Justin Yook – Looking Outwards 02

“Reaction-Diffusion” by Nobutaka Kitahara is a generative art piece. The CG art presented on screen is made from mathematical algorithms to simulate chemicals’ reaction-diffusion patterns in response to sounds; in this project, he used the song titled “Astravel”. According to information on some websites, this reaction-diffusion simulation is created based on the Gray-Scott model. One can see Kitahara’s artistic sensibilities manifest in the algorithm from his use of 3D space instead of 2D, making the viewer’s perspective much more interesting because there are more angles to see the simulation from. I admire this project because it is an amazing way to bind art, science and math together. There are many times when people assume that art and math or science are in separate categories, but “Reaction-Diffusion” represents that phenomenons of the natural world actually are made of both art and math or science; almost like one cannot exist without the other.