Flash Website (Under Construction): www.genefelice.com/721
The hybrid form is a subject that I find a certain kinship with. I am a combination of my biology and my environment, a living mutation, balancing somewhere between the natural and technological worlds. This body of work explores this idea by turning the conceptual and digital into the physical and analog.
This series explores the way biology and technology forms and adapts over time. From ideas to the physical, from energy to matter, an evolution has emerged that helps me to understand a little more about myself and the environments that I’ve lived within. These forms have grown from a seed that was germinated by the need to understand more about my own internal programming. My genes are destined to mutate and transform, both from inheritance and because of the heavily industrial and technological worlds that my life has developed within. I want to understand this process, from the inside out.
I started by studying the growth patterns of mutating, evolutionary cancer cells that are prominent within my genetic make up. I created 3D visualizations from this data and I explored nature’s phylogenic algorithms and patterns that shape natural structures. I’ve gone so far as to create semi-advanced organisms that have specialized relationships between them. Organism 1 has a self-amplified audio system built into it (currently powered by the p2 power cycle system), so that it can broadcast audio from Organism 3, which transmits from a microphone. This creates the possibility of a one-way conversation between the two creatures, reflecting my subconscious desire to communicate with my past. Organism 2 is a lantern in its most basic form. It’s lit with a series of LED’s synchronized by a remote microcontroller. It calls to the viewer and responds through undulating light patterns. This current configuration is powered by a solar powered battery system, absorbing the rays of the sun in the day and in return, transmitting them throughout the evening.
The five new mutations and the digital prints of the 3D models, bring a new sense of closure & completeness to this show. When this project began, my material influence rested in the realm of the artificial (plastics, chemicals, new technology, grid-based, etc.). Since moving to Asheville 4 years ago, my material interests have evolved into the realm of balance with the natural (bamboo, local resources, solar, bike power, etc.), seeking new hybrids with contemporary technology. This show brings a final chapter to this project and a full circle to my path as an artist in this region.