Second Iteration : emergence is the event for anyone with an interest in the relationship between generative processes, creativity and artistic practice. The key theme will be emergence: the property of simple, interacting processes to acquire characteristics and form beyond those directly attributable to the sum of the individual components. Second Iteration will investigate the discontinuities between poeisis and physis, and how these processes influence the development of creative ideas. Following on from the highly successful First Iteration (1999), this year's conference will again be held in Melbourne, Australia.
DATA
Our continuing obsession with digitization. What is lost in the digitisation process (technically, socially and physically)? Is reality becoming more like data or data more like reality? Analysis of 'reproduction' as both a metaphor used in designing software (from the biological), and the reproduction of data (infinite, error-free, self-renewing, never-ending). Is "data as an idealization of physical acceptability" analogous to "truth as an idealization of rational acceptability"? (Hillary Putnam)
CULTURE
How is culture changing through generative processes? Are we seeing the creation of new 'software cultures' where software forgoes its notion of tool and becomes more like a vehicle for knowledge evolution? How is the scientific metaphor changing culturally as a result of new technologies? What are the primary critical issues for artists who work within the process philosophy?
GENERATION
What is it about generative processes that give them such appeal to artists? Is it the ability to create something that is more than its constituent parts (emergence), or an obsession with creation and control? How are the experiences of creator and viewer addressed in generative works?
