Data Flow: An Exhibition of Algorithmic Art

Exhibition: Saturday September 15th to Sunday October 28th

Opening Reception: Saturday September 15th

We often describe the Boston Cyberarts Gallery as an exhibition space for those who regard code as their creative medium. And while that is mostly true throughout the year, this exhibition, Data Flow, is all about the code. However while for these artists, much of the initial expressive input is done with algorithms, the final product varies greatly. From visualizations culled from scientific data and complex algorithms for visualizing fluid dynamics to a custom program resulting in a playful interactive installation, all of the artists in this exhibition have developed creative systems for processing information that are simultaneously illuminating and emotive.

Nathalie Miebach is presenting The Last Show Was For The Bleachers, Lost Porches and The Fifteen Ships of Georges Banks which speak to the intersections of powerful weather systems and the human experience. All three use weather and ocean data from recent hurricanes as building blocks to build maps of these events.

Dennis H. Miller presents R.G.B: 3 Chromatic Studies, a digital video in three parts, each of which explores a different technique of image production within the context of a single color. In the first section, fluid dynamics techniques are used to model a solid liquid-like substance that traverses the screen. The second study employs a particle system adapted by this author to generate a vast array of individual and flocking particles, while the third movement models vapor and smoke in a virtual context.

Nervous Systems presents two of their Growing Objects, a series of kinetic sculptures that illustrate natural growth processes. Inspired by 19th century zoetropes, these interactive sculptures consist of 3D printed objects that when spun and illuminated animate the development of complex forms; when still, they allow the viewer to examine each step of the growth process. Also one of their Laplacian Growth 3D objects, Laplacian Cave.

Karl Sims’ interactive installation, Flow, presents various fluid flow, particle systems, and image processing simulations that react to visitors as they move in front of a display. A video image of the participants is augmented with special effects to give the impression that they are in the same environment as the effects. The original version of this exhibit was commissioned by the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL) and is on display in the lobby of the MIT Stata Center.

And Mark J. Stock presents three works from the Immaculate Collision series. The works in the Immaculate Collision (2014-7) series are virtual x-ray images of the collision of large fluid droplets, generated by complex algorithms and emerging only after trillions of mathematical operations.

About the Artists

Nathalie Miebach explores the intersection of art and science by translating scientific data related to meteorology, ecology and oceanography into woven sculptures and musical scores and installations. She is the recipient of numerous awards and residencies, including a Pollock-Krasner Award, TED Global Fellowship, Virginia A. Groot Foundation Grant, and two Massachusetts Cultural Council Fellowships.  Her work has been shown in the US and abroad and has been reviewed by publications spanning fine arts, design, and technology. She lives in Boston.

Dennis Miller received his Doctorate in Music Composition from Columbia University and is a Full Professor Emeritus from Northeastern University in Boston, from which he retired in 2018 after 37 years of teaching. His mixed media works, which illustrate principles drawn from music composition applied to the visual domain, have been presented at numerous venues throughout the world, most recently the London Experimental Film Festival, the Hong Kong Arthouse Film Festival, the Punta y Raya Festival (Karlsruhe, Germany), the New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival, the Festival 2 Visages Des Musique Électroacoustiques (Brussels), the Free Spirit Film Festival (Himachal Pradesh, India) and the Largo Film Awards screening (Lahksa, Tibet). Exhibits of his 3D still images have been held at the Boston Computer Museum and the Biannual Conference on Art and Technology, and are published in Sonic Graphics: Seeing Sound (Rizzoli Books) and Art of the Digital Age (Thames and Hudson). Miller’s works are available at www.dennishmiller.com.

Nervous System is a generative design studio that works at the intersection of science, art, and technology. We create using a novel process that employs computer simulation to generate designs and digital fabrication to realize products. Founded in 2007 by Jessica Rosenkrantz and Jesse Louis-Rosenberg, Nervous System has pioneered the application of new technologies in design, including generative systems, 3D printing, and webGL. Nervous System releases online design applications that enable customers to co-create products in an effort to make design more accessible. These tools allow for endless design variation and customization. Nervous System’s designs have been featured in a wide range of publications, including WIRED, the New York Times, the Guardian, Metropolis, and Forbes. Jesse and Jessica have given talks on their generative design process in many forums, including MIT, Harvard, SIGGRAPH, and the Eyeo Festival. Their work is a part of the permanent collection of museums including the Museum of Modern Art, the Cooper-Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Their studio is located in Somerville, Massachusetts.

Karl Sims is a digital media artist and visual effects software developer. He was the founder of GenArts, Inc., a creator of special effects software tools for the motion picture industry. He previously held positions at Thinking Machines Corporation, Optomystic, and Whitney/Demos Productions. Karl studied computer graphics at the MIT Media Lab, and Life Sciences as an undergraduate at MIT. He is the recipient of various awards including two ARS Electronica Golden Nicas and a MacArthur Fellowship Award.

Mark J. Stock is an artist, scientist, and programmer who creates still and moving images and objects combining elements of nature, physics, chaos, computation, and algorithm. Mark eschews the ‘black box’ nature of commercial software—his work is exclusively created with scientifically-accurate research software, mostly of his own design. He has been showing work since 2000 and has been in over 80 curated and juried exhibitions since 2001, including Ars Electronica, ASPECT Magazine, and seven SIGGRAPH Art Galleries. He has spoken at numerous scientific, graphics, and art conferences and workshops, and has published papers in a variety of fields. Mark completed his PhD in Aerospace Engineering at the University of Michigan in 2006 and works out of his studio in Somerville, Massachusetts. He is represented in California by SENSE Fine Art.