How Do We Account for the Uncomputable in Art?

Jennifer Gabrys’s exploration of sensing environments reminds us that computation can never fully encapsulate reality. Beatrice Fazi’s critique of digital aesthetics furthers this argument, highlighting the tension between continuity and discreteness in computational systems.

The concept of the uncomputable invites us to consider what is lost when reality is reduced to data points and algorithms. As artists, this presents both a challenge and an opportunity. How can we engage with the uncomputable as a source of creativity and novelty? How do we resist the reduction of the world to binary logic while exploring the material and conceptual possibilities of computation?

Gabrys’s and Fazi’s perspectives suggest that art can serve as a bridge between the measurable and the ineffable, creating spaces for complexity, ambiguity, and wonder. This demands a rethinking of computation not as a closed system but as an open field for experimentation and discovery.