Typing Out Evolution

From the exhibit "What Machines Dream Of" in Berlin comes Life Writer, a work by Christa Sommerer and Laurent Mignonneau. As the participant types, letters are projected on a scroll of paper. After pushing the return bar, the letters are transformed into animated, typographic creatures that bob and skitter across the paper. The ravenous insects then proceed to gobble up the words as fast as they're typed. When the paper is scrolled, the creatures reproduce, birthing offspring that looks slightly different from the parent. An algorithm determines the shape and behavior of the organisms, and controls how they evolve with each generation.

Sommer and Mignonneau use an obsolete technology to bring up very current questions about the autonomy of technological systems, and what 'life' means when humans can create convincing facsimiles of it. "What Machines Dream Of" is on display until August 28. It's free, fun, and full of  next natural goodness.