Hyperrhiz 29

An Interplay Between Strict Rules and Randomness: On Harvey Rayner’s LFGart

Mustafa Kemal Özkul
Giresun University

Citation: Özkul, Mustafa Kemal. “An Interplay Between Strict Rules and Randomness: On Harvey Rayner’s LFGart.” Hyperrhiz: New Media Cultures, no. 29, 2025. doi:10.20415/hyp/029.e04

Abstract: This article explores the intricate interplay between strict rules and randomness in long-form generative art (LFGart), with a specific focus on the works of English artist Harvey Rayner. The interview with Rayner sheds light on the ideas explored in this essay. LFGart, a groundbreaking art movement of the 21st century, relies on algorithmic systems that autonomously produce art, blending the precision of coded rules with the unpredictability of randomness. Rayner’s creative process exemplifies this duality, as seen in his project Quasi Dragons, where meticulously crafted algorithms coexist with randomness to generate unique and coherent artworks. Through comparisons with other art forms, such as Arnold Schoenberg’s twelve-tone music technique, the article highlights how limitations serve as a foundation for artistic expression while randomness adds an element of surprise and creativity. It also examines the challenges of maintaining coherence and aesthetics in LFGart and concludes that the balance between structure and spontaneity is essential to its success.

Keywords: long-form generative art, Harvey Rayner, algorithmic creativity, randomness, blockchain art, generative art aesthetics.

Introduction

Long form generative art (LFGart) is perhaps one of the most striking art movements of 21st century. Like generative art, LFGart is based on outputs of autonomous systems. Artists define the algorithmic rules for these systems, and these systems then execute the creation of art. Essentially, artists are designing systems that generate art. In generative art artists typically select the best outputs to exhibit. For instance, if an artist writes code to compose music, they are likely to curate and present only the most compelling pieces. However, in LFGart all possible outputs can theoretically be exhibited. Artists can not intervene in the outcomes once the system is activated; their role is limited to deciding how many artworks will be made available to collectors.

To create an LFGart project, an artist develops an algorithm, and each artwork generated by this algorithm originated from a unique string of 64 random characters, known as a hash token, which is created on NFT platforms like Ethereum or Tezos at the moment of sale (a process referred to as “minting” in NFT market). As a result, every algorithm must be meticulously planned to ensure the production of meaningful and high-quality artworks. According to Hobbs, this process drives artists toward perfection: “the artist needs to ensure that bad results are extremely rare” (Hobbs, 2021). Therefore, the artist must set the rules with precision to create unique, beautiful and coherent artworks. Yet, the core of LFGart lies in its reliance on the randomness of a 64-character hash, introducing a paradoxical aspect to the art form.

We will focus on Harvey Rayner’s art through this dualistic lens. Our interview with Rayner will shed light to this essay. Rayner is not only an English digital artist but also a designer, inventor, creative coder, and perhaps even a philosopher. He studied art at The City Guilds of London Art School but left after one year, driven by his desire to create art through geometry. Geometry plays a pivotal role in understanding Rayner’s art. His earliest artworks emerged from rigid geometric systems, and this obsession became one of his defining characteristics.

After discovering long form generative art, Rayner merged his passion for geometry with his skills in coding to create unique digital art. His first long form generative art project, Photon’s Dream, was launched in 2022, followed by projects such as Fontana (2022), Velum I (2023), Quasi Dragons (2023), chatFUKR (2024), Noodlz (2024). Each of these projects is rooted in a  distinct geometrical or mathematical concept. In our interview, Rayner provides an in-depth look into his creative world, offering valuable insights into his process and philosophy.

Rules for Expression, Randomness for Creativity

Rayner has consistently relied on strict rules throughout his creative journey. For him, “without very tight constraints any artist has no distinct style, no visual language” (Rayner, 2023). This perspective is reminiscent of how composer Arnold Schoenberg abandoned free atonality and developed the strictly regulated twelve-tone composition technique a hundred years ago, in 1923. Schoenberg’s rationale was that free atonality lacked the structure necessary to form a meaningful artistic language.

In essence, Schoenberg’s new technique was an early form of generative art: he established the rules (the tone row) at the outset, and the process of composition became akin to solving a sudoku puzzle. This structured approach allowed Schoenberg to create a musical language that every composer since then has studied as part of their education. This language emerged from the inherent constraints of compositional rules.

Rayner also asserts that limitations are essential to artistic expression: “Grammar has rules. If you don’t have structure and limitations, then it’s impossible to say anything meaningful. The whole reason I gravitated towards geometry was to just really kind of create this structure, this grammar, and limitations so I could begin to try and say something with some meaning…” (Fakhr, 2023). These constraints form connections between each output of an LFGart project, ensuring consistency and coherence throughout.

The difference between Rayner and Schoenberg lies in their approach to creation. While Schoenberg discovered a single method to compose all of his music, Rayner and other LFGart artists must devise unique approaches for every project they undertake. They work with algorithms, which demand strict rules, but crafting unique and diverse rule sets for each artwork  necessitates constant creativity.

This is where LFGart diverges from traditional art. In traditional art, once an artist creates an original idea or technique, it often becomes their signature style; such as Schoenberg’s twelve tone technique or Picasso’s cubism. However, in LFGart, each project requires an entirely new concept or technique, challenging artists to be consistently innovative.

At this point, another concept helps artists enhance their creativity: randomness. When an LFGart piece is minted, a random string of 64 characters generates the artwork. “Nobody, including the collector, the platform, or the artist, knows precisely what will be generated when the script is run, so the full range of outputs is a surprise to everyone” (Hobbs, 2021).

However, this process must be both reliable and verifiable: the same 64 character hash token should always produce the same artwork. This element of randomness introduces creativity into the artwork, contrasting with the strict rules of the algorithm. As Rayner explains:

Utilizing randomness in generative art provides us with a fast and direct way to explore the complex space of possibilities defined by a set of constraints. In that space we can find certain artistic treasures and the task for the artist then becomes understanding what makes those treasures visually compelling, so that we can refine our algorithms to produce more treasures and less mediocre results (Rayner, 2023).

But randomness can also be detrimental to LFGart in several ways. Firstly, it can disrupt the coherency of a project. In LFGart, tens to hundreds of artworks can be minted within a single project. Each project is expected to maintain consistency. However, if the artist is not meticulous  during the coding process, randomness may generate outputs that are irrelevant to the project’s context. These outputs might fail to reflect the artist’s intended vision. As Rayner explains: “Increasing variety can potentially produce outliers that sit outside of our desired artistic vision so there is a delicate balance to be struck by the generative artist” (Rayner, 2023). For this reason, artists often adjust their code to achieve this delicate balance before exhibiting the project, which inherently reduces the level of randomness.

Secondly, randomness may undermine the beauty or aesthetics of art. While the concept of beauty in art is highly controversial and will not be explored in depth here, Rayner firmly believes in its importance and actively pursues it. As he explains: “I feel the generative art community has a precious opportunity to make and support art that is primarily a celebration of beauty that is the fruit of deep intuition, inner stillness and the creative force within us all” (Rayner, 2023).

Rayner also emphasizes that creating something beautiful is a fundamental goal. However, true randomness is indifferent to beauty. For this reason, Rayner and most LFGart artists manipulate randomness to guide it toward producing aesthetically pleasing outputs.

Rayner’s project Quasi Dragons is a compelling example of how strict rules and randomness converge to produce beautiful artworks. At its core, Quasi Dragons is a tiling project. Collectors mint individual tiles, which can then be joined together to create larger compositions. As Galanter stated, “the artistic use of tiling, in particular, is nothing less than the application of abstract systems for decorating specific surfaces” (Galanter, 153, 2016). In essence, tiling is a process rooted in the application of strict rules.

Rayner programmed Quasi Dragons accordingly, but the tiles themselves are randomly generated from hash tokens. Additionally, collectors have the freedom to combine tiles to create personalized designs, referred to as “composites”. This feature allows collectors to actively participate in the creative process. So that collectors communicate with each other and with Rayner very frequently. The projects’s numerous aesthetically pleasing outputs demonstrate that Rayner has successfully struck a balance between rules and randomness.

Harvey Rayner’s art masterfully navigates the delicate balance between the rigidity of rules and the freedom of randomness, redefining the potential and boundaries of long form generative art (LFGart). The distinctive nature of LFGart, which transcends traditional art paradigms, offers both collectors and artists a more interactive and dynamic experience. Rayner’s approach serves as both a guide and an inspiration for future artists. In this sense, LFGart emerges as a groundbreaking artistic paradigm, where the interplay of rules and randomness fuels endless possibilities for innovation and expression.

References

Fakhr, Leyla. “In Conversation with Harvey Rayner and Le Random”. Verse. 2023. verse.works/journal/in-conversation-with-harvey-rayner-and-le-random

Galanter, Philip. “Generative Art Theory.” In A Companion to Digital Art, edited by Christine Paul,  146-180. Sussex: Wiley Blackwell, 2016.

Hobbs, Tyler. “The Rise of Long-Form Generative Art”. 2021. Tyler Hobbs. tylerxhobbs.com/words/the-rise-of-long-form-generative-art

Rayner, Harvey. “Demystifying Generative Art”. Medium. 2023. medium.com/@harvey.rayner/demystifying-generative-art-e43e296d19c0