Trajectories in the Blog Galaxy #2: Cryptoforestry, Bio-Inspired Computation & Rendering the 20th Century
Tuesday, 24 May 2011
The Square – Stanley Tigerman and G.L. Crabtree
RNDRD
RNDRD, ‘Rendering the 20th Century’, contains a compilation of scans taken from out-of-print architectural journals, otherwise impossible to get hold of, and defining key movements in the evolution of architectural practice. Rather than concentrate on finished projects, the specialisation here is in drawings, collages, and dioramas. The most spectacular images are those of the futuristic and experimental utopianism of the 60s and 70s.
‘RNDRD loves awkward models, the sketchiness of early computer graphics and even building types and strategies, now hackneyed, that once appeared as innovative solutions. Buildings are expensive, but paper is cheap. The most interesting project may not be the one that was built. RNDRD wants to give these unseen works and forgotten trends a presence on the internet’
RNDRD is complied by Josh Conrad and Lauren Hamer
CRYPTOFOREST
Wilfried Hou Je Bek has been entertaining us with a diverse landscape of wild-style essays for as long as blogs have existed. Socialfiction fans will have learned of bacteriopoetics, gargoyle automatons, algorithmic psychogeography and the philosophy of crystalpunk to name a few. Last year Socialfiction evaporated into the digital aether (Although you can still find some of it archived here). Good news however appearance of his more recent project(ion) and its accompanying blog – Cryptoforest. Cryptoforestry extends the vectors of psychogeography into the realms of of feral, in-limbo, incognito, precognitive and unappreciated forests in the urban environment.
CHEMOTON
Chemoton is Vitorino Ramos research notebook containing thoughts about ‘artificial life, bio-inspired computation, complex sciences, their applications and technologies. This is one corner of browser-space where thoughts on the work of John Cage and Paul Klee collide with short essays on the social intelligence of bacteria and fluid dynamics of ant colonies.
