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B y E d u a r d o G a l v a n i . ® 2 0 2 3
The Biotopia Collection (®2023) brings together glimpses of Artificial Intelligence about the fantastic beings that inhabit the algorithmic landscapes of BlueWillow™.
As a teenager, once I thought about studying Biology to photograph birds and other wild animals more accurately, or in a way the shots can best capture fragments of their souls. On April 23, 2023, a cold and rainy Sunday afternoon, I decided to go on a virtual walk through the paths of Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) algorithms in search of unknown generative creatures. A ludic way to connect my enthusiasm for photography with my passion for Nature (even if in this case a digital representation of Nature), design and technology.
"Purposeful fun" perhaps best defines the genre of the experience. My guide on this adventure was BlueWillow™. I explained to him that, as the idea was not just to find, but to photograph the creatures, for aesthetic reasons, it would be interesting to look in a place of exuberant nature, rich in color and diversity. We found an environment, where beyond all that, there seems to be such a harmonious coexistence between beings that everything there has a plastic appearance that reminds me of the hyper-real simulacrum of Baudrillard.
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My passion and years of experience as a photographer helped me a lot on this journey, my focus and photographic equipment were adequate to best photograph tiny creatures. After approximately 8 hours wandering through complex and surprising landscapes, we came across an incredible variety of beings, most of them equipped with large eyes, which made us assume that they have developed more the sense of sight to better contemplate the singular beauty. of the world of which they are a part.
Another skill they seem to have developed is posing for pictures: almost all of them are extremely photogenic and like to pose for the camera. Lucky for me, today's algorithmic cameras are pretty smart, I just need to specify the subject and characteristics of the composition style, they take care of doing the rest of the job of shooting and storing the images well.
As the photos are in Macro style and limit capturing the environment in the compositions, a tip from the editor is to try to observe the landscape through the reflections in the eyes of some creatures. Most of the images in this collection show creatures from the local fauna of "Biotopia", but some pics highlights the exotic flora as well. The environment in which they live is strange to us, as they have their ontology linked to this environment, all beings seem to us to be hybrids between species we know, but a curiosity of the local biota are beings half animal, half plant. I wondered what would be the reactions of Aristotle, Darwin, Linnaeus and Haeckel if they saw these creatures.
The amount of magnificent life forms that BlueWillow™ and I found and photographed is surprising, there are hundreds, so I decided to organize the images in a public catalog that will be permanently accessible on this Instagram profile: @biotopiacollection. From May of 2023, the catalog will be constantly updated with the average addition of a new creature each day.
The disclosure of pre-cataloged creatures will occur daily with the publication of one creature per day on social networks (Instagram and Facebook) of the Biotopia Collection.
As hundreds of creatures were photographed during the expedition, for a prior organization of the catalogue and easy the further detailed investigation of the creatures, in this pre-classification they were characterized by basic criteria that you find on the identification card in each post:
As hundreds of creatures were photographed during the expedition, for a prior organization of the catalogue and easy the further detailed investigation of the creatures, in this pre-classification they were characterized by basic criteria that you find on the identification card in each post:
Numbering: ordinary, it will guide the sequence of publication of the creatures. As there are hundreds of creatures, the numbering will also serve to more easily locate the creature in searches in the collection. The numbering code is composed of the prefix BGC23-01 (Biotopia Generative Creatures 2023 - Collection 1) followed by the creature's unique number.
Kingdom: identifies whether the creature is a plant, an animal, a fungus, a bacterium or a "hybrid" (yes, we found beings that look like mixtures of plants and animals, among other very stranger "things"...)
Kingdom: identifies whether the creature is a plant, an animal, a fungus, a bacterium or a "hybrid" (yes, we found beings that look like mixtures of plants and animals, among other very stranger "things"...)
Biocomplexity: In this first sorting, Biotopia will also classify the creatures by their "Biocomplexity(1)" in a scale from 1 to 10 (1 for the simplest level of complexity and 10 for the most complex level), according to the denoted biocomplexity of its basic characteristics, especially Size, Quantity, diversity and complexity of its members, Style and Color patterns.
(1) Biocomplexity: is an approach to these studies that brings our knowledge into a broader view. Biocomplexity arises from the behavioral, biological, environmental, social, chemical, and physical interactions that affect, sustain, or are modified by living organisms, including humans." (The Ecological Society of America).
Nickname: In addition, in this pre-cataloging, each creature also gained a nickname, an attribute that seems merely playful, but which helps to broaden our connection with each creature and even allows us to informally identify them more easily.
There are really many creatures photographed. And an unimaginable amount of others that I saw but couldn't photograph on this trip. Who knows on the next one.
Incidentally, the most popular species on the "algorithmic island" that we explored on this trip to "Biotopia" seemed to me to be a hybrid squirrel with a bird's beak, feet and wings. It would be an adorable pet, if trying to tame it seems better than keeping it in its original habitat.
Finally, one of the learnings that this journey provided me was that being more attentive to the little things and creatures around us can provide us with surprising encounters.
More on Instagram:
Discover another creatures on @biotopiacollection
Discover another creatures on @biotopiacollection
Thank you!
Comments are welcome.
Comments are welcome.
E d u a r d o G a l v a n i . ® 2 0 2 3 . A l l r i g h t s r e s e r v e d.
