Artist Statement

Random Paintbrush is a conceptual art project inspired by the infinite monkey theorem. According to this idea, a monkey randomly hitting keys on a keyboard for an infinite amount of time would eventually type every canonical text. This imagery explores the abstract concepts of infinity, probability, and time.

Could the same principle be applied to the visual arts? A code that uses random integers to generate strokes—could it, by the same logic, one day produce The Birth of Venus by Botticelli or the Black Square by Malevich?

You can try for yourself in the interface I’ve created below. If you happen to generate something intriguing, feel free to download it. Yet, no matter how large this site grows, I doubt that, in any of our lifetimes, we will produce something that truly resembles a canonical work of art. Still, the mere technical possibility keeps me clicking.

I find this says a lot about the absurdity of infinity, the naivety of the human mind, and the limits of our understanding of the world.