New Art: From Computational Thinking to Computational Action
Computational thinking solves problems through ordered steps (algorithm design), decomposition or breaking down data, processes, or problems into smaller, manageable parts, pattern recognition, and abstraction. To create the image above I went through the following steps:
Step 1 — Use Processing programming language to write code
Step 2 — Use a Leap Motion controller to “draw” arrays
Step 3 — Make a screenshot of the drawing and upload it to Deep Dream
Step 4 — Use Neural Style Transfer in Deep Dream to apply the drawing style
Step 5 — Import the Deep Dream result back into Processing; stop at step 2
Students who just know the basic syntax of coding are often unable to apply this knowledge to solve problems (Lister et al. 2004). Plus, as other researchers have found, students are motivated by computational action, not just computational thinking (Tissenbaum et al. 2019). Computational action situates computation in real-world contexts and problems.
The top portrait is the result of my collaboration with artificial intelligence; algorithms were used to create a portrait, requiring an understanding of coding and imaging/visual art. I’ve done this type of project with high school students. AI portraiture and other examples show computational action and computational identity, which acknowledges the importance of creators seeing themselves as capable of coming up with computational solutions.
Zimbabwe-born, U.S.-based artist Nontsikelelo Mutiti links computation to language and local knowledge through “Morning O,” a program that plays the transcript of a hair braiding appointment in Johannesburg, South Africa in real time. The software repeatedly stamps a black and white motif in the spaces between sentences(conversation), to create a braided pattern.
Guillermo Bert’s “La Bestia” was created in collaboration with a community of Mayan weavers in Guatemala. The code in the textile (see below) triggers a video interview with a migrant and was created using the artist’s innovative laser etching technique.
Amelia Winger-Bearskin remixed the ‘wampum’, a complex negotiated treaty or contract in a public ledger governed by individuals, nation states, and nations. Wampum was the abstraction for a unit of exchange, functioning much like a modern-day block chain transaction.
In these examples computational identity (i.e., heritage, culture) and digital empowerment are just as important as learning/doing computation. For scholars the formation of computational identity requires:
- Being responsible for articulating and designing personal solutions, rather than working toward predetermined “right” answers.
- Feeling that this work is authentic to the practices and products of broader communities.
Supporting the formation of digital empowerment requires:
- Situating activities and development in contexts that are authentic and personally relevant.
- Creating work that has the potential to make an impact in peoples’ own lives or their communities.
- Feeling capable of pursuing new computational opportunities as a result of current work.
Artists are establishing their own techno-vernacular processes and approaches to computation, which is likely very different from what is presented in formal learning settings. On the other hand, it is this approach to creative production that can be used to apply this (personal/cultural) knowledge to solve problems, including in classrooms.
References
Raymond Lister, Elizabeth S. Adams, Sue Fitzgerald, William Fone, John Hamer, Morten Lindholm, Robert McCartney, Jan Erik Moström, Kate Sanders, Otto Seppälä, Beth Simon, and Lynda Thomas. 2004. A multi-national study of reading and tracing skills in novice programmers. SIGCSE Bull. 36, 4 (June 2004), 119–150.
Tissenbaum, Mike & Sheldon, Josh & Abelson, Hal. (2019). From computational thinking to computational action. Communications of the ACM. 62. 34–36.