Autopoeisis

Autopoeisis
video/mp4
1280 × 720
01:01

"Autopoiesis", 2010
mirror, surveillance camera, laser projector, proximity sensor, computer running custom face-tracking algorithms
20" x 14" x 7.5" / 51 x 36 x 19 cm
edition of 6, 1 AP

When people look at themselves in this small mirror they see the word “Autopoiesis” projected on their forehead. The term ‘Autopoiesis’ was coined by Chilean biologists Humberto Maturana and Francisco Varela. Literally meaning self-production or creation, it refers to the way in which living beings are seen as systems that produce themselves, or regenerate, in a ceaseless way. An autopoietic system is at the same time the producer and the product. The concept of self-creation is an inspiration for all art that depends on participation to exist.

Video courtesy of the artist and bitforms gallery nyc.