A part of art history (in all its forms) can be told through its tools. 20 years ago, the artists and programmers Casey Reas and Ben Fry created Processing with the aim of making coding accessible to visual artists and designers, regardless of their technological knowledge.

Nowadays, Processing is part of the toolbox of artists (it is a favorite for creating generative visuals) of journalists and researchers, who use it to visualize data, and educators: this programming environment is used in classrooms of computer science, design, fine arts, and humanities as well.

We want to celebrate Processing’s 20th birthday along with one of its founders, Casey Reas, visual artist and professor at the University of California; with Tega Brain, artist, engineer and professor, and co-author (with Golan Levin) of a handbook of creative coding for teachers; and with the artist (and also teacher) Anna Carreras, who in her PhD, is exploring complexity (of systems, science, philosophy, and of course, art).