When: Friday, February 20, 3:00 PM
Where: Tyler 055

Abstract
Generative Systems in Art and Design is an artist talk that surveys Travess Smalley’s generative practice, including scripting in Adobe Photoshop, creative coding, and building small creative software. It also looks at ways software-based systems can be translated into physical prints and exhibition work. The talk draws on histories of computational art and experimentation (Vera Molnar, Lillian Schwartz, Laurie Spiegel) and on procedural generation in games and sandbox modding. Topics include constraints, randomness, emergence, cellular automata, and procedural worlds, with examples spanning Minecraft, No Man’s Sky, Dwarf Fortress, and Ultima Ratio Regum.

Bio
Smalley lives and works in Rhode Island. Formed in New York City and online in the digital surf clubs Loshadka and Computers Club, his art practice spans algorithmic drawing, scanner-based collage, and generative publishing. He has extensively exhibited internationally, and his work has been shown at institutions including Kunsthal Rotterdam and the International Center of Photography, New York City, and is held in the collections of ZKM Center for Art and Media, the MoMA Library, and the Bibliothèque Kandinsky – Centre Pompidou. He is an Assistant Professor of Print Media at the University of Rhode Island.