1. Weave Silk

Weave Silk is a drawing tool that generates curves based on mouse or finger movement.  It is definitely an interesting tool and has a nicely crafted interface.  The interaction is also very satisfying; the user is able to create beautifully generated images with a few movements.  The tool does seem a bit limiting though; it feels like I want to have more control over the movements, especially because there is an inherent symmetry to the curves you can create.

2. Tree Drawings by Tim Knowles 

This project is not digital but it is definitely generative and I found it extremely interesting.  The artist   created a series of drawings by attaching pens to the branches of different trees and allowing wind and other natural factors to generate forms on canvases.  As such, through the generation of this images, the artist is also recording and visualizing information about each tree, the environment they exist in and the time of year when these drawings were made.

3. L-Systems in Architecture by Michael Hansmeyer

For this project, Computational Architect Michael Hansmeyer designs a piece of architecture using L-Systems.  I am intrigued by this idea of using L-Systems for different artist applications outside of the realm of modeling plant growth (my friend and I have been working on a project that also explores this idea).  The artist’s project statement describes the project in context to seeing what is possible.  I would be interested in further hearing his thoughts as to where such a building would work conceptually and how creating such buildings using L-Systems begin to inform both conceptually and functional spaces within.

4. H_Edge by Cecil Balmond

H_Edge is an exhibition by Cecil Balmond that I had the fortune of helping to install in the Carnegie Museum a few years ago. It is a amazing structure that consists of chains and metal ‘H’s that is help up by the tension between its components.  It is not quite a generative project, as I believe the spaces created are planned out, at least to an extent, but the structure definitely strikes the observer as generative.  Moving through the exhibit, new spaces are formed due to the reflectivity of the materials and the interactions between the structure’s elements.