still the monkey

April 19, 2018 by Michael Guerin

if infinite monkeys
tapping away on computer keys
can’t possibly create
the works of sir william
no matter how many random
sequences of time
happen to pass ad infinitum
i wonder how well a machine
might do on its own
given a brush and programmed
in the ways
of abstract art.

needless to say
a robotic arm would need
to wield the brush
in order to do this trick
along with someone to load
an easel with paint
(and write a program
in the first place) but just the same
could any mathematical array
of lines and shapes
no matter how colorfully
applied be certified
as art?