Understanding anticipatory action as undergirding the dynamics of life is the prerequisite for defining what art is. Its change over time reflects the fact that life is purposeful and escapes prediction. Explaining art from the perspective of means and methods involved in producing it, from a deterministic view, leads to circular reasoning: the conclusion (machine art is the future) is in the premise (machines can make art). This fallacy becomes evident in the context of the current infatuation with automation of artmaking (especially through AI), and even art evaluation. The role art plays in defining the human condition is no less significant than that of science, itself indebted to aesthetics in its expression.

Computation existed long before the computer—and there were artists, seduced by the beauty of mathematics, who integrated computation into their creative endeavors. With the advent of the digital machine, the relation between aesthetic artifacts and computation was redefined. This article deals with images produced between 1965 and 1970. The generation of images associated with mathematical formulae raised questions regarding art’s condition and the nature of creativity. These are addressed from the perspective of aesthetic experiments. Through dedicated experiments involving computers in Eastern Europe, particularly in (communist) Romania, artists strove for artistic freedom.