Embryogenesis (2014)
The word ‘Embryogenesis’ refers to the growth of human offspring through its embryonic development which ends as the embryo becomes a foetus and the foetal stage of development begins. While I was experimenting with genetic algorithms as the link between video and audio in order to create adapting, infinite, nonrepeating* real-time soundtrack, the idea of an idea being born seemed to connect really well with the concept of the early stages of human development. With that in mind, I named the various stages of developing my algorithm and platform according to the stages of embryonic development - gamete, zygote, morula, blastula, gastrula, and so on. The final piece for my Master’s dissertation was given the title ‘Embryogenesis’ as it encompassed all the parts I had researched and developed in those early experiements.
Embryogenesis was presented as a video installation in a dark room. The video was composed to begin and end with the same frame so that it would loop perfectly. The imagery is composed of digital paintings derived from microscopic plates of sperm and ovum. These paintings are slowly flowing into one another, with some very slowly moving parts. The audio is produced by a synthesis module developed for the purpose. The concept was really to explore the idea of the evolution itself - the growth and change over time and the possibility of that development being infinite. Since I was unable to create an infinitely changing video, I settled for the loop. This also meant that I wasn’t using the genetic algorithm to reach a final state - it would never attain perfect fitness, as it was given a moving target.