» Open Software Structures
» Open text about the project by Casey Reas


The catalyst for this project is the work of Sol LeWitt, specifically his wall drawings. I had a simple question: "Is the history of conceptual art relevant to the idea of software as art?" I began to answer the question by implementing three of Lewitt's drawings in software and then making modifications.

After working with the LeWitt plans, I created three structures unique to software. These software structures are text descriptions outlining dynamic relations between elements. They develop in the vague domain of image and then mature in the more defined structures of natural language before any thought is given to a specific machine implementation.

Twenty-six pieces of software derived from these structures were written to isolate different components of software structures including interpretation, material, and process. For each, you may view the software, source code, and comments.


Casey Reas, 3 June 2004



Created by Casey Reas in association with Jared Tarbell, Robert Hodgin, and William Ngan.
We thank Christiane Paul for her support and the opportunity to publish this work. Thanks to Jared Schiffman for compiling the OS X apps.

Viewing this project requires Java and Flash. Your browser should already have both, but if you are having difficulty viewing the work, please install the Java software and Flash player.