Art Meets Coding: Matt Kane talks with NIFTIES

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Originally published June 20, 2020 on Nifties.com

Hi Matt! You designed the software you now use to create your artworks. Do you consider coding as an art form in itself? 

My approach to coding is similar to making a representational drawing, going from the general to more specific. You initially block in your major forms – or in the case of coding, variables and functions. Then there’s this back and forth between additive and reductive actions, comparing what you have to what you want. Just as a draftsman moves their attention between their subject matter and their sketchpad, a coder goes back and forth between a code’s output and their coding editor. Both continually fine-tune until the outcome meets their intention. Often, there’s still something that could be critiqued or improved. With experience and setting personal standards of excellence, the practitioner doesn’t consider something complete until it rises to that level. And if you’re lucky, there are Bob Ross ‘happy accidents’ along the way. On great occasion, we have to tear everything up and start over from scratch. So the process itself between art-making and code writing is very similar.

Code is little more than elegantly crafted instructions; shorthand which is interpretable. And it’s the interpretation which carries so many aspects of performance and variability. Sometimes the result is deemed good. More often, it falls short of reaching the expectations of the creator or public. I say this tongue in cheek, but that sounds a lot like art.

We’re still learning how to assess code as art. Is it elegance? Usability? The substance of the output? Does it even need to run or can it stand alone like a poem? I regard Sol Lewitt’s wall drawing instruction pieces of the 1970s as some early examples of code art. Instead of utilizing a computer, he used human assistants on gallery walls. He proved early on that code doesn’t require computers. Every artwork I make could be interpreted by computer, by plotter, by humans, by some technology that hasn’t even been invented yet. Code and math are a future proof medium.  

“Sol LeWitt at MASS MoCA” by Len Radin is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

I think we can become very hung up on art as object – or consumer good. But for me, if something contains the ability to express – there’s an opportunity for someone to regard it as art. 

Is there some other esthetic you still wish to explore through your software?  

There’s more I’ve explored than I’ve shared. For instance, when I began this project six years ago, I was very interested in the concept of artificial intelligence. I wanted to encapsulate as much of my studio knowledge and life experience as I could into my software. At the time, machine learning and GANs hadn’t advanced much and weren’t used for art yet. So my notion of ‘AI’ was more along the lines of procedural instruction and complex algorithms than the neural networks we think of AI as today. In this vein, I broke down my studio scribble and cross-hatch drawing techniques into algorithms that functioned precisely how I work with a real-life pencil, as a human, observing a subject. I haven’t utilized or shared much of that. And there’s plenty of other experiments and projects which haven’t seen the light of day yet.  



Speaking of six years ago and how I chose to pursue the aesthetic I’ve become known for. I decided that making art with code was relatively accomplishable from the start. Especially abstract or geometric styled art. But to make art in my own representational style I’d already developed – that would be a worthwhile challenge. Something that might take years and at the time, I knew I had years to dedicate myself to something worthwhile. That was what I was interested in doing; to join two disparate chapters of my life into something cohesive, where I could thrive as the sum of my experience. 

Is there an art piece or project you are particularly fond of? Why is it significant to you?

I’m fond of them all. I think my most recent piece, “Architects of the Future,” is extra special. On a personal level, it brought a dark chapter in my life to a moment of self-actualization and perhaps closed that circle. I’m proud to share more things in common with Buckminster Fuller than I’d care to admit. Being able to share some of his wisdom and shine a light on him felt very appropriate and quite a kismet for how the quote I featured found its way into my life. On a broader scope, making the piece was just so much a labor of love for the people in this community. And it made me think about what messages belong to money and how we celebrate our heroes. I think this work might be one that influences further works. 

You somehow “tune in” to color in your practice. Is there a piece of music or daily activity that helps you with that?  

