Getting Together: Biomorphism and Emergence

Getting Together is an interactive electronic sculptural experiment in wireless social interaction, applying biomorphic textures to fabric, and emergence by failure. The work consists of several tentacles, which imitate, both in texture, and motion, living beings. They may coil away, out of reach, as the audience interacts with them. Originally, the work was a negotiation between the audience at large, and one audience member whose body was electronically connected to the sculpture. Touches to the sculpture were transferred to the person. The interface wearer, reacting to their situation, could cause the tentacles to coil away. This work changed over time, technical issues giving a new kind of biomorphism to the machine. Breaking free from an audience-driven motion, the tentacles developed their own independent, fearful consciousness. Now, rather than question the audience’s physical interactions with itself, the work questioned the audience’s interactions with this strange new entity, and by extension, questioned their interactions with “outsiders” in general.