| You Pretty Little Flocker
is part of a larger project that explores the application of ecosystemic process
in electronic media arts. An ecosystem is an ecological concept that is used to
describe the complex networks of relations between living organisms (humans,
ants, fish, birds etc) and the abiotic environment (sun, water, soil etc).
Ecosystemic processes such as the transformation of energy and matter,
competition, symbiosis and evolution are responsible for the aesthetic and
dynamic beauty of the natural world and offer rich inspiration both conceptually
and technically for the development of generative and interactive digital art.
You pretty little Flocker expresses ecosystemic processes both literally and
metaphorically: the animation is driven by a model of the emergent behaviour of
groups of insects, birds or fish that swarm, flock or school. This model
demonstrates how complex coherent group dynamics can arise out of the
interaction of many individuals, without the need for top-down control. Rather
than visualising the model directly as a swarm, the animation is constructed by
revealing the interactions between individuals, creating abstract flowing forms
reminiscent of growing plant life. In this way the animation references the
indefatigable transformational and self-organising powers of the natural and
social world. |
