David Chappell

Statement

Mathematical art gives me the opportunity to create my own universes. I design mathematical and computational rules to explore the production of complex spatiotemporal patterns. In some sense, I consider my art form to be the act of creating rules. Sometimes I adopt a “hands-off” approach and let my universe unfold undisturbed once the rules have been set in motion. Other times I meddle: fiddling, reordering, organizing. In either case, the aim of these explorations is to both generate aesthetically compelling compositions and to better understand the process of pattern formation in dynamical systems.

Artworks

Each of these computer-generated works serves as a type of experiment. The aim of the experiment is to create organic forms (which are not easily quantifiable) from mathematical algorithms. My approach in constructing these experiments is to use ensembles of adaptive, line-drawing agents. The agents are given rules loosely based on biological growth processes that describe how they evolve and respond to each other over time. The rules and associated parameters are modified over and over until the designs begin to evoke a sense of organic flow.