Digital Mantras: The Languages of Abstract and Virtual Worlds

This work synthesizes ideas from a number of different disciplines to arrive at a philosophy of creativity for the digital age. Drawing ideas from music, computing, art and philosophy, it explores the integration of computers into the creative process. It shows how computers could change the way we create. The book looks at the use of structure in the development of human languages, in the philosophy of Buddhist monk Nagarjuna and linguist Ferdinand de Saussure, in the music of Arnold Schoenberg and Anton Webern, in the paintings of Wassily Kandinsky, and the grammars of Panini and Noam Chomsky. It then turns to the use of computers for building abstract and virtual worlds in language, music, art and virtual reality, and surveys the work of AI pioneer Terry Winograd, composers Gottfried Michael Koenig and Iannis Xenakis, and artist Harold Cohen. The conclusion discusses the aesthetic implications of these new worlds and introduces the concept of digital expression.