The Aleph Null Projects
Jim Andrews

Summary

Camille Baker chairs a Computer Arts Society talk in which Jim Andrews discusses his long-standing practice at the intersection of computer art, net art, electronic literature, and visual poetry. Andrews presents Aleph Null, an HTML5 canvas graphic synthesizer and instrument of colour music that he has developed since 2011, evolving from the earlier DB Cinema. He traces Aleph Null's growth through versions 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0/3.1: from a single-brush colour-music instrument to a multi-layer, multi-brush system capable of processing bitmaps, text, and mobile touch input. He demonstrates works produced with the synthesizer, including collaborations with poets such as Adina Caraty, Bill Bissett, Carol Azerling, and Daniel F. Bradley, and image series drawing on David Bowie, alchemical cosmology, and political figures like Donald Trump, Mussolini, and Hitler. Andrews explains his painterly brush metaphor, the poetics of signal amid noise, and the importance of curating screenshots, video poems, and high-resolution prints alongside the live, ever-changing web experience. He considers Aleph Null both an artwork in itself and a playable instrument, situates it in relation to VJ culture and colour-music history, and reflects on generative overproduction, artistic humility, and the changing fortunes of net art.

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