Phenotypica
Phenotypica is an initiative created by artist Neus Torres Tamarit and computer scientist Ben Murray, formed to create evocative artworks and immersive experiences at the intersection between art, genetics and technology.
Phenotypica experiments with the interaction between the artwork and its subject matter, to find ways to tell stories about genetics that engender an emotional response. Their artworks reveal the forces of genetics in ways that liberate the subject from the underlying mathematics and reveal the dynamic, emerging complexity that results over time.
Phenotypica’s latest artworks include:
Confined Mutations, explores the idea that an organism is limited by the success of the mutations of its ancestors. This concept is presented in a symbolic form, showing three animated entities that progress through a looping sequence of changes.
Biomorpha (Evolving Structures) explores the dramatic evolutionary pressure that can be caused by a sudden change in a species’ environment. A well-adapted organism can stay genetically stable for millions of years. Given sudden environmental changes, however, a species can radically change in a short time, as there is a high selection pressure for mutations that help it to survive in the new environment. In Biomorpha, the audience acts as selection pressure when interacting with it.
Neus is a multidisciplinary artists who transitioned her artistic practice to making art about science. She has exhibited multi-media installations internationally at places such as the Louvre and the Shrishti Institute in India, and has collaborated with The Tate Exchange and the Royal Society. She is currently artist in residence at the Reuter Laboratory, UCL.
Ben is a computer scientist who has worked in computer games, medical imaging, and bioinformatics, amongst other fields. He is currently a research associate at the Wellcome / EPSRC Centre for Interventional and Surgical Sciences, and is studying a PhD in deep learning.