Christian Lölkes
Christian Lölkes (*1990 in White Plains, NY) works at DFS, the German air traffic control provider. There, he builds data centres for mission-critical software and infrastructure. Clean code and accurate documentation form the basis of his work. He studied Electrical and Information Technology at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), and in his free time he is passionate about media art and the idea that programming is a creative task and that programmers are therefore also artists.
Session
This workshop explores generative art and aims at participants who are already familiar with a programming language and interested in exploring their artistic potential. We will examine cellular automata as a framework for generating visual systems, drawing inspiration from well-known models such as Conway's Game of Life.
The workshop combines short explanatory sections, live coding demos, and guided participant exercises. Participants will implement rule-based simulations, experiment with parameter spaces, and transform iterative processes into visually compelling outputs. Throughout the workshop, we will discuss emergence, complexity and the role of controlled randomness in creative coding.
To provide context, the workshop will also introduce key moments in the history and theory of media art. We will briefly connect computational art practices to early generative pioneers, reflecting on how rule-based systems have shaped artistic discourse. This historical and theoretical framework will give participants a deeper understanding of generative art as a cultural and conceptual practice rather than just a technique.
Attendees will leave with practical strategies for structuring generative systems and visualising performance, as well as inspiration to integrate artistic experimentation into their technical work.