Computer Code as Art
p2pnet news view | Cool:- In a radio interview in November, Quincy Jones, “said the country needed a minister of culture, like France, Germany or Finland has,” said the Washington Post recently, going on, “And he said he would ‘beg’ Obama to establish the post.
“Listening in New York, Jaime Austria, a bass player with the New York City Opera, and Peter Weitzner, also a bassist, took his suggestion to heart and started the online campaign.”
So, does America need a cabinet level secretary of the arts?
The question provoked a series of fascinating exchanges from members of a list I’m on, among them, from programmer Tosh Cooey »»»
I’m wondering if computer code is not held in the same artistic and creative light as other arts because it’s purpose is 100% clear, it is never seen since only it’s results are experienced, and would require too much “knowledge” of it’s interlocutors.
Responded Marshall Eubanks »»»
I have considered some code that I have experience with (the code, not the use of it), as the near equivalent of a cathedral, with nested loops within loops having the austere beauty of an arched ceiling in a narthex.
Other code reminds me of the nests of birds, and the worst code of the tangles of sticks and stones left by a flood. What they all have in commonm is that this inner beauty (or lack thereof) rarely shows much to the user.
Washington Post – Quincy Jones Leads Chorus Urging a Cabinet-Level Arts Czar, January 14, 2009
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January 26th, 2009 at 3:35 pm
as a coder i believe that computer code is an art form and the creator needs to be given credit for his or her masterpiece of code.
i do not care if persons use my code in their applications but do require them to give me credit via REM or the application ‘About’ screen.
i do not copyright my code but do require acknowledgment for my work even if it has been modified slightly to be incorporated for each individual use.
January 27th, 2009 at 4:56 am
As another coder (rather an amateur one), I believe that computer code basically has the artistic merit of one’s brain. Mine is like unto a rats’ maze.
That said, I am more willing to believe art can be found in computer algorithms than in raw aggregate program code. And it would help if it were a graphics drawing algorithm.