Gary Greenfield
"Pherome Ant Painting #21127"
Inkjet print, 8.5" x 11" (unframed), 2006.
"Pherome Ant Painting #24031"
Inkjet print, 8.5" x 11" (unframed), 2006.
Gary Greenfield
Mathematics and Computer Science, University of Richmond, Richmond, VA 23173
" These "paintings" are agent based, computer generated art works. A swarm of 500 virtual ants is initially deposited in two clusters on a gray 600 x 600 toridal grid. On the basis of pheromones that are produced by grid cells, and pheromones that are produced by the ants, during their wanderings the ants first develop a black and white underpainting and then, by making short brush stokes, overpaint in two colors. These paintings reveal structure, organization, harmony, complexity, and give some illusion of depth. The goal of this work is to study biologically based models and behavioral rule sets that initiate aesthetic processes. Thus artist becomes meta-artist in the effort to harness the computational capabilities of swarms of agents for artistic purposes. "