Technology A — Pratt Grad ComD

Project Description

Phase 1 explores "Rules, Variables, and Systems," asking: What happens when visual form is not authored as a static outcome, but emerges dynamically from an autonomous rule set? "Organic Recursion: Simulating Avian Self-Organization within an Algorithmic Atmospheric Field" is an interactive generative system built in p5.js. The concept originated by comparing two decentralized systems: starling murmurations in nature, where birds follow local neighbors to produce collective waves, and Taiwan’s waste grid, where trucks broadcast classical music to choreograph daily routines. Both revealed that technology is an organized schedule and shared rhythm. Before coding, I tested these mechanics physically using an aluminum tray, paperclips, and magnets, discovering how magnetic fields drive alignment and physical barriers force flow to bifurcate. In the computational system, 160 typographic particle agents navigate an open 1200x800 canvas. Grounded in Craig Reynolds’ steering behaviors (separation, alignment, cohesion), Karl Gerstner’s programmatic matrices, and Casey Reas’s environmental variables, agents negotiate between flocking instincts and external stresses. Rather than drawing literal birds, each agent is an abstract typographic mark resembling movable type. The system runs on an autonomous 20-second loop across four phases: Stochastic Dispersion (0–5s): High separation scatters agents in Brownian wandering. Directional Stream Flow (5–10s): Peak alignment locks agents into parallel migratory waves. Localized Vortex Swirls (10–15s): Cohesion and torque fracture the flock into rotating sub-swarms. Stochastic Organic Gathering (15–20s): Dynamic attractors pull agents into a porous typographic cluster. Interactive perturbations include stochastic crosswinds up to 60 knots sonified live via Web Audio pink noise ([W], [M]), cartographic contour obstacles with a hydrodynamic tangential bifurcation algorithm ([J], [C]), and an entropic predator hawk ([H]).

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Gemini

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Modular Mobile by Ashlyn Pelletier

Organic Recursion

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by Chuhsuan Fan (Sunny)

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by Chuhsuan Fan (Sunny)

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