This thesis is about algorithmic creation in the arts - where an artist, designer or composer uses a formal generative process to assist in crafting forms and patterns - and approaches to finding effective input parameter values to these generative processes for aesthetic ends. Framed in three practical studies, approaches to navigating the aesthetic possibilities of generative processes in sound and visuals are presented, and strategies for eliciting the preferences of the consumers of the generated output are explored. The first study presents a musical interface that enables navigation of the possibilities of a stochastic generative process with respect to measures of subjective predictability. Through a mobile phone version of the application, aesthetic preferences are crowd-sourced. The second study presents an eye-tracking based framework for the exploration of the possibilities afforded by generative designs; the interaction between the viewers' gaze patterns and the system engendering a fluid navigation of the state-space of the visual forms. The third study presents a crowd-sourced interactive evolutionary system, where populations of abstract colour images are shaped by thousands of preference selections from users worldwide For each study, the results of analyses eliciting the attributes of the generated outputs - and their associated parameter values - that are most preferred by the consumers/users of these systems are presented. Placed in a historical and theoretical context, a refined perspective on the complex interrelationships between generative processes, input parameters and perceived aesthetic value is presented. Contributions to knowledge include identified trends in objective aesthetic preferences in colour combinations and their arrangements, theoretical insights relating perceptual mechanisms to generative system design and analysis, strategies for effectively leveraging evolutionary computation in an empirical aesthetic context, and a novel eye-tracking based framework for the exploration of visual generative designs.

The purpose of my experimental research in the MFA Design Program has been to develop a working methodology to transfer into a professional graphic design practice upon completion of the program. In my time here, I have built a body of work that clearly expresses my intention, and developed a solid comprehension of the field of design, its discourse, and where my work is situated within it. The intended audience for my work, which tends to fall in the blurred space between design and art, are consumers of image and pop culture in the field, gallery, and public sphere. The projects I’ll present in this report will provide a context for the process by which I arrived at a personal methodology and a narrative for how I came to think about my work up to this point. / text

Ziel dieser Arbeit ist es, die Wirkung von Lernsoftware durch eine Kausalkette vom verstehenden Lernen (Edelmann, 1996) über generative Aktivitäten (Wittrock, 1990) hin zu computergestützten kognitiven Lernwerkzeugen (Jonassen, 1992)in seiner Gesamtheit empirisch nachzuweisen. Dazu wurde eine digitale Lern- und Testumgebung geschaffen, in deren Mittelpunkt ein Beschriftungswerkzeug, ein Operatorentool sowie eine Simulation standen. Mit ihrer Hilfe sollten Aufbau, Funktionsweise und Bedienung einer einfachen technischen Anlage erlernt werden. Erhoben wurden Maße des Lernprozesses (Zeit, Eingaben) und des Lernerfolges (Wissenstest, Handlungsaufgaben). Im Rahmen eines klassischen Lernexperiments im Labor wurde in einer ersten Testreihe kein oder eins der 3 Tools zum freiwilligen Gebrauch angeboten. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass ein jedes Lernwerkzeug seine Nutzer in zusätzliche generative Aktivitäten verwickelt. Darüber hinaus bewirken sie auf Grund der Interaktionsmöglichkeiten, der repräsentierbaren Inhalte sowie der Visualisierungsform eine Aufmerksamkeitsfokussierung auf einzelne Lerninhalte. Demzufolge verbessert sich die Güte des mentalen Modells toolbedingt vor allem in entsprechenden Teilfacetten. Der statistische Vergleich dieser Ergebnisse mit älteren Daten einer parallelen Testreihe (Wipper, 2004) ergab keine bedeutenden Unterschiede, was auf eine Allgemeingültigkeit dieses Effekts hinweist. Im Rahmen einer zweiten Studie wurden die 3 Werkzeuge in einer Lernumgebung kombiniert angeboten. Im Resultat ergänzten sich die fokussierenden Wirkungen der Einzelapplikationen additiv zu einem ausgeglichenen mentalen Modell. Darüber hinaus war das Leistungsniveau jener Nutzer in allen Maßen des Lernprozesses und -erfolgs konstant höher als das aller anderen Probanden. Die Ergebnisse bestätigen die bereits existierenden Hinweise auf die eingangs erwähnte Kausalkette bzgl. des verstehenden Lernens mit Hilfe eines Computers. / In the light of instructional psychology the outcome of computer based learning aids can be described as a chain of causation consisting of constructivist forms of knowledge acquisition (Edelmann, 1996), generative processes (Wittrock, 1990) and digital mind tools (Jonassen, 1992). Aim of the present work is to proof this causal assumption empirically. Therefore, a computer based learning and testing environment was set up. It based on 3 single digital mind tools, which are supposed to help learning the construction, functionality and handling of a simple deterministic plant for soap production. Additionally, paper & pencil were provided. The measured variables cover the learning process (e.g. time, inputs) and the learning outcome (multiple-choice test, operating test). In a first series of 4 laboratory experiments 109 students were given no or one of the digital mind tools. In result, all 3 means initiate new generative processes. But the mental models of their users are not more sophisticated in whole. There was improvement in special areas, depending on characteristics of the tools (interaction modes, representable content, and visualisation). The findings were statistically compared to older data of a parallel test series (Wipper, 2004) but only marginal differences occurred. In a further laboratory experiment 98 students were given a combination of the 3 digital mind tools mentioned above. This hybrid learning environment initiates new generative processes as well. Because of an additional combination of the focussing effects caused by the tools, the mental model of its users is comprehensively more sophisticated now. Moreover, those people reach constantly much higher scores in all measures than the other subjects. The findings confirm the causal chain mentioned at the beginning.