‘Artificial’ is the generic name of a set of computer applications of the ‘Institute of Artificial Art’ in Amsterdam. The IAAA is directed by Remko Scha. He is chair of the Department of Computational Linguistics at the University of Amsterdam. As a physicist he has become increasingly involved in the application of information technology to art and architecture.

 

The latest application of ‘Artificial’, ‘Artificial.ACAD’ is produced in cooperation with Archipel Ontwerpers, the design office of the architect involved in the case study: Erik Vreedenburgh. Because ‘Artificial’ was developed originally as an art program to make a statement, an evaluation function was deliberately left out, but for this application it will eventually be implemented.

 

‘Artificial’ consist of a series of generic programs producing art.

(1) ‘Artificial.Mac’ is the first program developed, written in HyperTalk.

(2) ‘Artificial.PC’ is a DOS version written in Pascal and Assemby language and run on IBM-compatible PC’s.

Both programs generate random images, based on an extensive repertoire of instructions to draw lines and surfaces, and to distribute, transform and combine them in larger wholes. This visual grammar is used to define an infinite set of pictures with a wide variety of styles and structures, and then draws random samples from this space.

(3)  Artificial Music’ is an audio version, converting its image-in-progress into a sound file that is played in real time.

(4) ‘Artificial.ACAD’ is a version of the same stock, but now applied to 3-dimensional objects. It is implemented in AutoLISP and run on top of AutoCAD. It generates DXF’s which specify the structure and appearance of three-dimensional objects. These files are employed as random designs for sculpture and architecture.

 

                        

 

See for publications about Artificial, architecture and urban planning the sites:

http://www.iaaa.nl/artificial/pc.html

http://www.iaaa.nl/artificial/acad.html

http://www.iaaa.nl/artificial/nomad.html