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Leonardo, Vol. 8, pp. 185-189. Pergamon Press 1975. Printed in Great Britain
TOWARD AESTHETIC
GUIDELINESFOR PAINTINGS
WITH THE AID OF A COMPUTER
VeraMolnar*
Abstract-The author makes nonfigurativedrawings and paintings that are the results of
a procedure in which simple geometrical shapes and their combinationwere successively
alteredin specific ways. In 1968 she began to use a computer to assist her. The computer
displays (on a CRT screen) images in which shapes and/or their arrangementare altered
successively. Whenshe sees a pleasing example that she may wishto execute as a drawing
or a painting, she instructs the computerto record it on a plotter.
She has studieda numberof such series in whichalterationsoccur successively in small
steps to determinewhichalterationis responsiblefor the appearanceof a picture that she
judges
to be aestheticallysuperior to those that preceded it. She includesan example of
of her judgment of the aesthetic quality of pictures chosen from a particularseries.
I.
I am a painter, an image-maker,
in particular, of
images of a nonfigurative
kind. I 'create' visual
forms in the sense that they consist of combinations
of shapes that cannot be found in nature.
I decided that I would become a painter when
I
was 12 years of age under the influence of an uncle
of mine who, in his leisure time, painted
a number
of scenes of woodland nymphs in twilight.
I
began
by making pictures of nymphs and trees but soon
I
replaced figurative subject matter by simple geo-
metrical shapes. Later I began to make non-
figurative pictures
that were the result of a
procedure
in which initial simple geometrical
elements and their combination were successively
altered in specific ways, a procedure that
I
con-
tinue to follow. In 1968, I was able to gain access
to a digital computer to facilitate the execution of
this time-consuming procedure.
I am forcefully impressed by the fact that
viewers tend to agree on what they consider as
'beautiful', 'indifferent' and 'ugly' compositional
arrangements, in particular arrangements of
squares, triangles and dots, which can be pro-
duced readily on a computer display. Osgood
made psychological tests on artistic taste and found
that there is less divergence of taste than is gener-
ally believed [1]. Personally, I doubt that 'beauty'
is amenable to definition but I shall not explore
the question here.
Artist living at 54 rue Halle, 75014 Paris, France.
Based on a text in French (Received 22 May 1974.)
II.
What I should especially like to know is what
changes have occurred in a picture on which I am
working when it begins to please me. What are the
specific elements of a composition that cause it to
give to me aesthetic satisfaction and then later to
a viewer? I seek a concrete answer, one that
entails experimentation rather than philosophical
speculations. I am not interested in my subcon-
scious or unconscious states. I should like to avoid
even the notion of consciousness and to follow the
objective approach of behaviorist psychology.
Of course, to make good pictures one should
know not only about composition but also about
the psychology of perception and about experi-
mental aesthetics [2]. It would be most helpful to
an artist to be able to apply principles of aesthetics
but, despite the efforts of painters and others
interested in art during past centuries, such prin-
ciples
continue to elude discovery. There are those
who believe that such principles do not exist, that
art is solely intuitive. Nevertheless, some of these
same sceptics have formulated arbitrary rules that,
because there were arbitrary, did not have general
utility.
The principles
that I believe exist are in
the form of laws that are determined by human
physiology and psychology and recent achieve-
ments in the human sciences encourage my belief.
But I am certain that in order to find them experi-
mental methods of science rather than philoso-
phical speculation will be required [3, 4].
In effect,
art can profitably use experimental methods of the
physical sciences. But I do not mean to imply
that art will become science.
__
185 A
Vera Molnar
III.
I do not agree with those who believe that
developments in art simply happen. I am con-
vinced that initiative must be applied to obtain an
understanding of these developments and I wish
to do my part. Whenever I begin a picture, I have
an initial idea of it in mind. The procedure
that I use to arrive at the final work, to be des-
cribed below, is tedious, if carried through by
hand. Furthermore, the final picture rarely corres-
ponds to my initial idea of it.
I
develop a picture by means of a series of small
probing steps and each step is followed by evalua-
tion. In my opinion, painters should employ such
a procedure, especially if they consciously wish to
learn what of aesthetic importance is occurring on
the canvas as the painting develops and what
effect the work may have on viewers. Making a
series of pictures that are alike except for the
variation of one parameter is not uncommon.
Many painters from those of Mount Athos to
those of today have done this. Claude Monet, a
good example, painted both a haystack and the
Rouen cathedral repeatedly in different lighting.
When I have an idea for a new picture, I make
the first version of it rather quickly. Usually
I
am
more or less dissatisfied with it and I modify it.
I alter in a stepwise manner the dimensions, pro-
portions and arrangement
of the shapes. When
simple geometrical shapes are used, such modifica-
tions are relatively easy
to make. By comparing
the successive pictures resulting from a series of
modifications, I can decide whether the trend is
toward the result that I desire. What is so thrilling
to experience
is not only the stepwise approach
toward the envisioned goal but also sometimes the
transformation of an indifferent version into one
that I find aesthetically appealing.
This stepwise procedure has, however, two
important disadvantages if carried out by hand.
Above all, it is tedious and slow. In order to
make the necessary comparisons in a developing
series of pictures, I must make many similar ones
of the same size and with the same technique and
precision. Another disadvantage is that, since time
is limited, I can consider only a few of many
possible modifications. Furthermore, these choices
are influenced by disparate factors such as personal
whim, cultural and educational background
and
ease of execution.
IV.
Using an IBM 370 computer,
I have been able
to minimize the effort required during
the pre-
paratory phase of making
a picture.
This com-
puter can produce
a series of images (the shapes
and their arrangement may
be simple
or compli-
cated)
on an IBM 2250 CRT screen and/or
of
Fig.
