Date of Award
Spring 5-1-2014
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Fine Arts (MFA)
Department
Graphic Design
First Advisor
Nancy Skolos
Second Advisor
Clement Valla
Third Advisor
Micha Barrett
RISD Fleet Library Catalog Record
Abstract
This thesis engages with algorithms through five interlocked arguments: 1) algorithms are an operating condition of our current era; 2) algorithms are the engine of scripted systems; 3) designers create verbal, visual, and scripted systems; 4) there is procedural pleasure in the creation and execution of systems; 5) algorithmic acts are political acts.
The algorithm in its various forms is the subject and verb of this thesis investigation. Therefore, the projects in this thesis pivot on both strict and loose definitions of the algorithm. Projects move from narrowly-scoped, tightly controlled algorithms to open, search-based algorithms. Furthermore, I set out to form an expanded field where constraints, instructions, and manifesto-like declarations act as algorithms for work.
We sever a discussion of ethics and aesthetics from a discourse of algorithms at our own peril. It is incumbent upon us to inspect each implementation for its politics and pleasures. In laying bare its own ethics, this thesis ultimately concludes that engagement with algorithms is both a necessary response to current cultural conditions as well as a valid method of response to them.
Recommended Citation
Johnson, Jerel Eugene, "Procedural Pleasures: an algorithmic manifesto" (2014). Masters Theses. 1503.
https://digitalcommons.risd.edu/masterstheses/1503
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Comments
Additional Masters Examination Committee members / advisors: Bethany Johns, and Natasha Jen.