A case study in software for artists Max MSP and Pd
There's no guarantee that someone who has long worked in any given field will be the best person to describe the workings of that field itself. So the following writings about software and art, written by one who makes the software, should be regarded as coming from a special point of view. It's an experienced one, to be sure, but it's nothing like an unfiltered one. The following thoughts are drawn from my experiences of the last twentyseven years, trying to write software for artists wishing to realize interactive works of art. At the beginning I focussed more narrowly on live performed music using computers; but the scope of the project has gradually widened to include other media (video and graphics; networking; robotics) and other modes of presentation (installations; studio production) That said, my own personal interest is in new musical possibilities. Although it is possible for software to project itself artistically, and/or for art to address software or the overall computing experience itself, I will take a more conventional attitude in which software, and the computer, are regarded as tools for art making, to be seen in the artist's studio but not directly by the viewing public. Still, the design of software for art making has a crucial impact on what the artist will eventually be able to create, and an appreciation for what artists are making, or want to make, should ideally be at the root of the software's design. Software and the artist Software artists make software, of course, but at one level or another any software artist must use tools. These might be the toggle switches on the panel of a PDP8 or the newest HCI gadget; in any case there is always some interface or other and, therefore, always the need for someone to think about the design of interfaces that could be of use to an artist. How can this be done in such a way as to make it easy for the artist to do things, the best of which probably weren't at all in the mind of the tool designer?