Using Code to Create Art: The Work of Zach Lieberman

Zach Lieberman has many accolades to his name. A new media artist, designer, computer programmer, and educator, he loves experimenting with code and hopes to keep himself—and others—surprised. According to Lieberman, his main focus with his work is to show how computation can be used as a medium for poetry.

His experimental approach to art is based around computer graphics, human-computer interaction, and computer vision, using technology in a playful way that aims to break down the fragile boundary between the visible and the invisible.

Based in New York City, Lieberman creates artwork using code, focusing on building experimental drawing and animation tools. His work also includes interactive environments that invite participants to join in and become performers themselves.

With a B.A. in Fine Arts from Hunter College and both a B.F.A. and M.F.A. in Design and Technology from Parsons School of Design, his work (a perfect blend of art and technology) has appeared in numerous exhibitions around the world, including Ars Electronica, Futuresonic, CeBIT, and the Off Festival.

But Lieberman also shares his work online, on his Instagram page – a page wholly dedicated to his experimentations with code. According to Lieberman, most of his sketches are coded in openFrameworks (using Xcode), while a few use paper.js.

“One thing I try to do, especially with the Instagram sketches, is try to stick with very simple things, like simple geometry,” explained Lieberman in an interview with the Verge. “What happens if you start with a circle and then you rotate it, and you extrude it and you revolve it? It’s almost like using geometry as a starting point, and glitching or changing through things.”

“The other thing that I’m really passionate about is motion,” he adds, “and how movement and animation can create an emotional response.”

Check out some of his recent work in the gallery below, and purchase a digital print of his work here: