INTRODUCTION

EvoMUSART2006 is the fourth workshop of the EvoNet working group on Evolutionary Music and Art. Following the success of previous events and the growth of interest in the field, the main goal of EvoMUSART2006 is to bring together researchers who are using biological inspired techniques for artistic tasks, providing the opportunity to promote, present and discuss ongoing work in the area.

The workshop will be held from 10-12 April, 2006 in Budapest, Hungary, as part of the EuroGP & EvoCOP2006 event.

This year, the exhibition component of the workshop is entitled “Process Revealed”, and focuses on the disclosure and explanation of the processes involved in artistic creation. “Process revealed” considers the generative, the algorithmic and the evolved in relation to analytical, performative possibilities. The submission of works for “Process Revealed” is independent from the submission of papers.

Process Revealed at Artpool P60

Artpool's art space provides a unique showcase for Process Revealed. 19 works from 8 different countries are presented. They include video and audio works, generative software programmes, installations and live performance. The exhibition seeks to explore some of the processes and the relationships between score, image, text and sound. Focusing on the gaps between output and process, ideas and experience, between abstract concepts and their relation to the tangible, process revealed considers the generative, the algorithmic and the evolved in relation to analytical, performative possibilities. The issue is to examine the complex relationship between time-based and static or visual art forms as they converge and mutate one into the other.

It is entirely appropriate that Process Revealed is hosted by Artpool, a unique research centre and art space which has presented new trends in art, and of artistic tools and resources since the late 1970s. The Artpool Art Research Center's archive and library house primarily documents relating to the Hungarian avant-garde movements of the 1970s and 1980s as well as sources of international trends of the past 30 years.

Process Revealed is a new venture for European Conference on Evolutionary Music and Art. For the first time a curated exhibition is running concurrently with the 4 th European Conference on Evolutionary Music and Art. The application of Evolutionary Computation in the development of creative systems is a new, exciting and significant area of research. There is a growing interest in the application of these techniques in fields such as: art and music generation, analysis and interpretation; architecture; and design. Following the success of previous conferences, the main goal of the conference is to bring together researchers who are using Evolutionary Computation in these fields.

How might the generative be described? Generative art is a contested term but it describes a strategy for developments in contemporary artistic practice. It is typically connected with software abstractions. Code becomes an aesthetic material, code affects both the artistic process, the end result and the materiality of algorithms. The generative is composed, or constructed through computer software algorithms, or similar mathematical or mechanical autonomous processes. There are many examples in Process Revealed that demonstrate the vitality of new emergent forms. To accompany the exhibition there will be a DVD of works selected with brief artists' biographical statements and supporting documents. There will be a public live performance on the closing night of the exhibition.

Curators: Janis Jefferies, Professor of Visual Arts, Goldsmiths College & Tim Blackwell, Department of Computing, Goldsmiths College (GB)