Code Makes Art – Interview with Mike Balzer

Mike Balzer makes generative art. He publishes his code-based work online, but rather avoids the term NFT. Now he prepares his largest release yet—with a gallery based in New York City.

Grafik mit der Aufschrift GENART Mike Balzer, im Hintergrund ein Mann

>>> Zur deutschen Version.

Within the generative-art scene, Mike Balzer (aka pxlshrd) is a familiar name. But even in the traditional art world, the artist living and working in Saarbrücken, Germany is gaining more and more ground: This year he made the leap to New York City, where he is represented by Heft Gallery. On August 27th, he will release Residue, a major new project. We spoke with him about Residue and the path that carried his work from the browser to Manhattan.

Dock 11: Since this year you’re being represented by the gallery “Heft” in NYC. Many artists dream of being part of a gallery in New York. How did that come about?

Mike: The connection to Adam Berninger, the founder of Heft, developed organically through the network I have been building since 2021. We are in regular contact and have already collaborated in the past. In 2023, we released my project Rückkopplung through his digital gallery TENDER.

When I contacted Adam a few months ago about a potential second collaboration, I had no idea he was about to open a gallery in Manhattan. It was all the more wonderful that he offered me to participate in one of the first two group shows.

There has been a lot of talk about the decline and closure of galleries recently, particularly in NYC. What is special about Heft and some other galleries of a new generation is that they understand that the traditional art world is changing at its core. They do not see digital and physical art as opposites or competing formats but as complementary forms of expression that open up new possibilities. Almost every digital Heft release also exists in some form as a physical piece, whether as a print, sculpture, painting, or textile.

Dock 11: You make art with code. What does that process look like in practice?

Mike: I write a generative system based on code. Simply put, generative system means that the code produces something visual or acoustic based on rules I define. In my case, it is mostly the former, although my earlier works always had an acoustic layer as well. The outputs of the code are then displayed in the browser as images, sound, animation, or 3D scenes. Technically, my images are a website.

At particular points in the code, I set randomized values that control certain parameters, such as the color palette used for the output. I define the color palettes beforehand. The more random values I feed the system, the less predictable its behaviour becomes and the harder it is to steer.

>>> A brief digression to illustrate what Mike is talking about. These are two outputs from the code of Residue. For clarity, Mike deliberately changed exactly one parameter: the color palette. Typically, this is randomly selected from a previously defined pool of palettes. As you can see, the outputs are identical except for the color palette.

Mike: The challenge is to apply the right range of values in the right places and to control randomness with more advanced techniques so the output space (the entirety of potential images that can be generated from the code) takes the shape you want. In my opinion, this process of taming, shaping, and steering the output space is what elevates this craft to artistic expression, because with increasing complexity more and more decisions have to be made.

When it’s time to release a project you usually end up with a limited set of a few hundred unique artworks. Although, there are now many different ways to release a project. For example, the “open-form”-model allows for an unlimited number of outputs and fully embraces the generative nature of algorithmic art.

>>> Here are a few more outputs from Residue. All artworks originate from the same algorithm, yet each one is unique.

Dock 11: What appeals to you about working with generative systems?

Mike: What appeals to me most is that designing these systems requires holistic and processual thinking. I rarely focus on a single output. The expression arises from the entirety of the capabilities I apply to the system and the confines within which it operates. Thus, the emphasis moves away from individual representation to the significance of perpetual Becoming, a process that is always transforming, never fully manifesting.

With code, I can iterate ideas faster than with traditional materials. I can do it anytime and anywhere. All it takes for Algorithmic art, code-based art, browser-based art, or generative art (although I avoid this term as it is increasingly occupied by AI artists) to exist in its intended form, is a computer/smartphone and a browser. Even my grandma has links to some of my works on her smartphone’s home screen. No special conditions or equipment are needed beyond what you already use every day. I often think of the invention of oil paints in tubes and how this, by increasing mobility, gave the decisive impulse for Impressionism. In a similar way, I sometimes sit in the forest with just my laptop and write code there.

Dock 11: Let’s talk about your new project. Two of your paintings are currently hanging in a group show at “Heft”. Both are oil pastel paintings from your project “Residue”. On August 27th a digital release will follow via the gallery. Coding, oil pastel, and digital release don’t seem to fit together. Explain the project to us: How should we imagine it?

