators can incorporate digital technologies and integrate discussions of decentralized models of artistic production and education.
About the Author
Robert W. Sweeny is associate professor of art and art education at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.