What is an image

Image-making, and more particularly art-making, are considered as rule-based activities in which certain fundamental rule-sets are bound to low-level cognitive processes. AARON, a computer-program,models some aspects of image-making behavior through the action of these rules, and generates, in consequence, an extremely large set of highly evocative "freehand" drawings. The program is described, and examples of its output given. The theoretical basis for the formulation of the program is discussed in terms of cultural considerations, particularly with respect to our relationship to the images of remote cultures. An art-museum environment implementation involving a special-purpose drawing device is discussed. Some speculation is offered concerning the function of randomising in creative behavior, and an account given of the use of randomness in the program. The conclusions offered bear upon the nature of meaning as a function of an image-mediated transaction rather than as a function of intentionality. They propose also that the structure of all drawn images, derives from the nature of visual cognition.