Fidenza by Tyler Hobbs

After the dust settled in a chaotic generative art summer of 2021, Tyler Hobbs’s Fidenza in the end remains perhaps the most celebrated. This versatile and aesthetically diverse generative algorithm stood out for its recognizable elegance.

Rooted in the flow field algorithm for which the project is now nearly synonymous, Fidenza generates intricate, (mostly) non-overlapping curves that are layered with thick, curved rectangles, creating complex, organic compositions.

The algorithm allows for a wide range of variations in turbulence, scale, and color, producing outputs that range from serene, flowing patterns to bold, chaotic structures. Hobbs spoke to this author, Peter Bauman, about his evolving views on “algorithmic aesthetics”:

“This is the way I like to precisely define where the art is now: it’s the potential output space of the generative procedure combined with the curation model.

That is to say, I think what the artist has really crafted is that output space and all the things that can happen in it. Obviously, they don’t necessarily have control over exactly what happens but to a certain extent they do because they’re also able to choose the curation model.

For example, with Fidenza, I was developing it with the knowledge that every single output could be part of the final result set. That potential output space was designed with that curation model in mind—versus QQL, where I know that it’s going to undergo heavy curation, sometimes really extreme curation.

The algorithm can have a completely different type of output space and be successful and to ignore the curation model would be an oversight. So I think that’s where the art really lies but I think the results are probably the best way to judge the success of those other things—the tangible, observable effects. I think the art has already been, in some ways, created before those final outputs are even seen.”