2009 12_Series
12_series
a generative multichannel computer installation
In a pitch-black room twelve screens and twelve speakers make up the audiovisual horizon, revealing the dynamics of twelve identical image and sound generating machines. Inspired by the principles of evolution and decentralized autonomous decision making, 12_series implements forms of audiovisual imitation, mutation and recombination, aiming for the emergence of captivating complexity from a vocabulary of rudimentary shapes, sounds and logic.
Despite their identical binary DNA, the twelve machines develop into individuals by reacting to their neighbors and by adapting to centrally organized environmental variables. As such the installation focuses on the tension between the individual and the group, between the machine-specific development and the group dynamics that determine the ever-evolving abstract horizon.
The imitative interaction establishes a more complex group behavior, steering groups of machines into similar audiovisual directions. Mutation initiates variation, by injecting errors into the imitative process. Recombination enables the interchange and reinterpretation of output material amongst the twelve machines, adding another layer of coherency.
Apart from developing the building blocks that assemble into complex generative individuals, the aim is to investigate boundaries for their mutative behavior, allowing the results to surpass our imagination.
12_series premiered the 24th of April 2009 at Wood Street Galleries Pittsburgh, USA.
An extended project description can be downloaded in hires (14 mb) here and in lores (600 kb) here.
More stills and photo’s can be found here. More video’s can be found here.
A making-of blog for 12_series at BALTAN Laboratories can be found here
12_series is produced by Spatial Media Laboratories, in collaboration with Baltan Laboratories, and Wood Street Galleries.
12_series is made possible with the generous support of Fonds BKVB, Mondriaan Foundation, The Netherlands Film Fund and DKC Rotterdam.
Distribution of 12_series is done by V2_Agency, see also here for more information.
Buy now:
12_series book with DVD
Published by Spatial Media Laboratories
Design by Femke Herregraven
Book, 64 pp., English text, illustrated
Contains essays by Arie Altena, Joost Rekveld and Murray Horne
