Video Organisms

Video feedback patterns draw themselves without a computer. A tilted camera shoots a video of a wall while a projector shows that video live on the same wall. In a visual loop, the pixels themselves begin to line up in patterns as the camera sees them and the projector shows them, over and over. Anything the camera sees affects the patterns, including the changing daylight in the room. Feedback loops happen in any relationship between two things that affect each other at the same time. Scientists study feedback loops to learn about complex natural and human systems. Artist Ethan Turpin collaborates with scientists to turn their research into art.