The importance of authorship in art has been discussed for decades, putting in question the act\u00a0of appropriation. Although this word usually comes with negative connotations, it can be a concept of great innovation in the art world; like when Robert Rauschenberg erased a De Kooning drawing in 1953, or when Andy Warhol reproduced popular culture in his screenprints.<\/p>\n
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When it comes to generative design, an “appropriation,” of sorts, can be done through algorithms that explore and calculate all possible solutions to a problem; extending what can be done by the human brain, and mimicking nature’s evolutionary approach to design. By doing that, graphic designers\u00a0have changed our perception of design as made by a single author, and Echo Yang<\/a>\u00a0has taken this concept to another level. By\u00a0placing obsolete machines like hand-powered alarm clocks, mechanical toys and basic home appliances at center stage, Yang exposes their internal algorithms and from that, produces beautiful artwork.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Yang says, “my experiments in this domain of obsolete machines reveal their internal algorithms. Instead of creating these algorithms, I simply adopt and then visualize them.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Whether you agree with her practice or not, you have to admit it’s pretty amazing to watch.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n