"Octofungi is an interactive sculpture that exhibits simple, reflexive autonomous behavior: it learns its surroundings and interacts with them. Traditionally, artists have tried to capture the life of nature through art. With Octofungi I tried to push this approach one step further by using the "brush" of technology. I am attempting to trigger questions about the relationship between animal life and artificially-animated objects. I am also trying to persuade people to reexamine their definition of "life".
Octofungi is a small piece, weighing about 2.5 kilos. With ist eight "eyes" (light sensors) and eight legs, it looks like the improbable encounter between an octopus and a Geiger nightmare. Octofungi's animality is seen in its reactions to the environment, a result of its sensitivity to light. When a person moves their hand above the light sensors, Octofungi reacts according to the "aggressiveness" or "gentleness" of the participant. Right now according to its creator, "Octofungi is comparable to a non-social insect such as a moth or a snail". However, Octofungi should soon get a new genetically engineered "brain"... Although the outcome is still highly unpredictable, Yves Klein "hopes to reach or exceed the behavioral complexity of a fish" with this Frankenstein approach.
Octofungi could be perhaps compared to a plant. Like plants, Octofungi is "fed intravenously" but unlike plants, it doesn't know that it needs to eat or how to get food. In the future, Octofungi could mimic biological life: its genetic evolution and sexual reproduction will not be carried out by Octofungi directly, but by an external computer which will simulate specific conditions for a large population of virtual Octofungis, Like some fungal species that emits spores which use the reproductive organs of a host to reproduce. Its evolution promises some surprises, that can be wiewed at its web page.
Coming soon: the Robo-Ant project will explore more deeply the relationship betwen animal and artificial intelligence.
"The idea is to have a living thing cooperate with a machine. I chose ants because of the natural cooperative behavior that they manifest within a colony. Also, ants are relatively easy to maintain in an artificial environment as long as they are provided with some kind of nest and food supply. If I can manage to extract energy from their daily routine and effectively use it to power a robotized sculpture I should be able to dynamically provide food to the ants so that they don't starve to death. In such a system I would have a cooperative plan in which ants and machine sustain each other for as long as the colony is alive.
The interesting thing about such a system is that if we add intelligence to the "robo-sculpture" we can have new classes of behavior emerge, such as its ability to interact with humans, its ability to interact with its environment on a different scale than ants alone could, and the ability to have several colonies of "robo-ants" cooperate with each other, an idea that is normally unheard of in nature. Ants are known for their extreme agressive and warlike behavior when it comes to territory and food supply.
It is important that such a relationship between machine and life be kind and thoughtful. It has to benefit both entities without harming the other in any way. I believe that this type of relationship gives a glimpse of what the future will hold for us and our natural environment as our advances in science and technology slowly converge with the laws of nature for the benefit - or the desolation - of all."
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