Guillaume Hutzler
:: Mutations ::
Mutations Mutations
Plastic and musical numeric installation
© B. Gortais/Y. Orlarey/G. Hutzler


:: Credits ::

:: Exhibitions ::

:: Publications ::

In English

SCI01b Hutzler G., Gortais B., Orlarey Y., "Mutations: Plastic and Musical Improvisation by Distributed Agents", in World Multiconference on Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics 2001, Orlando (Florida, USA), N. Callaos, X. Zong, C. Vergez and J. R. Peleaz eds, Volume X, pp. 380 385, IIIS, Orlando, 2001.

Leonardo00 Hutzler G., Gortais B., Drogoul A., "The Garden of Chances: a Visual Ecosystem", in Leonardo, Vol. 33, Issue 2, pp. 101-106, April 2000, International Society for the Arts, Sciences and Technology, MIT Press.

In French

TheseHabilitationHutzler.pdf Hutzler G., "Le Has(Art) et la néce(Cité) - Une approche (auto-)poïétique des systèmes complexes", Thèse d'Habilitation à Diriger des Recherches, Université d'Evry-Val d'Essonne, 15 juin 2011.

HutzlerGortais_ECME10.pdf Hutzler G., "Le Has(art) et la nécessité", Esthétique et Complexité - Créations, expérimentations et neurosciences, Z. Kapoula et L.-J. Lestocart éds., pp. 85-102, Editions du CNRS, Paris, 2011.

:: Presentation ::

A sound ecosystem

In this project, created in collaboration with Y. Orlarey of Grame (Hutzler et al. 2001), the focus was on sound dynamics alongside visual dynamics. The main idea was to enable the agents making up the image to "sing" according to their individual "state of form", and according to their mutual interactions. The aim is to establish musical dialogues between neighboring shapes in the image and, more generally, a musical composition at system level. At a higher level, the project is to link four distinct systems, connected to four sources of meteorological data corresponding to four geographical locations symbolizing the four seasons (Capetown, Oslo, Shuzhou, Rio de Janeiro). The aim is to fully immerse the viewer in an ever-changing visual and aural ambience, with strong contrasts in both visual and aural terms.

Has(art) and necessity

To avoid cacophony, the agents' "voices" need to harmonize, and not all agents need to sing simultaneously. The first aspect has been addressed by associating sampled sound files with the agents, created and selected to form a coherent sound palette for each system. The second aspect is addressed by considering that agents, as they evolve in the ecosystem, acquire a greater or lesser amount of energy. Those whose energy exceeds a high Sh threshold can then spontaneously sing (see below), propagating a sound wave around them. Agents that perceive a sound wave can in turn sing, provided their energy exceeds a low threshold Sb (see below). The intensity of singing is proportional to the energy of the agent producing it. Singing is also accompanied by a decrease in energy, so as to prevent two neighboring agents from activating each other infinitely.

Singing behavior

Orchestration of situated agents

From an artistic point of view, the system produces a visual and sound composition that is constantly renewed, while always maintaining a "style" in keeping with the wishes of composer Y.Orlarey. This delicate dynamic balance is achieved through the composition of the rules described above and the intervention of chance to constantly bring about novelty. Compared with the regulation of spatial clutter introduced in Le Jardin des Hasards, we have here more dynamic principles of information transmission and synchronization, which can also be recycled for the design of visualization systems.