obg001

introduction
background descriptive
detailed description of the work
exhibition history

Vicky Isley & Paul Smith
Research Fellows in Computer Animation & Computer Art
NCCA, Bournemouth University
t: +44 (0) 1202 966699
e: info at boredomresearch dot net

boredomresearch is represented by [DAM] Berlin

“Whereas traditional musical pieces become enframed by a quasi-narrative arc, as we observe in Martin Wattenburg’s Shape of Song, the time signature of emergence in the Bug Garden brings us precisely to a temporal sublime, and the possibility of apprehending the visual object not according to the usual categories of perspective, point of view, or spatialized fixity, but instead the sublimity that comes from an endless process of what Rich Doyle calls the “becoming-visible of the future,” a “becoming…whose ‘ontology’ is algorithmic and complex” instead of a product of 18th century classificatory systems that are stratified and linear.” Unframing Perspective: Towards a Definition of the Generative Sublime, Meredith Hoy

“On the wall opposite is fixed a single square shaped screen, this time the frame is a deep red. Again, cables trail openly down the wall, this time to a speaker on the floor. This piece is titled Ornamental Bug Garden and in contrast to the harsh sounds of the Biomes, emits almost continuous gentle sounds that resemble wind chimes and a tuning fork. The screen features a delicate plant like background and the ornamental digital space suits its name. A population of small white 'creatures' fling themselves around the 'garden' triggering flowers to spin, bubbles to be blown and lifts to rise.” Art, Autonomy and Automata, Finn Smith

“Ornamental Bug Garden 001 is another impressive screen based work. It is a hanging digital self-contained systems built by boredomresearch in 2004. The garden acts as a closed ecosystem where all the elements interact with each other and the environment according to specific rules.” Caitlin Winner, Wellesley College USA

“Ornamental Bug Garden 001 it is an animated interactive garden of hypnotic beauty, half road between the traditional Japanese illustration of Hokusai and the pixelated paradise of k10k.net.” Digimag, Simona Brusa

introduction
ornamental bug garden is a screen based computational art work.

OBG001 on exhibition at SIGGRAPH.05

Peering through the square window of ornamental bug garden 001(obg001) viewers see a population of spring objects attempt to space themselves evenly across the floor. Many are forced onto wires, the arrangement of which encourages their assent until they are either ejected by a falling weight or reach the top where their only option is to jump. On their decent they collide with flowers and bubbles before ending back on the floor, causing all their comrades to shuffle around From this point the cycle begins again. In the work the sensation or illusion of life is our key interest rather than a desire to create life itself. We are fascinated how simple rules can be combined to create systems that exhibit complex behaviour. The sound that is output from the system carries the signature of emergence.

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background descriptive

images from left to right:
detail 1, obg 001 @ siggraph, detail 2, obg 001 @ siggraph, detail 3,

OBG001 is part of a series of wall hanging digital self-contained systems. This series of works combines gaming techniques and artificial life modelling to explore relationships between scientific modelling techniques and ornamental gardens. In a garden, elements are composed and managed in a way that tries to be natural whilst often combining formal sculptural elements to create a place of tranquillity and relaxation. In artificial life modelling the purpose is normally to understand or predict how a natural system may behave in certain circumstances. Here we attempt to combine the two approaches by building a population of modelled life forms into a formally arranged space with a compositional and aesthetic agenda.

The individual elements of OBG001 have been generated algorithmically using software created by us, before being carefully composed in their final form. In building the garden we become the designers of closed ecosystems. In addition to considering the shape colour and form of the elements used within the garden we must consider their effect on the overall ecology of the system. For example certain behavioural characteristics or population numbers could cause the systems to reach a state of entropic stagnation. The complexities of the overall sound composition are the result of emergence within the systems. As OBG001’s colonies of objects catapult around a garden containing bubble pumping lifts and algorithmically composed plant life. Collisions with its elements trigger sounds and compose an incidental sound piece.

Although OBG001 uses modelling techniques similar to those used by scientists, instead of aiming to understand something existing, we hope to build something new of intrigue and beauty. OBG001 is a biosphere; a close system like the earth taking only energy as its input other than that nothing enters or leaves. As such there is no human interaction with the system. The work is built using computer technology to execute the rules that cause the system to behave in its unique way and not in order to make it respond in any form to any external forces.

The work comes in two sections 1.) a frame with built in 15” TFT display and speakers which is wall hung 2.) a custom built box including computer and subwoofer which sits on the floor underneath the screen. The screen is visible through a square lens that has a foreshortening effect, bringing the image surface level with the surrounding frame to subtlety but profoundly change the viewing experience. In this form the work is experienced intimately where only a few people can view the garden at one time. The frame and computer box has a burnished metallic deep red finish. We built the work with a ‘plug in and play‘ philosophy. This means that once assembled and plugged in the work can be switched on and of with a single button press.

OBG001 software uses simple rules and a-life principle to control the actions of its elements. All the individual components of the work were generated by software we made using Macromedia Director, also used to author the final work. The pattern on the weights has been developed using a system that combines Cellular Automata rules with the principles of a two-dimensional Turing machine. The plant form uses principles similar to L-systems. In this case we modified the rules as much as the properties they use to achieve our ultimate form.

ornamental bug garden is part of our solo national touring exhibition theatre of restless automata in collaboration with Aspex Gallery, Portsmouth

collection
British Council Collection (acquired in 2007)

exhibitions 2004-2007

2006
Natural Habitat, Montevideo Amsterdam
ACE2006, Hollywood
Shrewsbury Museum & Art Gallery
Peterborough Digital Arts

2005
Transmediale, Berlin (honorary mention)
Aspex, Portsmouth
SIGGRAPH, LA
HTTP://, London
Greenham Arts Centre, Greenham

2004
VIDA 7.0, Madrid (honorary mention)

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