Aaron Boyarsky, who works under the name ixnayokay, is a generative artist and software engineer based in Falls Church, Virginia. His practice explores the emergent behavior of chaotic systems, such as cellular automata, fractals, and models of population dynamics and evolution, with a recent emphasis on animation and interactivity.
He holds a degree in computer science, with a minor in mathematics, from Virginia Tech, and has worked as a software engineer for about two decades.A college course pairing computer science and art students introduced him to making art with code in 2009, and from 2010 to 2012 he worked prolifically with fractals and mathematically inspired photo collages he called photomods, a period captured in his 100 Days of Ixnay collection.,From 2013 he shifted his focus to photography before returning, around 2017, to animated digital work modeling systems such as predator-prey population dynamics and cellular automata. In January 2021 he began exploring blockchain platforms for releasing his animated work and applied to Art Blocks.
His first generative artwork, mono no aware (2021), grew out of earlier experiments with Conway's Game of Life and is concerned with symmetry and the chaotic boundary between life and death. In Zoologic, he explored population dynamics and evolution using neural networks, a hexagonal grid, and interactive controls, building his own JavaScript framework for the project.Implications (2022) returned to the cellular automata and symmetry of mono no aware, using shifting geometric shapes whose intersections divide the canvas into regions governed by different rules for generating pattern and color.,His 2023 Art Blocks Curated release because unless until, a 650-edition collection, layers multiple threaded animations and cellular automata so that each output's appearance changes by day, month, and special annual dates while keeping a consistent visual identity.,
