Supraorganism
Justine Emard
2020
Installation (blown glass, robotics, sensor and machine learning system)
Dimensions: about 100m2
Supraorganism is a reactive installation composed of robotic glass sculptures, animated by a machine learning system (an artificial intelligence), and elaborated from datas collected in a community of bees.
Guardians of the balance between the earth and heaven, bees have always been a source of inspiration for thinkers. The observation of their intelligence is an indicator of the state of our ecosystem and they are often called upon to think about the present.
Today, the deduction techniques of machines allow us to interpret a large amount of data and to observe the world differently. Supraorganism is a work on the memory of bees and their collective intelligence. The creation process is calculated from observed and computer-analysed behavioural patterns. A network of artificial neurons has been trained during the residence at ZKM with the complicity of Martial Geoffre Rouland, on the data captured by the artist. This machine learning system, developed specifically for the project, generates predictions: a glimpse of possible futures.
These predictive interstices are embodied in a visual and sound installation. About twenty robotic glass sculptures, suspended on a stainless steel structure, unfold in the exhibition space. The modules come to life thanks to their connected systems, lights and motors, animated in live by the artificial intelligence. Thanks to its ambient sensors, the installation reacts subtly to the detection of visitors and adapts to their presence, like an artificial life organism.
The unpredictable nature of the system leads us to live a singular experience. The light and sound of this new organised being react in symbiosis while surprising each other, colliding in a structured, organic and floating constellation. From this ensemble emanates a form of collective intelligence, a Supraorganism comes to life, itself generating new images from the shadows and reflections projected in the space-time of the installation.
