What does it mean for art when a thousand different realisations of an idea can be generated at the touch of a button? Desmond Clarke is an artist using code to explore this question, documenting his results in a series of computer-controlled pen plots.

Human society is increasingly defined by automation. Choices are taken away from the individual and delegated to carefully-crafted algorithms.

We're very familiar with this in entertainment – think of your Netflix recommendations – but it shapes our lives in many ways, both obvious and invisible.

Desmond Clarke is an artist working with automation, process, and generation. Rather than creating art directly, he delegates the process of making the work to algorithms written to create a particular type of image or form.

Originally trained as a composer and with a Ph.D. in algorithmic composition, Clarke now focuses on procedurally generated visual art, exploring a range of imagery from geometric to organic forms.

In this Hack, Clarke shares some of the key things he has learned from his work and how they might be applied in creative work more generally.