A short art book concept created in the spring 2006.  Text excerpts courtesy of John Holloway’s ‘Promise, Paradox and Opportunity’, a discussion of the intersection between the linear nature of the computer and the meandering immediacy of traditional art making.

A creative paradox
There is a paradox in the interface between the artist and the computer. It is a paradox that provides for the most intrinsic element in the visualization of the creative process. There is a relational dichotomy that can be found in the necessary cooperation between the linear demands of the computer and the curvilinear approach of the artist towards his or her work. The constant confrontation with this dichotomy the artist experiences is just exactly what can provide for the unplanned and unexpected that is so valuable in ones creative work. I believe that this very contradiction between the curvilinear pattern of the artist’s natural mindset and the rigid linear demands of the computer provides just the spiritual tension that can be of inestimable value to the artist.

The recognized “Happy Accident”, the “Ah Hah,” has been the lynch pin of abstraction in painting since well before the advent of the abstract expressionists. The Dutch masters made regular and disciplined use of this through their glazes. It is not inconceivable that this affect was the spark that set off the Italian renaissance. Perhaps it was this “Ah Hah” moment that was the genesis of painting as a pragmatic form of expression from the start.

Nonetheless, it is this elusive moment of revelation, which marks the relevance of the unexpected in any composition. Fractal artists may believe that this is happening to some degree by default in their work. And perhaps they are right. After all, mathematics is the basic language of the CPU and this language has the ability to describe quite nearly anything, some would say.

It has been the criticism of the analog world for some time that digital art is too clean, too precise…too linear to be considered other than contrived. The linear nature of the tool seems to enforce a precision that at once is compelling and yet sterile for many. Artists have gone to great lengths to overcome this through careful planning and elaborate techniques, many with great success. I propose that this problem can be overcome very simply by giving in to the paradoxical relationship between the Linear machine process and the Curvilinear approach of the user.

The key element in this paradox is “us” actually. Sounds pretty familiar. The same situation exists in analog creative processes as well. Working in the analog mediums is more akin to breathing. We share a visceral and quite nearly symbiotic relationship with the materials and venue of the analog realm.

What is unique in this digital situation is evidenced in the enforced linear nature of a synthetic medium versus the default organic and curvilinear nature of the artist’s mindset. This is the paradox that makes the initial approach to digital work so awkward for the analog purist. Instinctively we want the fluidity of interface we have in the analog dimension but are frustrated at the outset with a seemingly unnatural, purely synthetic, and less than rewarding tactile experience with the computer. We are at once set apart from the work. Our only contact is with the keyboard and the mouse or stylus. This is an abstraction that simply must be accepted. It is the nature of the digital toolset.

For some this can prove to be more repulsive or intimidating than for others. Obviously there are many of us now who have been working with this type of interface for the greater part of our careers if not from the very beginning. For these people the acceptance of this abstraction is a non-issue.

The fact that there is a significant population if not a generation of artists that have little to no experience with the creation of art in the analog dimension is a real curiosity in our time. This is an issue of great importance but is beyond the scope of my intentions here.

Complete acceptance of what amounts to a synthetic abstraction of analog processes is the first step to working with the paradox of the digital interface. Having accepted this working environment it is now just a matter of becoming well informed and practiced with the chosen tool set. This can only come with experience and study

Understanding and comfort with the toolset comes as a result of extended hands on experience, exploration and experimentation. As the artist approaches a comfort zone with the toolset the paradox of the interface will begin to work more in ones favor. The recognition of balance of color and the tension of compositional elements soon becomes much easier to recognize and more fluid in its execution.