Abstract

How does contingency “appear” and how can it be “used” in the creation of artworks? What are the aesthetic and art historical implications of elaborating the possibilities of randomness in art? In this article I investigate these questions with the help of a series of artworks. Therefore, I am not pursuing a mere theoretical survey, i.e. scrutinising just the ideas (both the older conceptualisation and more recent theories) concerning the concept of contingency. Instead of such an ideahistorical approach, here I am more interested in observing the question from the point of view of the actual practice and practitioners, hence what we can learn from the inspection of the works of art themselves. For this, first I examine some exciting aspects and questions around art, aesthetics and contingency, with the help of a piece by Alma Heikkilä. After that I provide an overview of some of the most exciting examples of the manifestation and “use” of randomness in art, ranging from the Renaissance to the 21st century. This will then help us, towards the end of the paper, to identify some curious patterns in the development of the occurrence of contingency and of the artistic “handling” of chance in art practices as well as to understand better the creative significance and aesthetic consequences of elaborating randomness.