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Comment by tinco | Hacker News Reader

Demoscene demos are nice, but to me they feel more like expressions of technical prowess rather than aesthetic art. I don't think I've ever seen a demo where the result transcends the algorithm, and I don't think that's the goal of the demoscene in any case. They want to showcase how much technical brilliance they can fit in a couple of KB's.

That's different from this example, where the goal is more like how much expression (emotion/aesthetics) can I put into a single image. And I must say I agree with the author that his work is astounding in this regard. Each one of them feels like a proper artwork, not just someone that's fiddling with a couple algorithms.

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You're right that many demos simply exist to showcase technical brilliance, but many in the demoscene are starting to trend further towards expressing artistic ability. Some examples off the top of my head:

- Number One/Another One by CNCD/FLT: http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=77399

- When Silence Dims the Stars Above by Conspiracy: http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=75713

- Aurora by Excess: http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=75791

- Along for the Ride by Ümlaüt Design: http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=78053

Smash smashing it again with the first one...

BTW - your realtime synth engine (https://github.com/monadgroup/axiom) looks great. Any ETA for a Mac build of the VST?

I have a super-beta build working, if you'd like to try it out/help bugfix shoot me an email at "copodt at the google email" and I'll send it to you :)

Also any ASD demo. They tend to stray away from the general "demo-esthetic" even when it come to the music.

"Lifeforce" was fantastic and really stand out from any other demo, event to this day.

"For your love" use the same kind of particles extravaganza that Fairlight popularized, but really has it's own esthetic.

I think Manolo's work looks great, but I also think a lot of demoscene work is an amazing, highly underrated mix of engineering and art.

Like this piece - https://vimeo.com/25284552

It's funny how a lot of the times the perception of art is that it should look like paintings we've seen in the past. In Manolo's case, paintings of Kandinsky. In a lot of "generative AI art" it gets the Art label because of generative brushstrokes/abstractions that are learned from paintings.

In my opinion art has nothing in particular to do with painting.

They want to showcase how much technical brilliance they can fit in a couple of KB's.

You need to look beyond the tiny size-limited ("intro") categories, there are PC demos which are multiple megabytes and they certainly have more of a traditional artistic feel to them, because things like sampled images can then be used easily.

> I don't think I've ever seen a demo where the result transcends the algorithm, and I don't think that's the goal of the demoscene in any case.

Sturgeon's Law: 90% of everything is crap. "Everything" includes all of art, and all sub-genres of art.

You might not have looked hard enough. If you are interested in finding the good ones, you should spend some time poking around; there are definitely demos with beautiful results, from people trying to make art, that aren't about the algorithm.

These two popped into my head, but there are bunches of great examples.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOM2vFRTz2A

https://www.shadertoy.com/view/XsXXDn

There is a abstract beauty in the implementation of the algorithms especially under the various constraints. I believe these constraints inspire creativity that those mildly practiced in or familiar with these arts can appreciate as an aesthetic or beauty all on their own, separate from and in addition to the audio/visual component.

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