![[OLD FALL 2019] 15-104 • Introduction to Computing for Creative Practice](wp-content/uploads/2020/08/stop-banner.png)
For my Looking Outwards this week, I picked a work by Christoph Hermann from 2012. It’s a piece of wood mathematically and generatively designed to appear flowy, soft, and organic; as shown here, the ripples are so natural it almost appears to be a piece of cloth. This piece really stood out to me because it’s remarkable how natural a computer-generated algorithm was able to make wood, a very stiff material, appear. It’s a testament to how much work the artists must have put into their algorithm to make sure it didn’t appear mechanical or robotic. Hermann worked with the computational design firm Biot(h)ing in order to create code that could emulate the natural flow of rippling fabric. As Biot(h)ing explains on their website, their primary mission is to utilize algorithms to “mimic the process of autopoiesis through intricate entanglements” — in other words, they seek to build code that can create, reproduce, and maintain itself through natural forms.
Hermann’s work was shown at the “Lasvit Liquidkristal (LLK) Pavilion” at Milan Design Week in 2012, an exhibit specifically designed to showcase parametric architecture and organically flowing patterns. Each piece had a smooth exterior with interiors comprising of dips and pockets; presumably, the interior is the portion that was generated with an algorithm. Although it isn’t specified how the code was written, my guess would be that it might have involved using a command that “pushes” shapes toward a certain direction or side. For instance, if we were to write code that could cause shapes to contort to the direction a mouse moves in, it’d be possible to mimic a natural curve or ripple. I’m not exactly sure how to do this, but perhaps it involves easing or other contortion.
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