The tuning in to color might be a form of synesthesia, I’m not sure. It started very young in an effort to turn my family’s black and white television into color. My working theory is that I created some neural pathways, doing that while my brain was still so pliable. It works best in the absence of color, but I’ve cultivated it to work over anything.

Tuning in to color doesn’t require much for me. Sometimes I flip it on just to check it’s still there. Like right now, my coffee cup is a melon yellow with a vibrating neon pink and orange outline, sitting on a radioactive green table with a pulsing dark purple diamond pattern. In truth, it’s a bland white mug on a boring black table. My favorite thing to do is tune in to color while walking around art galleries or art museums. Some of the works explode and I get really excited seeing them this way. That’s an aspect to what inspired some of my art historical master copies; just wanting to share that experience with others– what the world looks like to me.

Tuning, as part of my art practice, doesn’t work properly if I’m not in the proper mindset though. I have a rule never to force things. If I’m not in the mood to paint, I don’t paint. If I’m not in the mood to write, I don’t write. Same with anything where the quality of my performance is at stake. Mindset is very important. There’s difficulty in switching between them because each mindset requires 100% of the stage. They don’t play well with one another at any given time. So if I want to paint, I generally go to bed the night before with this intention for the morning. Or I’ll go for a walk and then meditate twenty minutes. Setting mental intention and taking time to reset and prepare is everything.

Music doesn’t hurt or help the tuning. The best I can do is have clarity and peace of mind – but maybe music helps me reach that flow-state where nothing requires any effort. About 10 years ago, the colors stopped for a while. It was probably equal parts of depression and not being particularly healthy at the time. Instead of colors, I saw patterns and varying degrees of dark and light – so I developed some art processes around that. 

Your work references art history but also addresses current issues, calling us to build our own future. Do you think our choices in the (crypto) art world can affect other aspects of our reality?  

Creatively, there’s an opportunity to redefine what digital art is, what it means to own digital art; what that experience looks like for collector, artist, and public alike. This is the most obvious reality we affect. But beyond that, yes we can affect other aspects of reality. Because art has the innate ability to inspire and influence by connecting with people’s hearts, the choices we make in the crypto art community can act as a gateway drug for inspiring other industries.  

The traditions we begin, the tenor we treat one another, how we define art patronage, the ethos we bake into our contracts, the protocols we use – they all have the potential to stick around for a long time. Or at least have a heavy influence on what does stick around. Most of us grew up in the decline of the industrial revolution, inheriting traditions begun at least a hundred years before our time. Those systems became increasingly corrupt, favoring growth for the few over the well-being of the many. Reality has an opportunity to change globally; now more than ever.

For me, the most critical reality we can influence is opening a heart to the fact they are not alone. The world can feel very isolating and unfeeling at times because cold breeds cold and our warped systems have left quite a chilling legacy. But warmth can breed warmth just the same. I see that happening here in our crypto art community. What does it feel like to be a human being in a time of border-less, permission-less community that encourages rather than deflates? How can smart contracts circumvent the snail pace of corrupt legislation? Are there laws that don’t need to be laws, but simply be accepted practice across our smart-contracts? In terms of solving the problem of artist royalties and creating a new era in art patronage, we are showing the world that the smart contract is mightier than senators, congressmen, and presidents. Where else can we prove that? How can what we’re doing here influence other sectors to skirt the dirt of special interest dollars that have left so many behind? Right now on my website, I’m using NFT’s to authenticate identity and grant collectors exclusive experiences related to the art they’ve collected. No passwords or usernames, just digital wallet diligence. How can that notion of NFT as identity inspire other industries? This community is a grand experiment with limitless potential to inspire and influence the outside world. The reality is that much of the world is sick right now and has been for some time; long before this virus. If we can show the world what a healthy and sustainable community looks like, it will go a long way toward mainstream adoption. People prefer to be healthy, want to be loved, want to be connected to inspiring people. We can be those people. We can become the model that makes the old model obsolete. 

Interview by art editor and curator Chiara Braidotti