Art and science

  • Circles and rays

    Contemporary abstract art and science - circles and rays

    Circles and rays

    Digital. 2022

    A print taken from a digital animation of expanding circles and rays.
    The work is related to my interest in both art and science, and is inspired by the concept of the expansion of the universe.
    I’ve been interested in both art and science most of my life. In fact in my youth (over fifty years ago) my ambition was to be an astronomer. I even constructed my own astronomical telescope, including grinding the parabolic mirror, when I was a teenager.

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  • The hive mind of an ant superorganism

    contemporary art insects ant superorganism

    Superorganism of ants or the ants’ hive mind

    Digital image May 2022

    An image of a swarm of ants forming the shape of one giant ant.
    The image is intended to convey the scientific concept of the superorganism, where the individual members of an animal community (often insects such as bees, wasps or ants) cannot exist as individuals but have to function as part of a larger unified communal entity.

    The concept of the superorganism is similar to the concept of the hive mind. The hive mind is perhaps more closely identified with neural activity rather than physical activity, and in human society is associated with the concepts of collective consciousness, group think and other thought processes. Hive mind activities such as group think are not necessarily positive.

    contemporary art insects ant superorganism

    The work reflects my interest in science, evolution, the natural world and the environment. It is based on a conncept and image that I created in the 1990s for the Guardian newspaper.

    contemporary art insects ant superorganism

    Some people argue that human society is a superorganism, generally on the grounds that we live in an incredibly complex society that is full of specialisation of roles, and that society would fall apart if some of these roles were to fail to function. This definition however doesn’t take into account one of the prerequisites of a superorganism, which is that the individual organisms within the superorganism can’t survive alone. Humans can easily survive even if our complex society collapses – there are people all around the world doing that very thing right now.

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  • Contemporary art linking art and science – Electrom

    Contemporary art and science – generative art
    A detail from the work

    An abstract moving image artwork in which multiple copies of a single shape move and interact using simple computer algorithms, generating complex shapes.

    The animation links art and science by exploring the generation of complexity from simplicity.

    To see higher resolution videos and more information about this series click here.

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  • Ionn – abstract contemporary art meets science

    Contemporary abstract moving image – art meets science
    A detail from the animation

    Ionn – abstract generative animation

    Digital abstract moving image    April 2018

    The image above is a detail from an abstract moving image work from a series in which multiple copies of a single geometrical shape are animated to interact with each other using simple computer algorithms, creating extremely complex shapes. See the video below for the full animation.

    The animation is an attempt to link contemporary art and science by showing the way in which complex forms are generated from simple forms, which is one of the fundemental underlying principles of the structure of the universe (where the component parts of atoms such as electrons and protons are composed of even simpler entities, which themselves are composed of even simpler entities, which in turn…).

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    To see higher resolution videos and more information about this series click here.

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  • Art and science: abstract animations concerned with the creation of complexity from simplicity.

    Proscion.

    Abstract moving image    March 2018

    A piece of abstract digital animation that uses my technique of overlaying multiple copies of the same image made to move relative to each other in simple ways and to interact with each other so that, for instance, the colour displayed in the resulting image changes.
    This “starburst” animation is composed of multiple overlaid copied of a 36 pointed star.
    A key motive behind these video animations is the linking of art and science through the exploration of the creation of complex forms from the interaction of simple forms, with particular reference to the creation of the incredible complexity of the universe from its incredibly simple building blocks. There’s more about this here: Complexity from simplicity: contemporary artworks.

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  • Complexity generated from simple forms. Daedim

    Contemporary art meets science - the generation of complexity from simple forms
    A detail from the work

    A detail from an abstract moving image work from a series in which multiple copies of a single shape move and interact using simple computer algorithms, creating complex shapes.
    The series combines my interest in art and science.

    Daedim: abstract moving image

    Animation.     July 2017

    To see higher resolution videos and more information about this series click here.

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  • Art and science – String Theory with nylon cord and mirrors

    Art and science -infinity mirror effect - optics and perception

    String Theory

    Mirrors, cord and light source: January 2017. W=30cm H=30cm

    A study for a work composed of mirrors that are configured so that they create reflections round a symmetrical axis and also create reflections in infinite regression.
    The reflected object in this work is a single short length of coloured cord (about 40cm long), made to appear much longer by the multiple reflections in the mirrors. The cord is brightly coloured and is lit by a directional light source which gives the cord the effect of being a pulsating energy stream in a containment vessel, perhaps in a high energy physics laboratory.
    This work brings together my interests in art and science, especially the science of optics and perception.

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  • Perception and deception. Odd shoes reflected in a mirror

    Humorous contemporary art - a mirror with the reflection of a shoe

    Perception and deception. Odd shoes reflected in a mirror

    Shoes, mirror. January 2013

    Part of a series of works involving the reflection of shoes in a mirror, with the shoes positioned so that the reflection of each shoe in the mirror coincides exactly with the other shoe on the opposite side of the mirror.
    In this work the shoes involved are not a pair.
    This creates a double dissonance in the viewer. Firstly the viewer has to interpret the fact that the reflected part of the shoe is not part of the other shoe, and secondly the viewer has to interpret the fact that the two shoes are different (with the degree of difference varying depending on the position of the viewer and thus the amount of the shoe that is behind the mirror that is visible).
    Like a lot of my works that involve mirrors, reflections, perception and optical illusions this one explores the line between reality and our interpretation of what we perceive. Hopefully it includes an element of humour too.

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  • Reflection in a mirror creating colour discontinuity

    contemporary art - a mirror reflection creating optical illusion

    Colour Discontinuity 1. Coloured rods reflected in a mirror

    Mirror, wooden rods, acrylic paint. July 2015

    A coloured rod reflected in a mirror so that the reflection in the mirror coincides with a differently coloured rod on the other side of the mirror, creating a form of ambiguous optical illusion.

    A study in perception, illusion and the interpretation of ambiguous visual stimuli.
    I’ve been interested in mirrors and reflections since I was a teenager in the late 1960s. My first mirror based work was done at that time. It started a science based endeavour rather than an artistic one – involving the construction of an astronomical telescope, including the grinding of its primary parabolic mirror.

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  • 30 Disks – interacting simple shapes forming complex shapes

    This video starts slowly. Don’t stop watching it during the first 20 seconds or so.

    30 Interacting Disks

    Abstract moving image    February 2015

    An abstract moving image work from a series in which multiple copies of a single shape move and interact using simple computer algorithms, creating complex shapes.
    In this work 30 disks follow circular paths. Where even numbers of disks overlap they present white, while where odd numbers of disks overlap they present black.
    A key motive behind these video animations is the linking of art and science through the exploration of the creation of complex forms from the interaction of simple forms.

    Below are some still frames from the animation.

    art and science - complexity from simplicity
    art and science - complexity from simplicity
    art and science - complexity from simplicity

    To see higher resolution videos and more information about this series click here.

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  • Contemporary art and science – the creation of complexity from simplicity (Generative art)

    contemporary art meets science - the creation of complexity from simplicity in generative art

    The generation of complex forms from simple forms.

    Digital works. Series begun 2008

    This is a design to accompany a series of video animations that explore the creation of complex forms from simple forms. The animations are often in the form of rotating grids, though not always.
    The works were first conceived as a device to visualise the creation of the complex structure that underlies the physical universe from extremely simple fundamental components.
    Very much an example of art meets science.
    More on the subject.

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