[alife] Special Issue CFP

[Penousal Machado]

A Special Issue of the Journal of Mathematics and Art
Mathematical Models used in Aesthetic Evaluation

Guest Editors: Gary Greenfield and Penousal Machado

By sampling across the broad spectrum of mathematical models currently being 
used by researchers in visual arts and music, this special issue will chronicle 
the state of the art when algorithmically evaluating works of art on the basis 
of their aesthetic content.

Despite its long history, the problem of automating aesthetic evaluation remains 
a difficult and challenging one. In the 1930s, G..D. Birkhoff first proposed 
using M = O/C, where O is order and C is complexity, to evaluate “pleasing 
polygons" and “elegant vases". In the 1960s, Max Bense led a movement to use 
information theory to “obtain a vector or scalar measurement of the aesthetics 
of a work of art." In the 1970s, Stiny and Gips introduced shape grammars as a 
means for algorithmically specifying aesthetics in painting and sculpture. In 
the 1990s, in response to the growing popularity of evolutionary computation, 
researchers began to investigate mathematical models for aesthetic evaluation 
within the context of generative art systems. That is, they began to study how 
to identify visual and audio material that might be of aesthetic interest to 
humans when a prohibitively large number of compositions needed to be evaluated.

This special issue will focus on current efforts to investigate a wide variety 
of mathematical models under the umbrella of algorithmic aesthetics for 
automating aesthetic evaluation within different problem domains. Submissions 
should be in accord with the general guidelines for submissions to the Journal 
of Mathematics and Art (see Instructions for Authors).

       Deadline for Submissions: August 1, 2011; early submissions appreciated.
       Send submissions to: ggreenfi at richmond.edu as an email attachment.
       For more information, contact Penousal Machado at machado at dei.uc.pt.