Within the Cerebral Cortex II

Watercolour, gouache, pencil and ink on watercolour paper, with digital reflection.

These self-replicating patterns of kaleidoscopic hexagonal form tessellate perfectly, and their construction can potentially be extended infinitely. When arranged as a vertical panel, an individual elongated hexagon appears like an illuminated stained glass window in the Perpendicular Gothic style. These dynamic forms illustrate an idea of vision from the mind's eye, the windows of the cerebral cortex, or the stained glass of the cerebral cathedral.

©ADG2012

Within the Cerebral Cortex

 

Watercolour, gouache, pencil and ink on watercolour paper, with digital reflection.


Initially intended to be used as a scientific tool, the kaleidoscope (observer of beautiful forms) permits dynamic vision. The apparatus, a cylinder of mirrors, transmutes asymmetric reality into a mathematical utopia of symmetrically flowering structures. In this way we simulate the view of the world as seen through the compound eyes of insects, which are typically hexagonal in cross section.
I am interested in this device for its ability to alter that which is seen, to look, to examine and to facilitate an expansion of complexity.

©ADG2012

Liquid-Crystal: Mesophase

Digital Vector Image.


Liquid crystals are a state of matter (phase) that have properties between those of a conventional liquid and those of a solid crystal. Shown here, the phase transition (liquid/solid) is occurring. A sample of the material was placed between two crossed polarizers; the sample was then heated and cooled. The crystal and liquid crystal phases will both polarize the light in a uniform way, leading to brightness and color gradients.

©ADG2012

Synthetic Progeny: Iamond Composition

Junk Geode II : Cuboctahedron

Poster board and metalized polyester film.

The junk geode mimics the geological form of its namesake, a cavity inside rock that contains various crystal minerals such as calcite, pyrite, and dolomite etc.
In this iteration the containing geometric solid is a cuboctahedron, a polyhedron with eight triangular faces and six square faces. The crystalline interior is imitated by metalized polyester film which can be manipulated by hand within its shell.

©ADG2012

S.O.1 : Synthetic Organism

Watercolour, gouache, pencil and ink on cardboard.

We are synthesizing DNA to create the first synthetic organism, a prototype of artificial life. SO1 has no specific function, but once it is alive we can customize it. We can go back to the computer, change a gene and create another variant. New life forms are generated by simply entering a sequence of keys.
 

©ADG2012

/ɪnfəˈmeɪʃ(ə)n/

Vector Image.

An ordered sequence of symbols that can be interpreted as a message, the information of this pattern relates to the biological process of binary fission which is the subdivision of a cell into two or more parts and the regeneration of those parts into separate cells.

Here the cells move downward in a chain, increasing complexity one unit at a time.

The cellular pattern maintains an order of inheritance from parent to offspring.

©ADG2012