Featuring the works of Wang Hailei, Sarah Nind and Vincent Goetz
Wang Hailei: Yi Jing Remix - The Book of (Digital) Changes
Wang Hailei, a 31 year-old Beijing resident, originally from Qingdao, describes himself as an artist, a designer and a computer programmer. It's been nine years since he first coded computer programs after being certified by Microsoft as a Systems Engineer. He is now a full time generative artist and interactive designer.
Generative Art refers to any artistic practice where the artist uses asystem, such as a set of natural language rules, a computerprogram, or some other processing tool, which, when set intomotion with some degree of autonomy, results in (or contributes to) a completed work of art. Hailei has found Generative Art to be the natural expression for his combined passions and talents in both art and technology.
Hailei's generative art is a vehicle to express his understanding and feelings about ancient Chinese aesthetics and philosophy, inspired especially by the Zhouyi 周易, what we generally refer to as the Yi Jing (易经) or, in English, as the Book of Changes. The Zhouyi contains an ancient system of cosmology and philosophy that is intrinsic to Chinese cultural. The Zhouyi focuses on the concept of the dynamic balance of opposites, the evolution of events as a process, and acceptance of the inevitability of change. Its connection to generative art is natural: on the surface, generative art speaks of image or phenomenon, but at its core is an intrinsic law and logic. This is why Hailei uses generative art to articulate his experience of ancient Chinese philosophy and aesthetics.
Hailei uses computer code as his "brush" to paint. His generative artwork, like a traditional oil painting, is inspired by and reflects his personal vision, thoughts, philosophy and emotions. The difference with a traditional painting is the use of computer technology in place of a brush. As Hailei says, "It's not Michelangelo's brush that made art - it was the man. Likewise, my computer code isn't making the art, it's me." For Hailei, computer language is simply another means of expressing the human experience, just like music and architecture are.
王海磊：再易 - 数字之变
王海磊，一个30岁的定居北京的青岛人，这样描述自己：一个艺术家、设计师、和程序师。从成为微软认证系统工程师起，王海磊编写计算机程序已近十年。在微软工作的时候，他实现了从程序师到交互设计师的转变。如今，他专注于交互设计和生成艺术。
生成艺术是指：艺术家使用某种程度上自动运行的系统，例如计算机程序或其他具备某种程度自动性的工具，来制作一个作品的整体或局部的艺术行为。王海磊发现，Generative Art能将艺术和计算机技术完美结合，这成为他表达对艺术和技术双重热爱和天赋的不二选择。
王海磊将"生成艺术"作为表达古代中国哲学和美学，尤其是《周易》，给他的启示的一种方式。 《周易》包含了古代一整套世界观和哲学体系，是中国古典哲学和文化的根基。周易着重阐述了阴阳万物在持续变化过程中的平衡。周易六十四卦概括了世间万事万物的发展规律。周易讲究"象"，认为每个哲理都可以通过一个图象来表达或阐释；周易又强调"数"，认为每个现象的背后都是某种数理规律。这很自然地让人联想到"生成艺术"--其表面是图像而内在却是数理，这是王海磊选择"生成艺术"来表达他所理解的中国古典哲学和美学的原因所在。
王海磊使用计算机程序作为笔刷来绘画。他的"生成艺术"与传统绘画一样，都是受启发于并同时也反映了其视野、思想、哲学和情感；所不同的只是制作工具由笔刷变成了计算机。计算机（程序）只是工具，它并不创造艺术，就像你不能说达芬奇的笔刷创作了艺术。就像王海磊说的，"并非达芬奇之笔创作了艺术，而是其人。同样，不是我的计算机程序制造了艺术，而是我。" 对王海磊来说，计算机编程语言只是对人类语言延伸的一种，就像音乐语言、绘画语言、建筑语言一样，都是人类思想的表述途径。
Sarah Nind
Visions of Beijing & Shanghai - Melding the Virtual and the Real
Sarah Nind, born in Borneo and raised in Canada, employs oil painting with photographic processes in the production of a distinct body of work. The resulting images exhibit characteristics of photography as an emotive and poetic medium -- a recording device of the 'real'. At the same time, imagery is transformed through the integration of paint. This painted surface, with its ability to transcend the literal description, is addressed as a dimension to express and record emotional states and subjective realities. "Rather than being a dramatic narrative, my work questions history, the construction of time as a lineal process, and the distinction between the real and the virtual."
Sarah Nind：北京上海之幻象 - 融合虚拟与现实
Sarah Nind 出生于Borneo成长在加拿大。Sarah的艺术作品采用了油画和赋予作品清晰质感的照片处理过程。由此产生的图像把摄影的特性展示作一种感性而又富有诗意的媒介 -- 是一种"真实"的记录装置。与此同时，图像被通过绘画的整合所改变。这个能超越字面描述的绘画表面，被称为一种用作表达和记录情绪状态和主观现实的层面。说是戏剧性的叙事，其实Sarah的作品更多的是在质疑历史，时间的构筑就好比一种直系的进程，和存在于现实虚拟之间的区别。
Vincent Goetz - Digital Meditations
For American photographer, Vince Goetz, photography is all about technology as a means of revealing what he sees - which isn't always what other people or even the camera lens sees. The advent of digital photography interested Vince not only because the process has essentially become a green technology, but it set his own imagination free to go beyond what the camera saw. Although Vince is conservative in his image manipulation, it's clear that every once in a while he pushes the limits of his own and the viewer's imagination. Vince says, "I find that one of the most appealing parts of photography is to create images where the eyes rest in the image, and I strive to create images where the eyes and the brain relax. In a sense they are pieces of meditation, visions of the complexity of the world we are a part of." His micro-studies of rusted metal and deteriorating materials are particularly engaging - and when printed on canvass, they take on the texture and look of the hides of imaginary animals. It's like seeing hides from Steven Spielberg created creatures ready to be made into cutting edge purses and shoes.
Vincent Goetz：数码沉思
作为一个美国摄影师，对Vince来说，摄影就是一种把他所见事物展现出来的技术手段 - 他的所见并不总是被别人或者相机所记录。数码摄影的出现激发起Vince的热情，不仅仅是因为它从根本上变成了一种绿色科技，而且让影像远远超越了镜头所能记录的范围。虽然Vince在他的图像处理上稍显保守，但很显然每隔一段时间，他就推进了自己的限制与观者的想象力。Vince说："我觉得摄影最有吸引力的部分，就是在图像中眼睛休息的地方创造图像，我努力营造可以让眼睛和大脑放松的图像。从某种意义上来说，它们是沉思的片刻，是我们所属于的复杂世界的幻象。"他对生锈金属和衰退物质的微观研究是最具吸引力的，当印刷在画布上时，那种质地就像是想象中的动物皮革。这就像是斯蒂芬斯皮尔伯格创造出的生物皮革，随时可被制成钱包或是鞋子。
