Autotrophs

Autotroph Sequence

An Autotroph (from the Greek autos = self and trophe = nutrition), is an organism that produces complex organic compounds from simple inorganic molecules using energy from light or inorganic chemical reactions.

The Autotrophs are created using simulated video feedback, they are genetic offspring’s from Talysis II.

Alan Turing, in his famous paper, was the one the first to propose a matho-chemical basis for morphogenesis (The shape creation of living organisms). He posited the idea of the generation of living forms via chemical feedback processes – often simple processes that lead to unpredictable patterns and intricate, often geometric, morphologies. I have been interested in utilising controlled video feedback to mimic these autogenic processes. The video signal, a morphogen, self-replicates itself, to create crystalline life forms similar to Radiolarians.

The Autotroph prints contain many life-forms in composite series, intimating a life-cycle, or metamorphosis between one species and another. They intentionally mimic the layouts of Hans Haeckle’s famous illustrations in ‘Kunstformen der Natur’.

Click here for a Flickr Selection of Autotrophs

Click here to view the prints which formed part of my contribution to the Artware5 exhibition of computational/generative art in Peru, 2009.