AUTHOR: Howard Riley MA(RCA) School of Art & Design Swansea Institute Associate College of the University of Wales Townhill Road Swansea SA2 0UT Wales, UK

email: howard.riley@sihe.ac.uk

ABSTRACT:

Throughout the disciplines of art and design, interest in the possibilities of algorithmic methods for generating two- and three-dimensional visual forms grows apace. Evidence supporting this observation may be found in the increasingly diverse range of contributions to the Generative Art conferences.

Two research scenarios may be identified: 1 in which the generative process itself is the object of research, 2 in which the forms generated are the objects of research.

The question of what criteria may be appropriate to the evaluation of such research is addressed in this paper. Lincoln and Guba's term "criteria of authenticity" is elaborated in a case study based on the author's research into teaching drawing to fine art undergraduates.

Although the drawings produced are not computer-generated, it is argued that the concept of 'algorithm' as a set of rules for the generating of visual representations may be usefully applied to the mental ontological constructions, or 'mind-set', of the student. Such mind-sets affect the ways that drawings are constructed.

It is suggested that a teaching method which enables students to recognise their mental algorithms as cultural constructions, may also empower them to reconstruct those algorithms in order to generate visual representations previously unimagined.