1-In Code art, the artist rarely works alone. Instead she calls upon the power of code to assist. Give examples of different kinds of codes that Code Artists use & abuse to create their work. Given this "procedural" approach, how do you distinguish this kind of creativity from art made with pen & ink or paint & canvas? How has the artists' role changed? How has the art changed?

Some examples of codes that are used/abused are Mandelbrot’s “iteration” method, which is “a method of solving an equation by repeatedly adding together increments toward the answer until the sum is close enough to suggest the correct result.”  (Pg. 18.)  There is also the Binary Code, with John F. Simon Jr.’s “Every Icon”.  This is the code: Given a 32 X 32 grid, allow any element of the grid to be black or white and show every icon.  There are also Musgrave’s fractal algorithms, recursive algorithms that create landscapes.  

You distinguish this kind of creativity from the “pen and ink/paint on canvas” art by realizing that the computer is not the creator.  The artist created the parameters of the code, and can tweak values to create their ultimate piece.  

The artists’ role has become “generative artist”, who celebrate ugly, and who focus on the code itself.   They create a process, and the machine carries it out.          

2-What function distinguishes the artistic use of code from a merely technical use? Give some examples of this function in a few art works from the chapter.

“Code artists deviate from the potential utility inherent in software by perverting the original use of the code to a speculative critical end.  This playful perversity distinguishes the artistic use of the code from the merely technical one.”  (Pg. 25).  Some examples include haywire popup window from jodi.org and ‘CODeDOC’ exhibition curated by Christiane Paul of the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York.        

3-Give examples of three misuses of browser technology to create art. What was the nature of the misuse/creative use and what was the effect? What issues were raised?

Three misuses of browser technology include: 1.  The pop open browser window, which is overused by ad companies and porn websites.   However it has been used as art, with Joan Heemskerk and Dirk Paesmans and the blue square zigzagging across the screen.  As a result of the popups, disabling popups has become a feature.  2.  Alternative browsers, the best known being Web Stalker.  It has multiple windows, and a map window that takes the URL you are on and shows connections to other sites.  Is this mapping considered art?  That is the issue that is raised.  3. Mark Napier’s “Shredder”.  It slices up web pages, showing text and image.  It shows the “underbelly” of the websites, that they webmasters and designers have covered purposefully.           

4-Give an example for each of the following: code as syntax, code as tool, and code as experience.

Code as syntax: Mary Anne Breeze’s “mezangelle”.

Code as tool: Adobe Illustrator.

Code as experience: Lewitt’s wall drawing “Ten Thousand Lines”