Equation art

Definition

Description

Equation art is the name for an art form producing images in which the colour of each point (or pixel) is defined as a mathematical function or functions of its coordinates. In most cases there are functions for red, green and blue (the primary colours), because bitmaps represent all colours as mixtures of primary colours. Equation art is theoretically capable of producing any possible image of finite resolution and colour depth, although this is not always practical.

The creativity of the equation artist lies in finding equations that produce interesting results; the ultimate aim is to design functions to (re)produce an image one has in mind. Next to the exercise of esthetic judgment and mathematical skill, a role may be played by serendipity.

Equation art is useful for producing captchas, combined with a random number generator.

Classification

Equation art is a type of algorithmic art, and is therefore also a type of generative art. It is almost always computer-generated digital art. Individual pieces of equation art may technically be fractals, but in general fractals (such as those based on the Mandelbrot set) are not equation art. Fractal art is generally chaotic, based on recursive enumeration of functions; equation art is based on one-time evaluation of functions.

History

The earliest known pieces of equation art are RSA xor and RSA and, both created by Andrew McCann in January 2002. These pieces predate the term equation art by nearly two years.

The general concept of equation art was invented by Patrick Heddles in December 2003 as a result of a failed attempt to write a ray tracer. He coined the term equation art in December 2003.

In April 2005, Jennifer Pinyan incorporated equation art into a math curriculum for high-achieving students in the Washington DC area of the USA.

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