Terrarium

Domingues, D.
Source: Domingues, D.

Diana Domingues

Terrarium ,
Co-workers & Funding
Diana Domingues e Grupo Artecno
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Description
TERRARIUM II net based installation explores in the physic space a ground with rocks and a topography where virtual serpents live. The space offers an immersive virtual reality networked environment which allows people to create and control snakes’life. The interactions stimulate life moments in some level of dream and imagination. The installation is a collective and collaborative planetary terrarium. By exploring bi-directional and multi-local structures of communication, people connected to their machines, simultaneously, everywhere on the whole world, create serpents which are automatically sent to any other machine. The synthetic creatures are generated by the cross-over combination and are replicated in other machines. People located in the room and everywhere in the planet collaborate with the collective place to raise serpents on line. The work integrates artificial intelligence and the control of artificial life and also bi-directional interfaces with information exchanged among virtual worlds, in the communication system of multi- local structures. The poetic concept links old cultures and establishes similarity to believes that serpents act in the infraworld and art project traces bridges to the tradition of serpents, animals of great presence in the mythological imaginary of Mesoamerican cultures. Serpents are associated to the terrestrial environment because they act in the cosmos and reinvigorate the vegetation. The connections allow us, by using the data structure and algorithm behaviours, to create, provoke, share and control life. Concerning artificial life, by linking the genetic code of DNA sequences from twelve species of snakes in South Brazil, whose code is given by experts in genetics of the University of Caxias do Sul, we can generate virtual serpents. Parameters translated into algorithms create artificial serpents controlled by a genetic algorithm system prepared to execute and process calculations, simulating characteristics of organic environments. We have a networked organic environment and the replication of another snake as a clone of memes is possible when we create the serpents. The organic simulated behaviour of the environment is controlled by linking heat and dynamics, because the artificial temperature influences the speed of serpents’ moves. When they are fed by people, serpents' lifetime is enhanced. The selection of data results in the fitness function and the same process generates combinations of sets. We can appreciate every serpents’displacement and their spatial intelligence. They have also a relative level of multiagents systems because of the collective behaviour, and each one has an independent and a collective existence respecting the other one’s constitution. The environment autonomous behaviour corresponds to the system’s knowledge, its capacity of reasoning and considering the conditions of serpents’ life. Among other qualities simulating a natural environment, the virtual creatures go up and down over the topographies of the virtual landscape, they search for food, become faster and faster in their displacements when we change the heat of the environment. The second version offers mobile and nomadic connections of a search engine in Google and a PAD to interact with the virtual serpentarium. A linguistic database with terms related to scientific, antropological, artistic terms is activated when serpents are created and a search engine by nomadic connections writes sentences. The use of mobile connections to the net write an open ended tex, by anonymous and distributed authors. An unpredictable collaboration writes collective and planetary narratives. Unexpected relationships manifest free narratives and complex histories about serpents. The connections address ecological, social, and political issues about human imaginary in innovative ways, by mixing the diversity of issues regarding serpents. By interacting, we can be immersed in day-dreaming states related to serpents life and the interfaced body experiences illusions, fears, pleasant thoughts, scientific topics. The system contributes to eliminate the diversity of cultures and people embodies identities connected to virtual worlds. The installation is based on Ouroboros slogan my end is my beginning, which is related to the cyclic nature of the universe: self-fecundation; disintegration and re-integration; truth and cognition, self-regeneration, the ouroborus unending principle.
Keywords
  • aesthetics
    • installation-based
    • interactive
    • networked
    • virtual
  • genres
    • installations
      • mixed reality
    • net art
  • subjects
    • Nature and Environment
      • animals
  • technology
    • interfaces
      • interactive media
        • mixed reality-based interaction
Technology & Material
Installation Requirements / Space
Net based installation and multilocal communication, artificial life, mobile and nomadic connections linguistic database text mining web search engine linguistic database, collective narratives, stereoscopic projection, PAD, glasses, Open GL - C++, sounds
Exhibitions & Events
Bibliography
  • DOMINGUES, DIANA MARIA G and Günther Johannes Lewckuk GERHARDT. »HeartScapes and Terrarium.« Art Et Biotechnologies , no. 5 (2005).
  • DOMINGUES, DIANA MARIA G. »Terrarium.« Anomalie digital_arts , no. 5 (2005): 224-235.
  • DOMINGUES, DIANA MARIA G. »Terrarium Places.« Maior Ou Igual a 4d Arte Computacional Interativa (2004): 30-35.