Mike: Residue is a good example of how my practice has developed. The project began digitally and was created over two years. During communication with Adam, the idea developed to translate these digital outputs into the physical world. But not as prints and thus something static-restrictive, but more as something lively-open.

>>> This is what the outputs of Residue looked like when Mike began working on the project two years ago:

Mike: Although I aim for an accurate translation of the digital outputs into oil pastel, the paintings are more interpretations that adapt to the peculiarities of working with the medium and my specially formulated painting grounds. The techniques vary for each piece; sometimes I need to use a brush or other tools to reproduce the characteristics of the digital versions.

In this reproduction process, a kind of feedback loop develops between the two mediums. The digital informs the analog, the analog inspires how I further shape the code. The title “Residue” refers to the fact that something always remains when systems operate or when translating between worlds. I consider each output of my code not merely as residue of an operating system but also as material memory of this perpetual process. Just like geological layers or fossils, these digital and physical outputs function as memory-images that freeze time and movement in a single form. These residues make readable not only the system’s memory but also its tendencies and peculiarities. This perspective is interesting to me because the outputs inform not only about the past but also about everything that is not yet manifested but already embedded in the rules of the system.

>>> Residue #1 and #2 as oil pastels:

Dock 11: You use blockchain technology to commercialize your works. The term NFT is well known but also somewhat discredited. Tell us about your journey, and what makes this technology special for you.

Mike: First, it is important to see blockchain as a technical tool, just like code. I prefer to avoid the term “NFT” due to its negative connotations. Many people associate it with ape JPEGs and money laundering, but that perception is far from what I and many others are actually doing.

There is a lively movement of artists of all kinds who use blockchain technology to publish their works in a low-threshold and inclusive way. This movement began in 2021 with “Hic et Nunc,” an open-source platform whose goal was to give independent artists an equal voice in the digital art world. I also took my first steps in that space. Although the website went offline in November 2021, it showed me the potential of using blockchain technologies. Other developers can access the data imprinted on the blockchain and integrate it into new websites/platforms.

From the ruins of “Hic et Nunc” came fxhash in November 2021, a platform specializing in code-based works. You upload your source code to the blockchain. Every person who “mints” from this code acquires an output, which triggers the generation of a completely unique artwork. The output’s appearance is determined by the unpredictable interaction between the individual wallet, the code, and the cryptographic properties of the blockchain. This is something completely new and unthinkable without the technology behind it.

Dock 11: Let’s talk about networking. You neither studied art nor took other classical paths. Nevertheless, you managed to build an international network practically from home. How did you do that?

Mike: Most community communication takes place on Discord servers, which can host many sub-communities. Often, there is no intermediary between artist and collector. Compared with the traditional art world, this feels very different. And at least in the first step, I don’t have to drag myself to exhibition openings to get into conversation with other participants. That is definitely an advantage for me as an introverted person.

Though, I realized online contacts only go so far. I started attending classic events to meet people face to face and to expand my network. In the end, direct exchange in person is important, especially if you want to deepen relationships. But in my opinion, like with many things, opportunity often hinges on location and timing.

Dock 11: Do you know of any other coding artists from Saarland?

Mike: Since most of my connections are made online, it is rather unlikely to come across coding artists from Saarland. I feel like there are certain reservations toward digital art in Saarland and developments in this field often receive little serious attention or are recognized too late. This has improved somewhat in recent years, but when your practice is rooted in, let’s call it “technology,” and you’re using blockchain as a medium, people often pigeonhole you into a crypto-tech-bro stereotype. But the reality is much more nuanced, with movements existing that distance themselves from this image. I think Saarland simply lacks hubs that inform about these developments, situate them, and provide practical approaches. With streamlined, well-thought-out workshops, as are occasionally offered in larger cities like Berlin, sensitivity could be fostered, even if code-based art initially seems intimidating and cumbersome.

So far, I have not met anyone in Saarland who uses coding the way I do. But there are some artists that work with generative techniques, for example with apps like TouchDesigner. The difference is that you use ready-made modules and wire them together in a visual interface. The code that generates everything in the background is hidden behind the UI of the respective program. I am more interested in writing these modules myself, which gives me more flexibility and precise control over behaviour and interaction in my systems.

>>> More from Mike Balzer on Instagram.

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