How do dynamic paintings differ from 3D cartoon films and computer games?

Computer games and 3D films have a finite duration, they have an end. After the action is finished they stop or repeat again. Technically, during the creation of 3D content the work of the artist (the 3-D specialist or animator) most closely resembles that of a sculptor. The artist creates three-dimensional models of objects which are then seen from different angles and in different positions. Dynamic painting on the other hand consists of infinite, never-repeating video sequences generated in real time instead of being produced in advance. The basic advantage of dynamic painting consists of the unpredictability of the image. The spectator can always see something new that has never been displayed before. 3D films or computer games do not have that advantage because all of their visual factors are programmed in advance.

Is it possible to call a dynamic painting a `screensaver’?

Yes it is possible. But it will be quite an expensive screensaver.

Could a dynamic painting be considered the creation of an artificial intellect because of the fact that it is not drawn nor morphed by the artist but more by the computer?

This is not true. If adhering to this logic, singing is the only true type of music and everything that the musician makes using technical devices (all acoustic instruments including electronic ones) can be considered a non-human mechanically composed sound. But for some reason nobody thinks that the electronic synthesizer itself composes music. The role of a computer in dynamic painting is no greater than the role of a synthesizer in music. It is just a device that a person is using to create something.

A piece of art is considered to be a material object like a canvas with paint, or a sculpture, etc... Dynamic painting is a piece of soft ware running on a computer and tv set. How is it possible to call DP a work of art if you can copy the program and then purchase a computer with a tv in any shop? What would be an original piece and what would be a copy?

In the same way it is possible to say that music is not a work of art because it does not exist in a material context. What is the original of a piece of music? Is it the notes written by the composer on paper, or the same notes published and recorded then played again and again with various improvisations? Digital recordings of music can be duplicated without loss of quality but nobody doubts that music is art. A work of art it something created by a person in the time of great influence by their emotional condition. It is not important by what mean that influence is transferred. Music uses the acoustical channel, painting – the visual. Originals and copies are a creation of the business world of art. For the businessman the importance of the “originality” of paint smeared on a canvas is enough to warrant a price of 20 million dollars while precisely the same canvas but without the certificate of authenticity would cost only 20 dollars. At the end the viewer does not look at the certificate but at the picture itself and if its emotional and aesthetic qualities are precisely the same, what difference does it make whether it is original or just a copy?
Dynamic picture (as well as any digital art) can truly be copied without loss of quality. There are no distinguishing differences between a copy and an original as this is impossible in the computer world. Perhaps this should be considered a benefit rather than a disadvantage of this kind of art. If someone wants to have an original digital picture and to hold it in the safe, it is possible to purchase the master-file and CERTIFICATE. Specifically, the certificate will have a collectors value, while the picture can be circulated and provide pleasure to thousands of people.

The same dynamic picture can produce thousand of "screenshots" without any efforts from the artist. Does this bring down the status quo and creativity of traditional artists?

Before the development of photography artists spent many patient hours struggling to copy and perfect still images. In the 19th century a mechanical device was created which did the same thing. In what measure did the occurrence of a photo discredit painters? There certainly were some problems with this, but now photography has become an independent type of art and there are no conflicts between the two. At any moment the dynamic picture can be stopped and transformed into a static one. It is then possible to print the image on canvas with very high resolution. This print will be unique as precisely the same image will never be repeated in the original dynamic picture. This process is very similar to photography where it is necessary to find (and wait for) an interesting moment which you then capture. It does not demand a lot of effort but patience and good taste are required. It is necessary to understand that the dynamic picture does not create at all times absolutely different images; it is only a variation of the SAME picture. Therefore all static images will be variations of the same plot. They can strongly differ in details but the general plot, the composition and the aesthetics will be constant and the same.

Do dynamic paintings remind us of children’s toys such as the “kaleidoscope”?

