Click on artwork to generate new piece
The Messenger
2025. Digital Artwork and Algorithm
The Messenger is a long-form generative artwork and algorithm created by Aaron Dees.
The artwork can be viewed here. Click on the piece to generate a new work, or run the project in full screen here.
There is no fixed composition, each time the algorithm runs it produces a unique outcome.
Each artwork is constructed from a minimal system: a palette of four colors and a single set of pixel-level instructions, that run similataneously for each pixel on the screen. Colors are not mixed directly; instead, new hues and tones emerge through the relationships between neighboring pixels.
The project is inspired by Jack Whitten’s approach to tool-making in painting, particularly his techniques for sweeping paint across a canvas in a single horizontal movement. The Messenger treats code as a studio tool. Instead of manipulating paint on a surface, the algorithm operates directly on the screen, processing every pixel simultaneously. Each pixel selects its color from the original palette according to a simple rule set, producing dense, textural fields from limited inputs.
Prints from a selection of works will be available soon.