Computer drawings, 25 x 25 cm. Top, 'Carres,
000072/00', 1972 (Collection of Brys-Schatau, Brussels,
Belgium); center, 'Carres, 250173/1', 1973; bottom,
'Carres, 071273121', 1973.
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Vera Molnar
are familiar techniques used by painters. Thus my
computer-aided procedure is simply a systematiza-
tion of the traditional approach.
I
should mention
here another advantage in using a computer: it is
possible to 'go back', that is, to repeat drawings
that had appeared before certain modifications
were made.
In spite of their advantages, computers,
no more
than other simpler tools, do not guarantee that a
work of art of good quality will result, for it is an
artist's skill that is the decisive factor [7].
V.
The computer drawings that
I
shall discuss were
made by the 'conversational method' with a
program called RESEAU-TO, of the type used for
composing music, for example
MUSIC 5 of
Mathews [8]. This program permits
the production
of drawings starting from an initial square array
of like sets of concentric squares. The available
variables are : (1) the number of sets, (2) the
number of concentric squares within a set, (3)
the
displacement of individual squares, (4) the deforma-
tion of squares by changing angles and lengths of
sides, (5)
the elimination of lines or entire figures
and (6) the replacement of straight lines by seg-
ments of circles, parabolas, hyperbolas and sine
curves. Thus from the initial grid a great variety
of different images can be obtained.
To illustrate the possibilities of this program, I
show an initial
x
array of sets of
concentric
squares as drawn by the computer plotter (Fig. 1,
top). In Fig.
(center) is a variation in which the
array is now 7 x 7 and the number of squares in
the sets is varied. In Fig.
(bottom) squares of
different size are variously displaced within an
(a) (b)
(c) (d)
Fig.
Computer drawings, 25 x 25 cm.,
(a) 'Computer-rosace, 74.338-31'; (b) 'Computer-rosace, 74.338-39';
(c) 'Computer-rosace, 74.338-47'; (d) 'Computer-rosace, 74.338-54'.
Toward Aesthetic Guidelines for Paintings with the Aid of a Computer
x 11 grid.
In Fig.
are shown variations of
distorted squares.
A
painting that I made by hand
in black on a gold background on the basis of one
computer drawing is illustrated in Fig.
I have mentioned my desire to learn what par-
ticular change in a series of changes to a picture
gives rise to aesthetic satisfaction but my study so
far has led only to some tentative conclusions.
Fig. 4(a)
is a picture that I find aesthetically
'indifferent'. Its aesthetic quality seems improved
to me when some straight lines are replaced by
segments of parabolas (Fig. 4(b))
and even more
so when sine curve segments replace parts of the
straight lines (Fig. 4(c)) but when the number and
amplitude of the sine curve segments are increased,
a result is obtained that
I
find aesthetically disap-
pointing (Fig. 4(d)).
I believe that the majority of
those who view these examples will agree with my
opinion as to their aesthetic quality.
In Fig.
(cf.
color plate), is shown a reproduction
of a painting on canvas whose design corresponds
with high precision to a drawing produced by the
computer plotter. The two hues were chosen
arbitrarily but their Munsell values were kept the
same.
VI.
I do not make drawings and paintings with the
aid of a computer solely for personal satisfaction;
I
hope that others will also enjoy them. I do
not agree with the notion of art for art's sake and
of science for the sake of science. Sartre con-
vincingly explains why this notion is untenable [9].
I, personally, know of no artist who refuses to let
people see his work. On the other hand, I do not
believe that an artist should go to the extreme of
ignoring his own taste and convictions in order to
please others. There should be an intermediate
ground where aesthetic satisfaction is experienced
mutually.
The reactions that viewers voice, often in very
diverse and obscure ways, should not be accepted
without qualification. Often they do not analyze
their own feelings. But even if they did, they would
find it difficult to express them in words or they
might hesitate to reveal their thoughts because of
social pressures. People do not necessarily like
what they say they like. Their judgments are in-
fluenced by factors that have little or nothing to do
with the art object that they behold. They are
influenced by the opinion of others, by the bias of
education, by an object's price, etc. Yet, in spite
of these problems, I subscribe to the belief that
the underlying principles for giving aesthetic satis-
faction to viewers of drawings and paintings can
be found and I hope that my studies will help to
verify my conviction.
REFERENCES
- C. E. Osgood, G. J. Suci and P. H. Tannenbaum, The
Measurement of Meaning (Urbana, Ill.: Univ. Illinois
Press, 1957).
- F. Molnar, Experimental Aesthetics or the Science of
Art, Leonardo 7, 23 (1974).
- M. Thompson, ComputerArt: A Visual Model for the
Modular Pictures of Manuel Barbadillo, Leonardo 5,
219 (1972).
- M. Thompson, Intelligent Computers and Visual
Artists, Leonardo 7, 227 (1974).
- Z. Sykora and J. Blazek, Computer-Aided Multi-
Element Geometrical Abstract Paintings, Leonardo 3,
409 (1970).
- C. S. Bangertand C. J. Bangert,Experiences in Making
Drawings by Computerand by Hand, Leonardo 7, 289
(1974).
- F. J. Malina, Comments on Visual Fine Arts Produced
by Digital Computers,Leonardo4, 263 (1971).
- M. V. Mathews,J. E. Miller, F. R. Moore, J. R. Pierce
and J. C. Risset, The Technologyof Computer Music
(Cambridge, Mass.: M.I.T. Press, 1969).
- J. P. Sartre,Qu'est-ce que
la litt6rature?in Situations,II
(Paris: Gallimard, 1958).
