WEBVTT

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ProtoTanks.

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A living world, on the wall.

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Artificial-life artworks by Ira Greenberg.

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Each organism begins in code.

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A numerical genome shapes its

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proportions, appendages, surfaces, and movement.

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Here, a retained rehearsal specimen is

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rendered as a living engraving.

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In the running world, these

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bodies become a population.

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Organisms gain and spend energy,

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reproduce, age, and die.

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Offspring inherit traits from their

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parents, with mutation introducing variation.

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Across generations, the world accumulates a

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history of forms and relationships.

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The installation brings that evolving

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world into a room.

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A display, a dedicated computer, and the

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artwork are commissioned together for the setting.

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A founding organism gives the

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commission a recorded beginning.

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Its artist-issued certificate connects the

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specimen to the acquisition.

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The world’s ledger records births, deaths, and ancestry.

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The rhythm is one of returning and noticing:

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a different movement, an unfamiliar body, a population

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that has changed while the system runs.

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The work extends more than two decades

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of Ira Greenberg’s Protobyte practice: drawing,
mathematics,

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and computation brought together through organic form.

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Each commission begins with a private demonstration

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and a conversation about the space.

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Installation, operation, and care are

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defined in the agreed proposal.

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ProtoTanks.

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A world to return to.

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Explore the work at the ProtoTanks website.