A Complex Systems View on the Visual Arts

This book presents a comprehensive and unexpected approach to the visual arts, grounded in the theories of complexity and dynamical systems. Paul van Geert shows how complexity and dynamical systems theories, originally developed in mathematics and physics, offer a novel perspective through which to view the visual arts. Diverse aspects of visual arts as a practice, profession, and historical framework are covered. A key focus lies in the unique characteristics of complex systems: feedback loops bridging short- to long-term temporal scales, self-organizing into creative emergent properties; dynamics which may be applied to a wide range of topics. By synthesizing theory and empirical evidence from diverse fields including philosophy, psychology, sociology, art history, and economics, this pioneering work demonstrates the utility of simulation models in deciphering a surprisingly wide range of phenomena such as artistic (super)stardom and shifts within art historical paradigms.

Paul van Geert is emeritus professor of developmental psychology at the University of Groningen. He is a pioneer in the application of the complex dynamic systems approach to a broad range of developmental and educational areas from cognitive development to learning in schools. As an artist, his practice arises out of and is inseparable from van Geert's immediate community and surroundings, reflecting the people, materials and site of its creation.