Process Compendium 2004—2010 (A)

The Process series, begun in 2004, is a key work by Casey Reas, widely regarded as a leading practitioner of software-based art. The series has been especially influential in establishing the link between 20th-century conceptual art practices and contemporary generative art made with code. Its various manifestations include, most notably, the Process Compendium. 

The idea for the project originated a few years after Reas started learning to draw with code in 1999—which led, in 2001, to Processing: the hugely influential open-source programming language for creative coding, written by Reas and Ben Fry. Invited by the Whitney Museum in New York to realize a commission for its online platform, Artport, Reas decided to develop a computational twist on Sol LeWitt’s conceptual wall drawings, in which instructions are provided to be executed by others. Software Structures (2004) features three text-based “structures”—essentially, instructions—from which Reas and his collaborators produced 26 pieces of software.

The notion of instruction as artwork fed directly into Process. Each numbered work in the series, which begins at 4, consists of a text containing instructions for creating a visual environment. There are three main terms in these texts: forms (lines, circles), behaviors (move in a straight line, deviate from the current direction, and so on), and elements, which are each a form paired with one or more behaviors. Each text then specifies the elements and how they should interact. No software or hardware to generate the images is specified; they could even be drawn by hand. 

A key aspect of Process is the infinity of variations that could emerge for each work. To illustrate this point, Reas created two sets of the Process Compendium, A and B, each containing 15 black-and-white prints of images generated with Processing, using processes 4 through 18. We therefore get two different examples of the limitless possible outputs. The 19.68-by-19.68–inch prints, encased in a black anodized aluminum box, are accompanied by an index print that shows all 15 images plus the texts.

As is fitting for a project about endless variation, Reas has produced a range of other works as part of Process. Among these is Process 6 (Image 2), which displays a grid of outputs. The work is an inkjet print measuring 36 by 22 inches, released in an edition of 5 + 1AP.