At its basis it’s an Alan Turing issue: what’s the relationship between the cognition systems of these artists, who are human beings, and the computational systems that are their means of artistic expression?
In some ways it’s a traditional art-critic problem, like with, say, two violinists. You’ve got the elderly virtuoso violin player who’s flawless but kind of sawing away, and his nephew the wild man who’s bringing the house down by playing like a passionate slob. A matter of taste, and the wild guy is going to grow into the old guy, that’s metabolic.
However, computational systems aren’t analog violins. They’re unstable, fluid, and dynamic — they’re platforms, environments, ecosystems. They’re kits and they’re clouds. They’re languages, and sketchbooks, and compilers, and compositors. I could give you more of these synonyms, similes, and metaphors. Like I said, I’m a writer, I’ve got plenty.
