Compositions in Code: The Art of Processing and p5.js

features diptychs by Marius Watz & Aleksandra Jovanić, LIA & Sarah Ridgley, and Robert Hodgin & Melissa Wiederrecht

Museum of the Moving Image has announced the final installation series in partnership with the Tezos Foundation, titled Compositions in Code: The Art of Processing and p5.js. The media art installations will be presented from March 6 through August 24 on MoMI's Herbert S. Schlosser Media Wall.

The featured artists in Compositions in Code all utilized the accessible, open-source programming environment Processing or the p5.js library as tools in the creation of their work. Each artist will make a fragment of the exhibited work available for the public to collect for free onsite and online via the Tezos blockchain.

Processing has played a pivotal role in shaping the public perception of code as a visual art form. Launched in 2001 by Casey Reas and Ben Fry, this artist-friendly, open-source programming environment made creating art with code less intimidating. Offering a simplified, sketchbook-like environment that provides immediate visual feedback, Processing remains influential 25 years later.

More recently, the p5.js library, created by Lauren Lee McCarthy, has adapted these core ideas to JavaScript, which has become a popular medium for outputs meant to be shared online.

Presented as a series of diptychs, Compositions in Code pairs three Processing early adopters—Marius Watz, LIA, and Robert Hodgin—with artists working regularly with p5.js: Aleksandra Jovanić, Sarah Ridgley, and Melissa Wiederrecht. Early adopters and their p5.js counterparts were involved in the curatorial process for each diptych. The exhibition is organized by MoMI’s Associate Curator of Media Arts, Regina Harsanyi.

The Tezos blockchain hosts many of the most renowned artists working with Processing and p5.js including all the artists participating in Compositions in Code. Popular platforms on Tezos, such as fxhash, objkt, and EditArt, all enable and support the proliferation of code-based art for thousands of creators worldwide.

On Thursday, March 6, at 7:00 p.m. MoMI, the Tezos Foundation, and the Processing Foundation will co-host an opening reception for Compositions in Code featuring a discussion with the artist Marius Watz; Aleksandra Artamonovskaja, Head of Arts at Trilitech, Tezos Ecosystem; and Roopa Vasudevan, a mentor from the Processing Foundation; moderated by Harsanyi.

Processing and p5.js’s impact extends well beyond its technical merits, reshaping how code can be viewed as a tool for creating art. By lowering barriers to access, Processing has empowered multiple generations of artists to explore generative, interactive, and algorithmic practices. This shift has redefined not only artistic production but also art education. In parallel, p5.js combines Processing’s experimental spirit with the broad reach of the internet without requiring additional browser plug-ins. Together, these tools have become essential reference points in contemporary art discourse, while aiding teachers, researchers, and students in understanding the creative potential of code.

Compositions in Code: The Art of Processing and p5.js is the fourth series of media art installations for MoMI’s Schlosser Media Wall presented in partnership with the Tezos Foundation. Additional support for Compositions in Code is provided by the Processing Foundation.