Can a process be generatively generative? I ponder this as I reflect on ‘CyberStructures’. The germ of this exploration began with ‘Mappings’, BrainDrops, August 30, 2023. In that collection I explored distant, aerial views across a series of topographical and constructed landscapes. Exploring a distant view motif in ‘Mappings’ felt like the beginning of an inquiry, not a resolution. I knew I would return to the subject. Around this body of work there were numerous projects that examined themes connected to my past as painter and coder, usually connected through an emergent generative aesthetic, now front and center in the web3 space, but for me a through line to a creative coding practice of nearly 30 years.

As a painter, the residue of the medium and process is an inherent characteristic to the physical material. As one advances in the craft, one learns to appreciate, even cherish, these procedural artifacts that take on a life of their own, manifestations of less conscious impulses. These material gems often carry a special weight and resonance in the work; think of the scumbling on the face of a Rembrandt self-portrait, or the peripatetic tracings in a Giacometti painting. For a long time, I’ve thought about how physical artifacts manifest in the digital, often jocularly referring to such phenomena as code drippings.

I began prompting, for what would become ‘CyberStructures’, thinking about computer architectures as vast landscapes: circuitry, roadways, components, building and structures. There were whimsical explorations as well that became past projects: ‘Ancient Automata’, Bright Moments, Venice CA, July 22, 2023 and ‘Machinations:CandyPuter.OE’, Objkt.com, July 5, 2023. My original name for this collection was ‘CyberCities’, with my initial impulse to generate as much scale and complexity as I could conjure out of the AI. This exploration went on for months, through thousands of iterations.

Though I liked many of the outputs from this initial development, something still remained unresolved for me, so I continued prompting and iterating. It wasn’t until I eventually let go of the name and radically shifted the prompt structure that I began to glimpse where this project could evolve to. In that sense, the process (as it’s really always been for me), is purely generative, even when prompting against a discrete generative system.

Thousands of ‘CyberStructures’ were generated to create this extremely focused collection. Often, images with good beginnings would be discarded as repetitive remixing and radical image expansion destroyed them. However, this rigorous and relentless process ultimately led to a body of work I am extremely proud and excited to release.

Ira Greenberg, Santa Fe, NM
March 12, 2024