Spiro and free
jazz programming
Rachel Collinson, BA(Hons), MA
Hypermedia Research Centre, University of Westminster,
London, UK.
rechord ltd
e-mail: collinr@wmin.ac.uk, rachel@rechord.com
Abstract
Spiro is software that generates abstract organic forms which can be reused in the design process or simply viewed as artwork in themselves. Spiro was generated by a programming method more akin to fine art process than computing science. This has been given the light-hearted name, free jazz programming.
Most IT related courses today teach scientific methods of software engineering. Generally most software is produced to satisfy a specific need. The software is designed right from the start and programmers will work concretely towards that end, creating code which solves the problem in the most efficient way possible. However, this method is also being taught to art and design students as a way of realising their ideas in the digital and/or interactive realm. This is in many ways anathema to fine art practise - engineering can be, at best, an awkward bedfellow or, at worst, an inhibitor of artists’ work.
Artists need to see IT as a medium in itself, like a sculptor sees wood. As Henry Moore worked with stone and marble to bring out figures which he perceived to be extant or latent within the material, so Spiro works with the existing “natural contours” of IT and, in particular, Macromedia Director with its unique object-oriented programming language, Lingo.
This process can be easily described in a metaphor – that of free jazz – the best symbolic approximation we know. For the process and its free jazz equivalents, see Fig 1 below.
The free jazz programming method here started with an algorithm, or code riff , that animates a shape along a circular path. While improvising on the riff, I developed a program which produces patterns similar to those that could be drawn with the child’s toy ‘Spirograph’ and yet not at present physically possible in the real world. No interesting or pleasing bugs occurred during the process. But the final interface for the software allows the user, again, to play with settings and number input, creating their own Spiro designs.
The art powerfully evokes organic forms such as jellyfish and primitive organisms, expressing the mathematical order woven into the fabric of the universe. It also recalls the work of John Whitney, Sr. and other early digital art pioneers.
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Software art practise |
Free jazz equivalent |
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We start with a block of code; an existing algorithm. |
A free jazz musician starts with a musical piece or riff. |
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We explore the code, we play and experiment with it, building in possibilities as they occur. |
The musician improvises on the riff, exploring melody and rhythm. |
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A bug occurs. It may produce interesting and unexpected results. We use the bug and work it back into the system. |
The musician makes a mistake – a slip of the finger, an off-beat note. It may sound interesting. The musician plays the mistake into the piece. |
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The program takes shape. We accommodate the needs of users in a sensory interface, whether tactile, aural or visual, allowing to create their own works with the software. |
The musician collaborates with other musicians on a performance. |
Fig 1: Free jazz programming and its equivalents in musical jazz.