Jean-Pierre Hébert: Drawings as Thoughts

SCI-Arc Library, Southern California Institute of Architecture, Los Angeles until 13 December 2009 Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara A sand sculpture has been placed on permanent display.

How did you become fascinated by algorithms?

Credit: J.-P. HÉBERT

At 19, I was exposed to the first computer that came to Europe. I took a summer job at IBM and became interested in mathematics and computer science. My taste in art was influenced by Mondrian and the Bauhaus. I was very interested in geometry. Soon I made algorithmic pieces by hand. Then I figured that I could program that.

Some of your works are computer-drawn, others are sculptures. Which do you prefer?

I have more affinity with the physical than the virtual world. I like to mark paper or water or sand, and I like to explore algorithms without using computers. There is a richness in something beautifully made on paper, stone, clay or canvas that is more inspiring than a flat image.

How have you interacted with researchers?

I've always had a strong interest in physics. In collaborations with scientists I learnt about new phenomena in physics and nature and about new ways to express them. I have learnt tricks to define spirals and made graphical presentations of the gravitation around black holes.

Credit: J.-P. HÉBERT

How did your style develop?

At first my work was monochromatic and flat, and used only certain themes in geometry. I wanted to animate it more and make it happen in three dimensions — to make it subject to fields and forces and waves, and to submit it to phenomena like reflections on the surface of water.

How did you define the 'algorist' movement?

We established, 40 years ago, that the work should be based on algorithms but it should also produce an object of art — something concrete, such as a drawing, a painting, a sculpture, a piece of music. It should not be simply the concept behind an algorithm.

Are algorithms important in art?

Over the past century most artists were algorists, even if they did not know it. Mondrian has an algorithm; cubism was a set of algorithms. Algorithms are just a tool, as is a computer, a brush or a pencil. The personality of the artist takes over and should transpire through the work. Algorithms are not an end in themselves.