These works come from a study of organic natural forms and their relationship to simple mathematical rules.
Influenced by the work of D'Arcy Thompson, Alan Turing and Ernst Haeckel, they study how intricate forms of plant and coral like structures can be created by digital simulation of flow and deposition.
These works use variations on an algorithm called Diffusion Limited Aggregation: a simple system of simulating growth by repeated deposition. The sculptural shapes are created by a process of accretion over time. They are gradually grown by simulating the paths of millions of particles randomly flowing in a field of forces. Over time they build on top of an initial simple seed surface to produce structures of immense complexity. The changes to the rules effectively represent modifications to environment that the form is growing in.
Images:
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The images shown by clicking on the thumbnails above have been scaled down to about 1/10th the original size for internet viewing. To get a clearer idea of the level of detail in the original images here is an image at 1/2 the full resolution: 4096x4096 pixel image (6.8MB)
Videos:
SIGGRAPH 2005 Sketch Session:
"Aggregation: Complexity out of Simplicity"
Limited edition prints from the Aggregation series are available from Saatchi Art
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