Art From Code: A Response to Georg Nees

Georg Nees was interested in using stochastic functions to disrupt formal structures. His work is characterized by a visible transformation from order to chaos. This is well demonstrated by Schotter (1968), in which a rotation and transformation disorder a grid. Using this concept as a starting point, I created a grid of identical cells. While Nees applies rotation to the y-axis, I applied rotation to the x-axis. The image also varies from Schotter insofar as the rows are staggered, creating sharp ziggurat-like steps that contrast with the randomness following the “aleatoric moment.”

For my second image, I created a uniform row of layered triangles, for which I used randomness to determine the colors. The layers slowly peel apart across a curve, revealing the colors underneath.

For my third image, I created a grid of circles as the “repeated generative fundamental.” I used the same randomness function from the previous image to determine the fill of the circles. Randomness was also used to disrupt the grid. I’ve included both a before and an after image of this transformation.

Author: Bronwen Brenner