Editing Low-complexity art

{{Short description|Concept of art that can be described by a computer program}}

'''Low-complexity art''' was described by [[Jürgen Schmidhuber]] in 1997,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Schmidhuber |first1=Jürgen |title=Low-Complexity Art |journal=Leonardo |date=1997 |volume=30 |issue=2 |pages=97–103 |doi=10.2307/1576418 |jstor=1576418 |s2cid=18741604 }}</ref> defined as [[art]] that can be described by a short computer program (that is, a computer program of small [[Kolmogorov complexity]]). The topic has been referenced by other scientific articles.<ref>{{cite book |doi=10.1007/978-3-642-31727-9_12 |chapter=A Formal Theory of Creativity to Model the Creation of Art |title=Computers and Creativity |year=2012 |last1=Schmidhuber |first1=Jürgen |pages=323–337 |isbn=978-3-642-31726-2 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |doi=10.21832/9781847697967-007 |chapter=Implications of Multilingual Creative Cognition for Creativity Domains |title=Multilingualism and Creativity |year=2012 |pages=104–134 |isbn=978-1-84769-796-7 |first1=Anatoliy V. |last1=Kharkhurin }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Li |first1=Ming |last2=Vitányi |first2=Paul |title=An Introduction to Kolmogorov Complexity and Its Applications |date=2008 |publisher=Springer New York |isbn=978-0-387-33998-6 |page=755 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Parisi |first1=Luciana |title=Contagious Architecture: Computation, Aesthetics, and Space |date=2013 |publisher=MIT Press |isbn=978-0-262-31262-2 }}</ref>

==Overview==
[[File:Bytebeat.ogv|thumb|right|example of bytebeat music]]
Schmidhuber characterizes low-complexity art as the computer age equivalent of [[minimalism|minimal art]]. He also describes an [[algorithmic art|algorithmic]] theory of [[beauty]] and [[aesthetics]] based on the principles of [[algorithmic information theory]] and [[minimum description length]]. It explicitly addresses the [[subjectivity]] of the [[observation|observer]] and postulates that among several input data classified as comparable by a given subjective observer, the most pleasing one has the shortest description, given the observer's previous knowledge and his or her particular method for encoding the data. For example, [[mathematician]]s enjoy simple proofs with a short description in their [[formal language]] (sometimes called [[mathematical beauty]]). Another example draws inspiration from 15th century proportion studies by [[Leonardo da Vinci]] and [[Albrecht Dürer]]: the proportions of a beautiful human face can be described by very few bits of information.<ref>{{cite report |last1=Schmidhuber |first1=Juergen |title=Facial beauty and fractal geometry |date=June 1998 |url=http://cogprints.org/690/ }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |doi=10.1007/978-3-540-75488-6_3 |chapter=Simple Algorithmic Principles of Discovery, Subjective Beauty, Selective Attention, Curiosity & Creativity |title=Discovery Science |series=Lecture Notes in Computer Science |year=2007 |last1=Schmidhuber |first1=Jürgen |volume=4755 |pages=26–38 |isbn=978-3-540-75487-9 |s2cid=8313888 }}</ref>

Schmidhuber explicitly distinguishes between [[beauty]] and [[interesting]]ness. He assumes that any observer continually tries to improve the [[predictability]] and  [[compressibility]] of the observations by discovering regularities such as repetitions and  [[symmetries]] and [[fractal]] [[self-similarity]]. When the observer's learning process (which may be a predictive [[neural network]]) leads to improved data compression the number of bits required to describe the data decreases. The temporary interestingness of the data corresponds to the number of saved bits, and thus (in the [[continuum limit]]) to the [[first derivative]] of subjectively perceived [[beauty]].  A [[reinforcement learning]] algorithm can be used to maximize the future expected data compression progress. It will motivate the learning observer to execute action sequences that cause additional [[interesting]] input data with yet unknown but learnable predictability or regularity. The principles can be implemented on [[artificial agents]] which then exhibit a form of artificial [[curiosity]].<ref>{{cite book |doi=10.1109/IJCNN.1991.170605 |chapter=Curious model-building control systems |title=&#91;Proceedings&#93; 1991 IEEE International Joint Conference on Neural Networks |year=1991 |last1=Schmidhuber |first1=J. |pages=1458-1463 vol.2 |isbn=0-7803-0227-3 |s2cid=17874844 |url=http://mediatum.ub.tum.de/doc/814953/document.pdf }}</ref>

While low-complexity art does not require a priori restrictions of the description size, the basic ideas are related to the [[Demo (computer programming)#Size restrictions|size-restricted intro categories]] of the [[demoscene]], where very short computer programs are used to [[procedural generation|generate]] pleasing graphical and musical output. Very small (usually [[C programming language|C]]) [[Algorithmic composition|programs that create music]] have been written: the style of this music has come to be called "bytebeat".<ref>{{cite arXiv |last=Heikkilä |first=Ville-Matias  |eprint=1112.1368 |title=Discovering novel computer music techniques by exploring the space of short computer programs |class=cs.SD |date=2011}}</ref>

==The larger context==
The idea of an intimate relationship between mathematical structure and visual appeal is one of the recurring themes of Western art and is prominent during several of its periods of fluorescence including that of dynastic Egypt;<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.legon.demon.co.uk/canon.htm|author=Legon, John|title=The Cubit and the Egyptian Canon of Art|accessdate=April 26, 2015}}</ref> Greece of the classic era;<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.oneonta.edu/faculty/farberas/arth/ARTH209/Doyphoros.html|title=Polyclitus's Canon and the Idea of Symmetria|publisher=SUNY Oneonta|accessdate=April 26, 2015}}</ref> the Renaissance (as already noted); and on into the [[Geometric abstraction]] of the 20th century, especially as practiced by [[Georges Vantongerloo]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.moma.org/collection/artist.php?artist_id=6091|title=The Collection: Georges Vantongerloo|publisher=The Museum of Modern Art|accessdate=April 24, 2015}}</ref> and [[Max Bill]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/12/14/obituaries/max-bill-85-painter-sculptor-and-architect-in-austere-style.html|author=Smith, Roberta|date=December 14, 1994|title=Max Bill, 85, Painter, Sculptor And Architect in Austere Style|work=New York Times|accessdate=April 24, 2015}}</ref> 

==See also==
* [[Computer art]]
* [[Digital art]]
* [[Infinite compositions of analytic functions]]
* [[Mathematics and art]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://www.idsia.ch/~juergen/beauty.html  Schmidhuber's Papers on Low-Complexity Art & Theory of Subjective Beauty]
*[https://www.idsia.ch/~juergen/interest.html  Schmidhuber's Papers on Interestingness as the First Derivative of Subjective Beauty]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080603221058/http://www.br-online.de/bayerisches-fernsehen/faszination-wissen/schoenheit--aesthetik-wahrnehmung-ID1212005092828.xml  Examples of  Low-Complexity Art in a German TV show (May 2008)]
*[https://www.random-art.org random-art.org], a project by computer scientist Andrej Bauer which generates random art based on a computer program.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Low-Complexity Art}}
[[Category:Computer art]]
[[Category:Computational complexity theory]]