Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 47 minutes ago
Sol LeWitt wrote that "the serial artist does not attempt to produce a beautiful or mysterious object but functions merely as a clerk cataloguing the results of his premise." This premise could be a set of axioms, a geometric constraint - or a roguelike level generator! From this viewpoint, the enumeration of all outputs from a procedural content system is itself a type of artwork.
I'll explore this connection between 20th century conceptual art and 21st century expressive range analysis. In particular, I'll show how we can enumerate every possible Rogue level to identify "impossible" room layouts.
Sol LeWitt wrote that "the serial artist does not attempt to produce a beautiful or mysterious object but functions merely as a clerk cataloguing the results of his premise." This premise could be a set of axioms, a geometric constraint - or a roguelike level generator! From this viewpoint, the enumeration of all outputs from a procedural content system is itself a type of artwork.
I'll explore this connection between 20th century conceptual art and 21st century expressive range analysis. In particular, I'll show how we can enumerate every possible Rogue level to identify "impossible" room layouts.
