The techno-geek in me is compelled to point you to this series of articles in the February 2004 Wired magazine on living machines. For anyone interested in human interaction and the dynamics of social groups (which should describe most arts managers), it’s interesting to note that many of these properties and behaviors are now being designed into robotic pets, virus software, and computer-aided design. Among the properties being modeled:
EMERGENCE describes the way unpredictable patterns arise from innumerable interactions between independent parts. An organism’s behavior, for instance, is driven by the interplay of its cells. Similarly, weather develops from the mixing of oxygen, carbon dioxide, water, and other molecules.
SELF-ORGANIZATION is a basic emergent behavior. Plants and animals assemble and regulate themselves independent of any hierarchy for planning or management. Digital simulations made up of numerous software agents have demonstrated self-organization in systems ranging from computer networks to tornadoes.
REPRODUCTION was considered strictly the purview of organisms until recently. Now computer programs procreate, too. Genetic algorithms mimic biology’s capacity for innovation through genetic recombination and replication, shuffling 1s and 0s the way nature does DNA’s Gs, Ts, As, and Cs, then reproducing the best code for further recombination. This technique has been used to evolve everything from factory schedules to jet engines.
COEVOLUTION inevitably accompanies evolution. When an organism evolves in response to environmental change, it puts new pressures on that environment, which likewise evolves, prompting further evolution in the organism. This cycle occurs in many social systems – for instance, the interaction between behavioral norms and legal codes.
It sounds geeky, I know, until you squint a bit to apply the same basic properties when looking at arts organizations, or art forms, or audience behavior, or the economy. As one author in the series of article suggests:
…look closely and you’ll see the same dynamic at work in every system, and at every scale. Whether the name of the game is microbiology or geopolitics, it all boils down to the delicate balance between competition and cooperation.
While you’re on the Wired site, also take a look at this odd and funny Flash animation, warning us all to use cartoons responsibly.
