Held: Friday, 8 November 2013

Back to Outline 36 - Vectors. On to Outline 38 - Another Image Model: Iterating Over Positions.

Summary

We consider Scheme's random procedure, how one might use that procedure in writing simple simulations, and how the procedure can be used to generate "unpredictable" images.

Related Pages

Overview

• Random art.
• Why use randomness.
• The random procedure.
• Simulation.

Administrivia

• There will be time for questions on assignment 8, which is our last assignment.
• There's been a request that I talk about vector-fill!
• Next Friday we will be moving our class to the 3rd floor ARH lecture hall (302, I believe) to hear Hilary Mason '00. Class starts at 12:45.
• Upcoming extra credit opportunities:
  • A love-your-body week event.
  • Drag show. (Yes, this is in addition to the other lyb events.)
  • Concert, Saturday, 7:30, S-L.
  • Post-24-hour show, Saturday, 7:30, ???
  • Town Hall, Wednesday, November 13, noon or 7:30 p.m.
  • Learning from Alumni, Thursday: Atul Gupta, Trustee
  • CS Extra, Thursday: Hilary Mason '00
  • CS Table, Next Friday, HCI
  • CDO with Hilary Mason '00, Friday, ???
  • Digital Commons talk Monday, November 19, 7:00 p.m. or so

Randomized Images - The Theory

• Non-mainstream art philosophy: The images that come from random processes (or from nature) can be as interesting as the images that come from artists who intentionally plan the canvas.
• One important movement: Dada. (Early 20th century; also a reaction to facism and industrialization and ...)
  • An example: Tristan Tzara's "How to make a Dadaist Poem"
• Disclaimer: After creation by random processes, some filtering of good from bad often happens.
• Disclaimer: Many of the random processes still include some artistic intention.
  • Jackson Pollock's painting style provides an interesting combination of intent and randomness.
• Modernized/computational suggestion:
  • Randomized processes can provide inspiration
  • The ability to constrain some aspects of the process can provide a new mechanism for creation.

The random Procedure

• Scheme helps us by providing a (random n) procedure.
• n must be a positive integer.
• random returns an integer between 0 and n-1, inclusive.

Randomized Images - Practice

• Many of the procedures we've written or used have numeric parameters.
• Those parameters can be generated "randomly".
• Many of the procedures we've written take one of a restricted number of inputs (e.g., there are only so many brushes).
• Those inputs can also be selected "randomly".
• Demo: Randomizing the brush

Other Uses of Randomness

• We often use randomness in simulating unpredictable events, such as the rolling of an unbiased die.
• More requently, such randomness is used in larger-scale simulations.
• We'll stick with images, though.

Lab

• Do the lab