Systems’ Garden
a research project discovering the boundaries between nature and computability
Juniperus Virginiana I
Juniperus Virginiana II
Juniperus Virginiana III
Juniperus Virginiana IV
Sargassum I
Sargassum II
Sargassum III
Sargassum IV
Asparagaceae I
Asparagaceae II
Asparagaceae III
Asparagaceae IV
“Beauty is bound up with symmetry”
— Hermann Weyl (mathematician)
I was always drawn to nature’s unpredictable, elegant textures and repelled by anything synthetic, so it was surprising to learn that such complex structures can begin with simple rules - a theory that has been toyed with in mathematics and biology for many years. With Systems’ Garden, I wanted to delve into the computability of biological structures whilst questioning our distance to technology and what we consider as beautiful or complex.
The algorithm is based on the L-System - developed in 1968 by a mathematician Lindenmayer who used it as a theoretical framework to study cell growth. By using this well researched system as a starting point, I began experimenting with different interpretations and rewriting the algorithms until they produced something aesthetically pleasing.
Each species has a set of probabilities, meaning no generation will be the same, similar to living plants.
By producing these species the intention is not to copy what exists already, but it’s about the joy of trying to understand nature’s complexities.
Made with javascript library p5.js.
— Hermann Weyl (mathematician)
I was always drawn to nature’s unpredictable, elegant textures and repelled by anything synthetic, so it was surprising to learn that such complex structures can begin with simple rules - a theory that has been toyed with in mathematics and biology for many years. With Systems’ Garden, I wanted to delve into the computability of biological structures whilst questioning our distance to technology and what we consider as beautiful or complex.
The algorithm is based on the L-System - developed in 1968 by a mathematician Lindenmayer who used it as a theoretical framework to study cell growth. By using this well researched system as a starting point, I began experimenting with different interpretations and rewriting the algorithms until they produced something aesthetically pleasing.
Each species has a set of probabilities, meaning no generation will be the same, similar to living plants.
By producing these species the intention is not to copy what exists already, but it’s about the joy of trying to understand nature’s complexities.
Made with javascript library p5.js.
300gsm punched paper, Framed
System B in rotation with itself
3x prints on photographic paperShown at St James Hatchams, London - January 2023