Chinese whispers. Semiotically mediating between idea and program

The relation of aesthetics and computation has intrigued researchers, artists, and philosophers throughout the history of Western mind. In a long-range project, compArt, we take computer art as a case to explore and create sites for learning, art, and programming. We set up situations for students to gain insight into the algorithmic fabric of certain classes of graphic art. An indicator of the students' comprehension is the reformulation of hidden algorithms. An easy exercise is to use tools of a GUI to generate replicas. A greater challenge is a precise symbolic description of classes of graphics. We use the children's play of Chinese whispers as an interface metaphor for the description of data flow. The user is not required to know anything about data flow when he sets up a communication structure between agents and thus creates a total algorithmic behavior from local semantics. We bridge the gap between vague idea and precise formalism by semiotic embedding.