2018 Joint Mathematics Meetings
Gary Greenfield
Artists
Gary Greenfield
Professor Emeritas of Mathematics & Computer Science
University of Richmond
Richmond, Virginia, USA
Statement
Most of my computer generated artworks arise from visualizations of mathematical, physical, or biological processes. I want to focus the viewer's attention on the complexity and intricacy underlying such processes. Most recently, I have been exploring the tension that arises when generating minimalist art using complex processes.
Artworks
Harnessing Chaos #5-9-53023
15 x 20 cm
Digital print
2017
I label the edges of a 30 x 40 grid with zeros and ones. I treat each row of edges and each column of edges as inputs to a chaotic one-dimensional cellular automaton. After 500 iterations of the automata I use the edge labels to assign hexadecimal digits to the cells. I assign colors to the digits to create a composition. I generate artworks by repeating the process 25,000 times invoking a hill-climbing algorithm to maximize the number of occurrence of the hex digits 5 (brown) and 9 (yellow) in the central region. The choice of digits induces rules governing how browns and yellows can be positioned with respect to each other. Rule 30 is used for rows of edges. Rule 54 is used for columns of edges.