Harm van den Dorpel, Mutant Garden Autobreeder, 2021

Mutant Garden Autobreeder by Harm van den Dorpel is a generative animated artwork based on evolutionary programming that never appears the same twice. The work is based on an existing algorithm called Cartesian Genetic Programming, invented by Julian F. Miller and Peter Thomson in 1997, the system itself having been finely tuned by van den Dorpel to produce a very particular quality of qualia. The software has been carefully constructed to produce a stream of new and unpredictable mutations that build and react to each previous generation of image. The algorithm mathematically determines each ‘mutant’ by measuring visual complexity versus cost of computation; complex compositions that are relatively quick to generate are favored over simple images that take disproportionate effort. This breeding strategy requires that each mutant in the lineage improves or declares its predecessor obsolete. Operating in a constant state of evolution and mutation, this artwork manifests a pure expression of complexity and emergence. 

Mutant Garden Autobreeder is an important marker and culmination of effort in van den Dorpel’s ongoing and long-term artistic exploration of artificial systems; previous elements and prototypes leading to this work have been a hallmark of the past decade of his practice. More broadly, the work also highlights the evolutionary progress in the recent history of computation, approaching it as algorithmic archaeology and complicating the mainstream analogy between artificial intelligence and neural networks.

Harm van den Dorpel’s practice focuses on emergent systems and the role technology plays in their development and meaning. Engaging with diverse materials and forms, including works on paper, sculpture, computer-generated graphics, and software, van den Dorpel’s works are continuously evolving, informed by feedback loops and the design of algorithmic systems. Working within and beyond the lineage of ‘net art’, a core aspect of van den Dorpel’s practice is software development that addresses specific approaches to artificial intelligence. With immense skill and craftsmanship, he builds advanced systems that draw on intuition and subliminal processes of the mind in order to continually output unexpected and curious aesthetic forms that embody a feeling of subconscious computation.