It does remind us of it. The kaleidoscope allows us to create a million combinations of images by means of the elementary system of three mirrors and several splinters of color glass. It is ingenious that a kaleidoscope is able to create symmetric patterns from a finite set of colors. The dynamic picture reminds us of a kaleidoscope because it also generates millions of variations of images but with this their similarity comes to an end.

Where can dynamic pictures be used?

Like any traditional painting, a dynamic painting can be used as interior decoration. A dynamic picture on a wall favourably differs from a static one because it is always new and different. Instead of the same picture you have an infinite quantity of variations. At the same time, any specific image on the dynamic painting display can be made static until the transformation is told to start once again. In a dynamic picture clouds float and trees move. It is really a live representation. Aside from home decoration these pictures can also be used in waiting areas such as a doctor’s reception room or a hotel lobby to help pass the time. The dynamic picture is an excellent tool for relaxation and meditation. The images vary slowly allowing a viewer to enter a stress-free state or a type of “trance”. It is reminiscent of watching clouds in motion. The changing images put the imagination to work helping the viewer to relax and rest.

How do you work on an image?

At the very beginning of a process, the work I undertake to create a Dynamic Painting isn’t that much different from work required to create a regular painting. First of all, I pick a subject and a main composition of the painting. At that time I also select a color arrangement. The difference from regular painting is that dynamic painting isn’t just one “frozen” composition with fixed colors, but rather a set of all possible combinations that could be generated later by a computer. Each of these combinations has to be pleasant to the eye and I go through a much more rigorous process of picking colors than most artists do. For example, a painting done in a conservative color scheme shouldn’t have garish patches; or vice versa, a vibrant painting should be done in an appropriate color gamma, without dark moody colors. The computer doesn’t think up colors or shapes, it only creates variations of my concept. So it places a burden on me as an artist to think of not only composition and colors (as artists of static paintings do), but also to account for their transformations over time.

What software are you using?

The Dynamic Painting is a program, and for each new Dynamic Painting I write a unique program. There is no off the shelf software that would allow you to create something even remotely similar to my art. I’m both a programmer and an artist, so when it comes to a Dynamic Painting, a computer is my “canvas” and the code I write is my “paint”. When an artist creates a painting, you can think of a conceptual connection between an original idea and the final painting as “brain – hand – canvas”. In my case the scheme is a bit more complicated, but not drastically different: “brain – hand – computer code – computer display”. As you can see, the creative part (brain - hand) is effectively the same in traditional art and in my works. Everything is defined by an artist’s concept. By changing parameters of the program that displays a Dynamic Painting you won’t get different artistic concepts, just different variations of the painting. This is why each time I have to write a unique program for a new Dynamic Painting concept.

How old is the software? Are you developing it further? How has the is, how has your work changed over the years?

Since there is no existing software that would generate the images and their variations the way I do, and the painting actually are the software, the first question is kind of irrelevant. Since each Dynamic Painting is a new program, you could say that the software is in a constant development. I could reuse and share some portions of computer code between different paintings, but majority of the code and algorithms describing artistic concepts are unique for each painting. Over the years that I’ve been perfecting the concept of Dynamic Painting, I’ve come a long way from fairly simple images to extremely complicated concepts you can see in my latest works. All this hard work paid off and I could proudly say that in terms of concepts and execution I’m years ahead of anybody else creating some type of generative visual art.

How does your work on pictures look like? Are you sitting in front a computer? What are you doing? How do you check (possible) results?

Most of my time I spend at the computer, coding up the algorithms for the paintings. Besides that, I spend a lot of time choosing color compositions. Most often I do that by painting color blobs by hand and later scanning them into a computer. Each Dynamic painting requires several hundred of these palettes. The work on a Dynamic Painting somewhat resembles painting with regular paints. I implement a fragment, reassess how it looks, how it transforms. If I like the result, I add it to the final composition; otherwise I go back and rewrite the code. It’s a very time consuming process and requires a lot of iterations. Creation of a new Dynamic Painting could take from several days to several weeks.

How are your works displayed? What software and hardware do they require?

