The austere, biomedical look of bit.flow presents an enigmatic, even hermetic spectacle for the uninformed audience. This is not unsurprising given that the work instantiates a deep ontological inquiry into the nature of self-knowledge, among machines and, by extension, among people. It is, we might say, the exercise of philosophy in the performative mode. Bit.flow seeds its physical form, a random tangle of flexible tubes, with a random binary pattern of coloured (red) and transparent fluid. This pattern manifests as a constantly changing complex three-dimensional pattern as alternating bands of red and transparent fluid pass around the loops of the tangled hose. Thus the most simple, temporal on/off rhythm, plus an undisciplined physical presence, generates complex pattern richness. This material “body” has no sensor feedback, no sensorial self-awareness. It watches, contemplates, itself via a video camera. By analysis of this image flow, bit.flow seeks to understand, and replicate, its own pattern. In this process, bit.flow implements fundamental assumptions of machine vision and “traditional” artificial intelligence, while asking questions deeply pertinent to artificial life. bit.flow is a very Cartesian machine which says “Cogito, ergo, sum”.

Biography

Born in Nuremberg in 1973, he lives in Leipzig and develops a line of work that brings together art and science in simple, suggestive forms. He studied Photography and Art at the Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst (Academy of Visual Arts) of Leipzig. He has collaborated with the Frauenhofer Institute, Leipzig University and the MIT of Boston, among others. He has been given numerous international awards, including the Robot Choice Award 2003 and second prize at the Inspire Awards 2005. In 2004, he exhibited at Artexpo, New York, and at the Kunstraum B2 in Leipzig.