A selection of artists, architects and writers were invited to contribute work that dealt with biological, botanical and morphogenetic ideas and processes. Some keywords and ideas to reflect upon were: Morphogenesis, Algorithmic Botany, Emergence, Genetic Algorithms, Cellular Automata, L-systems, Bacterial Aesthetics, Biomineralisation, Autogenesis, Self-generation; Cellular Division, Cosmobiotechnics, Biomimicry and DNA sequences.
Kat Masback – Cosmobiotechnic Drawings Kat Masback created a set of works, her combinatorial Cosmobiotechnic Drawings, that utilise a bespoke generative drawing system. Although Kat works within the traditional medium of drawings, generative aspects of computation in her work is explicit. Her Cosmobiotechnic Drawings utilise systems that harnesses the compositional effect of random numbers within a specific rule-set drawing procedure to create 'colonies'. She also included a drawing of the process methodology itself.
Daniel Widrig – Adaptive Tower Daniel Widrig's contribution, Adaptive Tower is a generative proposition for a building that can be 'grown' specifically in relation to its environment. Two snaking figures appear entwined, like a caduceus, complete with scale-like façades. Inspired by form-finding processes in biology, and utilising a flexible modular component framework, the genotype structure is envisioned to be morphed into different configurations according to parametric and environmental factors.
Biothing - Agentware Directed by Alisa Andrasek with Design+Computation Probotics student team: Knut Brunier, Diego Rossel, Jose Sanchez and Anica Taneja . The Agentware contribution is defined by the process known as Emergence. Emergent behaviour occurs where autonomous agents interact at a micro level within a large ecosystem to create macro behaviours independent of local exchanges. Non deterministic orderings, reminiscent of bacterial growth and basic plant formations arise from resultant self-organising systems. Agentware relies on simple interactions of its population to create complex architectural schematics. It's notable that Biothing uses the term DNA to denote information stored and shared between individual agents.
Emma McNally – Emergent Drawings Emma McNally's drawings deal with dense mappings of biological interactions, cellular topologies, trajectories of organelles and biochemical processes. The titles of her works, such as Apotosis, denote elusive microscopic biological interactions, in this case a kind of transformation of cells that occurs during the so called 'Programmed Cell Death'. Contagion Cage is a recursive diagram, reminiscent of an L-system, which appears to describe the transmission of some kind of agent of propagation. It could be the spread of a virus, but the agent could also be an idea, a Meme, or even the outbreak of a financial disaster spreading through the economic ecosystem.
Jonathan McCabe - Multi-scale Radially Symmetric Turing Patterns For Vague Terrain 14: Biomorph Jonathan McCabe worked on a development of his previous MSRSTP studies that were inspired by the work of Alan Turing in the 1950's. Turing explored computational/chemical models to explain the process of morphogenesis using reaction-diffusion equations. By implementing these equations the kinds of patterns found in nature can be generated, from leopard spots to the shapes of diatoms. Jon added further twist to this method by employing radial symmetry to the process creating biological mandala shaped formations. Animations of these morphologies imply cellular creatures in the Mitosis and kaleidoscopic cell division.
Michael Hansmeyer - Platonic Solids In his recent work Michael Hansmeyer uses traceable generative processes (rather than non-deterministic agent-based systems) to control the final output configurations of his work. Applying three-dimensional subdivisioning algorithms to Platonic Solids, Michael has generated complex geometric forms resembling the skeletons of Radiolarians. Radiolarians are the tiny sea creatures made famous by the illustrations of Hans Haeckle in the 1870s. Mimicking the real-world biomineralisation process inherent in the creation of these crystalline life-forms, the final renders of Michael's work appear to made of paper fine silicates.
Robert Hodgin – Radiolarian Studies Robert Hodgin recently reworked his well known Magnetic Structure/Particle System pieces made in Processing to accommodate entirely new geometric structures. The resultant Radiolaria Studies contain complex irregular geodesics, the renders of which give the impression of the object being made of metal rather than silicate. To this extent Robert's versions of the Radiolaria appear to hint at a new direction, that of a synthetic micro-robotic life form. Often the outer surfaces of these exoskeletons have sharp spikes protruding, acting as protection against larger predators within the computational food chain.
Wilfred Hou Je Bek - The BacterioSphere Wilfred Hou Je Bek provided Vague Terrain with a new iteration of his treatise on bacteriopoetics - The Bacteriosphere. Just like the ever changing, self-configuring, shape-shifting manouevers of our microscopic friends, his words unravel like a morphogenetic morse code arising from an unseen world. He reminds us of the nested peculiarities, and incessant adaptive drives of the bacterium and their ability to create their own laboratories and make their own toys.
David Lu (with Michael Meredith) - The After/Afterparty - A generative take on furry cones. David Lu's piece explores algorithmic processes to cultivate architectural layouts and structures. His interactive application allows the user to build a hamlet of furry cone shaped structures and explore them through rotation, translation and zoom. The After/Afterparty raises a number of questions in respect to architectural strategies that act as living systems – can a genealogical features be incorporated into the system to evolve different formations? and could cross-pollination of attributes between neighbouring cones derive hybrid offspring?
Marc Fornes (THEVERYMANY) – Recursive Pavillion Using recursive subdivisioning algorithms in Rhinoscript, Marc Forne's Recursive Pavilion has a structure that alludes to leafy foliage. The complex pattern is created by applying virtual pressure at the center of individual facets triggering a cracking process into four triangulate faces. The macroscopic pattern in this canopy is reflected at smaller intervals, and at lower scales echoing the fundamental organizing principles in the structures of trees and plants. Being below this kind of structure we can imagine light being diffused and broken into tiny pools, creating patterns that mimic the crystal-like structure above. Paul Prudence, London For more of Paul's writing on art, technology and process please see Dataisnature. |
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