Functional = Beautiful

Living objects found in nature took their form not by how attractive they are aesthestically, but how useful their functions are. Yet, almost everything we find in nature is stunningly gorgeous. Man-made objects often sacrifice functionality to keep its beautfiul form, but is statistically less beautiful than living things. Why?
, and Manhattan Bridge is an ongoing subject for me. It is a functional utilitarian object created not for its beauty, but for its function. Like nature, living things take their forms not by its appeal, but by its necessity.

On photography

Photography is a very good and effective way to study composition.

I started using photography as a mean to study composition when I bought my first digital camera. For the first time, I was able to capture and review my visual decisions instantly. The immediate visual feedback is powerful

For most people, photography brings back memories of particular moments and events. For me, photography brings back memories of how I used to see. It serves as a visual diary of how I interpret what my eyes see. It enables me to analyze and criticize my visual decisions, and enables me to catalog my progress along the way.

Theorizing aesthetics

I have always had an idea of theorizing aesthetics. I believe that aesthetic judgement, though seemingly abstract, can be quantified. And through the discovery of these aesthetics principals, it is possible to programmatically create aesthetic composition through programmatic algorithms. My goal, for this continuing study, is ultimately to create the art generator.

Artists don't like this view of the world. The larger part of the design community, will in fact tell you that designers should be ashamed of themselves if their designs were formed by theory. I, on the other hand, believe that it should in fact be seen as an advantage.

The music communite has created many variants of algorithm-based music generators (http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/java/library/j-camusic/) Artists have long utilize color theories in their paintings. Itten, from the Bauhaus, wrote a monumental book called The Elements of Color on the subject matter. The language of architecture and urban planning was eloquently catalogued in Christopher Alexander's A Pattern Language. This book on architecture has in turn inspired four programmers (Gang of Four) to write a book called Design Patterns, which revolutionized the object-oriented programming space. So why is the art and design community so afraid of composition theories?