Jeanyoon Choi

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System Art: The age of Generated-Automated System

Updated: 2/8/2025

We’re living in a world of systems. Automatic systems. System - Hyperobject (going beyond our control). It’s important as a contemporary artist to show the presence of these systems - some examples like Hans Haacke, Sarah Sze….
The automated system within the modern world: it never stops, it goes beyond human comprehension but it never stops. THis system resists to stop in the flux of time, and as the system evolves, it becomes faster and faster to iterate from a loop to another. AUTOMATION. TIME-AUTOMATION. TIME-BASED CYCLICAL AUTOMATION: The most representative example, is the clock itself. Ever since the humanity had invented the clock and a universal accurate time system, we were imprisoned by the matter of time - we are living in a linear time system, and the time is always a subject of optimisation, gaining meaning when it’s minimised to achieve a certain task…. And ever since, all kinds of automated systems are performing within the axis of time: As time passes, it iterates and re-iterates again, being automated.
Automation aesthetic - Had any artist successfully depicted a computer-aided automated system? Which iterates and evolves automatically? Not talking about moving image. A real living system, algorithm-based system? The automated aesthetic in multi-device web artwork will make you feel like you are in a big gigantic casino - slot machine, never ending… Just like ‘The symphony of Civilisation’ movement 3. Where all channels are automated, moving, progressing, iterating, cycling…. Beyond our control! This is the system, a capitalistic system, a financial system, an educational system, an academical system, small or large, macro or micro, that we’re living in, and residing in… And it’s important to comprehend these systems, to sense these systems.
Now with LLMs, it is increasingly easier to create a generated-automated system: Refer to the junk site that I already mentioned. Now humanity will create even more systems (Generate these system), and maybe create a system which generates such systems… The age of generated-automated systems: That is the world we’re residing within..
Constructing these systems/depicting within multi-device web artwork: Bit similar approach on how you design node-based systems (touchdesigner), how different parameters adjust the whole audio-visual output, and how the interconnection and relationship between these nodes form a system, and how the adjustment of the given parameters change the overall output….
But in this case we’re not talking about abstractive/audio-visual output, we’re talking about smth more semantical, smth more correlated with the real world, and depict the sub-part of the real-world system. Financial system, educational system, transportation system, dating system, web system, application system, military system… etc. But just saying that the primitive principle might be similar with the visual-oriented node-based system, just a very different context.
Designing interaction within such systems: One option will be… Users adjusting these parameters! Look for the semantic interaction via dimensional transformation: In this case the non-semantic simple interaction of adjusting values (via scrollbar, slider, etc) will create the adjustment of the key parameters of the given system - which will both immediately and in long-run change the dynamics of the system. (Also associated with old idea on the interest rate - how Federal bank’s small decision change the whole system and the output)
Now how to generate these systems? Maybe generate a large number of subsystems… Maybe give a couple of base parameters (inputs) and let the LLM/Generative AI between these parameters the relationship - and this complexly founded relationship will define the nature of the system? So therefore automatically generating system?


Text written by Jeanyoon Choi

Ⓒ Jeanyoon Choi, 2025