To display a Dynamic Painting one would need a computer with a powerful video card. At San Base Studio we can provide a completely set up Dynamic Painting system that includes all the required hardware and software to bring Dynamic Paintings to life.

Do you see programming as something completely different from your work on paintings? Or is it a tool, a part of your art?

As I mentioned it earlier, the Dynamic Painting is a program. As such, it’s absolutely impossible to separate programming from the art. In this case, programming becomes a part of the art creation process. This is an art form of a new digital millennium. 

There is a wide range of people appreciating art out there: from housewives to art critics. Let’s say they have learned about the existence of the living painting and posed a simple question to you “What’s this?” Please describe what they’d see and why should they consider your work.

When someone glances at the painting, he or she won’t see anything unusual at first, just a painting, hopefully in good taste. Should the same person look at it 10 minutes later, he or she would be staring at a totally different picture! My guess is, now this person begins to look at the picture carefully and notices that the painting is slowly changing all the time. The shapes and colors smoothly morph one into another. It resembles the movement of clouds across the sky. But clouds are void of structure, and my works have definitions, there is a subject matter, there is a theme. The living painting always endeavors for new variants of expression, and it is never quite finished. It is like watching an artist at work. Some works are excellent, others not so much. An infinite quest for perfection.

When you create new painting do you use pre-defined images? Do you visualize the end result of your work? Or is the computer that applies its “creativity” to the final outcome?

We ought not to treat the computer as a thinking machine. It is at best a very, very complex calculator. The computer does not feel anything; and everything you see on its screen, is man-made. The same goes for my art. The computer is just the means. An artist has his tools - brushes, a sculptor – a chisel. I create paintings, and the computer just displays them. Off course, I do not generate the infinite number of all possible combinations and permutations. I generate the initial color palettes and forms (approximately 1,000 of initial images are done manually). Furthermore, I create the program, which transforms colors and shapes. In other words, I prescribe its future behavior. After that, the painting begins to live on it own.

If someone wishes to master the technology of dynamic painting, will you share your invention with others? Will dynamic paintings grow in popularity? Do you suppose it is the genre of future?

I will begin with the second question: I’m confident, that dynamic paintings will be widespread in the near future. Today the only obstacle is the equipment cost. A good quality high definition flat display along with the computer could entail many thousands of dollars. But as we all know, electronic goods are getting better all the time while its price keeps on dropping. With the advent of large and inexpensive flat screens, this new movement in art will become extremely popular. The benefits of this genre are obvious: an endless supply of unprecedented and unpredictable paintings in the place of one static image. The technique that I’ve contrived for a dynamic painting, guarantees always a new juxtaposition of colors and shapes in an abstract picture. On a landscape there would be moving clouds, darting birds, and trees swaying in the wind. And seasons, the painting would change in seasons. Unlike a movie, the painting never ends and never repeats itself. It has a life of its own. Science fiction? Not at all, this is a very near future. As far as students of this form of art are concerned, they must possess two talents: the depictive skill and computer programming. I am not saying there are no such people, I myself am an artist and computer programmer, but I do know other people with the same combination of skills. I do not intend to make a secret of this technology; I am ready to share it with talented folks.

Is it possible to acquire a dynamic painting for a private use today? What equipment is required to connect it at home?

Certainly, it’s possible. Today each dynamic painting is custom made, so the owner can enjoy the one and only copy of his own. The work on a new painting takes from one to several weeks. As soon as the sale is made, the original is destroyed. We also offer limited editions - when a small number of copies are made. Of course, all the paintings are different at any given point in time, even within the same batch. I realize that today only people with the means above average can acquire dynamic paintings. On the other hand, the dynamic painting is something truly unique without any precedence! It is the art of the XXI century. There are no special technical requirements for a Dynamic Painting. A power outlet is all it takes. A flat screen TV plays the role of canvas, a small device provides a video feed to the TV. The screen is mounted on a wall, the Dynamic Painting display system can is placed somewhere out of the way, where it won’t be seen. That’s all. Once is system is turned, it always stays on.