Kelly Milligan on Creativity and Precision

We invite you to join a conversation with Kelly Milligan, one of the participating artists in Unit London Web3’s online exhibition, Building Blocks.  

Informed by Suprematist aesthetics, Kelly Milligan’s series Scatter Process examines the duality between algorithmic precision and artistic intervention. The perfection of the horizontal linear formation is disturbed by the hand of the artist, acting as a catalyst for the breakdown of preconceived rules. By disrupting established patterns, the artist fosters interactions between the digital and physical worlds, challenging the boundaries of these seemingly distinct realms.

UL: How do you navigate the relationship between mathematics, generative code and geometric aesthetics?  

KM: I feel that they’re inseparable and interconnected in a generative practice, even if used unknowingly. Geometry is fundamentally a mathematical process, and geometrical forms can always be represented in a mathematical form. The more I lean into “the maths”, the more doors I find opening. New things to learn, new or better or more robust ways of doing something I’ve done many times before. New and interesting ways to present or represent things. There’s great satisfaction to be found in rendering forms with mathematical purity, flexible, scalable, portable. I’ve never been a strong mathematician, but I’ve found a deep love for maths through my practice.

UL: Do any historical art movements resonate with you and your practice; Do you intentionally draw any parallels between your work and that of the past? 

KM: Suprematism has been a big influence upon my geometric explorations. The sense of balance that can be achieved through simple and bold forms placed with intention. Complete distillation of form that still somehow provokes, affects, and allows for deep contemplation; particularly when considering the moments in which they were historically created and the methods required. 

I think that by employing simulation to arrive at a point of balance or rest carries this concept forward. The arrangements feel comfortable and effortless, naturally digestible to human eyes. Whereas methods employed by historical Suprematist artists aimed for precision with physical materials, digital is precise by default; and therefore presents a somewhat flipped paradigm when it comes to visually realising the forms, with intentional additions of  imperfection.

UL: Are there any specific artists who influence your work /practice? 

KM: I particularly enjoy Kazimir Malevich’s simpler Suprematist works. There’s a tongue-in-cheek charisma in the odd simplicity, balance/imbalance and arrangement of form in works like Boy with a Knapsack, and Eight Rectangles which really captures me. So much is left unexplained, but the mind easily starts to search and wander and construct while viewing. It invites you to get close and look closely at the precise processes required to form them. Unusual in the best way. 

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Kelly Milligan is a creative developer and digital artist, based in New Zealand. He translates practical code knowledge into algorithmic and generative art: for print, in-motion, and fully interactive. Fascinated by the tech-driven complexity and unpredictability of working with an autonomous system, his work demonstrates the visual potential of a coded system. In 2022 his series, Act of Emotion was selected for an Art Blocks Curated release. Often characterised by organic texture and bold colours, his works have been exhibited internationally, including at MONO Gallery in Tunisia and by Verse in London. He also works independently with clients worldwide.

UL: How did you formulate your dynamic and nuanced approach to geometry?  

KM: Physics simulations have always fascinated me. From video games to real-time animations; physics estimation breaks out of the digital. It tricks our brain into seeing digital things as following the rules of our physical world; they move and behave in the way we naturally expect and predict. 

My practice regularly interfaces with rigid-body 2d physics simulation, i.e. rather simple and rudimentary in complexity. With quick modern hardware it’s become trivial to simulate complex physical interactions in 3D; but I find there’s a certain magic in simple 2D forms moving with this physical grace. It’s clearly digital, precise, but the compositions that emerge feel utterly natural. There’s a charisma in these actors, arranged with perfectly-imperfect clumsiness. 

UL: Do your explorations in generative pattern have any underlying political or social significance, or do you prefer to focus on the aesthetic qualities of the work?

KM: I try to communicate through complex arrangements of simple forms. The physical nature of the arrangements allows them to feel familiar; phenomena from within our own world. Arrangements that appear to adhere to gravity or other forces enable an additional level of story-telling. Individual elements arrange themselves alongside their peers, there’s personification of behaviour simply through their arrangement. My series Microplastics uses an arrangement of many tiny fragments saturating a space. A commentary on our mass consumption of plastics, and the detrimental effect it’s having on our aquatic ecosystems. 

UL: Can you tell us a bit about your background and journey into creative coding?

KM: I come from a background of Front-end web development, first in youth as a hobbyist, then an almost 15 year professional career. Over that time my work has moved more and more toward the visual, creative and innovative end of the spectrum. The tools I learn, love and use every day in that work—like WebGL and shader language—were the enablers for my artistic exploration of generative systems. 

UL: Some argue that generative art is hard to access since it requires a certain level of technical skill and expensive equipment. How do you respond to that and how do you ensure that your work is accessible to a wide audience?  

KM: The proliferation of low-cost smartphones and wireless connections around the world continues to broaden access to the internet. It connects us, even when in remote or in traditionally disconnected communities. The internet browser is a powerful medium, where a simple URL string provides a global access-point to distributed content.

I’ve spent my professional career building experiences that are distributable in the humble web browser. I aim to bring that ease-of-access to my artwork as well: small file sizes, mobile optimisations and intuitive touch interactions; these all help to break down barriers to access.

Where access to traditional artworks can be extremely limited (if displayed publicly at all) you must visit the work in person, and yet must experience the work from a distance. Real-time and interactive digital artworks make the audience a co-creator in a performance of abundance, and from almost anywhere.  

Stay tuned for more exclusive artists interviews from all the groundbreaking generative artists featured in our exhibition!