ABSTRACT The term generative art is mostly reserved for practices in which artists construct systems containing various degrees of autonomy. This is designed to generate results that would otherwise be unlikely. In contrast, photography is understood as a situation wherein an agent, the photographer, uses a pre-existing system constructed by other agents with the sole purpose of yielding results that must always be predictable. One strand of photography wherein such conceptions of the medium prove inadequate is generative photography. This unique exploration is characterized by three qualities: (1) Extensive use of self-constructed apparatuses for harnessing technologies explicitly dedicated to the creation of photographs; (2) Uncompromising insistence the seriality principle in producing photographs; and (3) The integration of chance or randomicity as an important creative factor. This paper traces the history of generative photography from its origins in the near-forgotten philosophical movement of information aesthetics. It argues that generative photographs elucidate a concept of artistic constructivism onto which may be grafted the numerical programming of apparative art systems. Thus, generative photography, with its precision of production and concise visual expression, can be understood as the final phase of photography, or, through Max Bense’s concept of ‘programming the beautiful’, as a precursor of generative computer art.

中文翻译：

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编程美丽

摘要生成艺术一词主要用于艺术家构建包含不同程度自治权的系统的实践。这旨在产生原本不可能的结果。相反，摄影被理解为这样一种情况，即代理人（摄影师）使用由其他代理人构建的预先存在的系统，其唯一目的是产生必须始终可预测的结果。摄影的其中一类概念证明不足的一类摄影是生成摄影。这种独特的探索具有以下三个特征：（1）广泛使用自行构造的设备来利用明确致力于照片创作的技术；（2）毫不妥协地坚持照片制作的连贯性原则；（3）机会或随机性的整合是重要的创造因素。本文从生成摄影的起源追溯到几乎被人们遗忘的信息美学哲学运动来追溯其历史。它认为生成的照片阐明了艺术建构主义的概念，可以将其移植到评价性艺术系统的数值编程中。因此，具有生成精度的精巧摄影和简洁的视觉表达可以被理解为摄影的最后阶段，或者通过马克斯·本斯（Max Bense）的“对美丽编程”的概念，可以理解为生殖计算机艺术的先驱。它认为生成的照片阐明了艺术建构主义的概念，可以将其移植到评价性艺术系统的数值编程中。因此，具有生成精度的精巧摄影和简洁的视觉表达可以被理解为摄影的最后阶段，或者通过马克斯·本斯（Max Bense）的“对美丽编程”的概念，可以理解为生殖计算机艺术的先驱。它认为生成的照片阐明了艺术建构主义的概念，可以将其移植到评价性艺术系统的数值编程中。因此，具有生成精度的精巧摄影和简洁的视觉表达可以被理解为摄影的最后阶段，或者通过马克斯·本斯（Max Bense）的“对美丽编程”的概念，可以理解为生殖计算机艺术的先驱。