Exploring Art as an Organism with Agoria, Sofia Crespo, and DAT.xyz
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In the unique space where technology converges with the natural world, a handful of artists are exemplifying the potential of emerging tech to enable the creation of truly living art.
These artists include those like Sébastien Devaud, aka Agoria, Sofia Crespo, and DAT.xyz, all of whom, in a conversation with nft now, have shared insights into their processes as well as their broader views on “art as an organism.”
Agoria
Sébastien Devaud, known as Agoria, is a multidisciplinary artist and DJ known in the Web3 space for his “Biological Generative Art.”
Speaking about his practice and process, Agoria shared, “By collaborating with biologists, physicists, and coders, I am trying to shed light on the invisible beauty that lives within each and every one of us as well as the living surrounding us.”
While the artist explained he has no specific rules on how he approaches his work, he did share that he loves parallel and contrasting elements between the living and the coded.
“I can speak about my 10mn film Phytocene, which I directed with Nicolas Desprat and Nicolas Becker. Desprat is a physicist at CNRS in Paris while Becker got an Oscar for the sound design of the Sound Metal movie. Not far from a dream team,” Agoria said.
Providing details on the approach for this particular project, he said that they seeded hemp in a field and then filmed the growth of microorganisms of hemp in a lab.
“It took months to achieve it and to extract an architectural, a circulation of the living onto an art narrative. But the code of living didn’t disappoint. The self-organization of the microorganisms was absolutely mindblowing,” he explained.
Agoria said that he chose to share this example in order to emphasize the beauty of the collaboration between the coded and the living. He further shared that the evolution of organisms has been mesmerizing to film and explore as a scientific effort and that the blockchain presents itself as the perfect medium for such exploration.
“I believe the digital is nothing less than one of the many vehicles for our soul.”
AGORIA
Speaking to the idea of “living art,” Agoria further expressed that “Our religions have forbidden the idea of thinking that the body isn’t our only vehicle. While I think the living has multiple vehicles. Metaverse just proves that every day. What could be more living than a soul? If someone could tell me where our soul is located, I’ll be happy to know it.”
Sofia Crespo
Sofia Crespo, working at the crossroads of the living and the coded, is known for her work that focuses on technology that is inspired by nature. Crespo explains that these expressions often come in the form of a series of meditations on ways of receiving the world, with a goal of making sense of both natural realms and those of emerging tech.
“I work in both digital and physical mediums, trying to bridge them as much as possible with my work,” she explained, adding, “One of my main goals is to explore how we perceive the world and how we can shift and expand our perception through the use of new technologies, such as artificial neural nets. Just as the microscope brought us closer to the natural world through its unveiling of a — to us — hidden realm, I think other technologies hold the same potential for nurturing connection and expanding our perceptions.”
While Crespo was first introduced to NFTs in 2019 and minted in 2020, her pursuit of creating art has been going on for much longer, nearly a decade in fact, having been able to dedicate herself as a full-time artist during the back half of that period of time.
“I honestly never thought I’d have the chance to do this professionally; it always felt like one of those things that are completely out of reach, sort of like winning the lottery,” she shared, further explaining, “I started working with film and photography as my entry point, then moved onwards into 3D and rendering before making the step into generative-like work around 2017/2018. In early 2019, I met Feileacan McCormick, and we began collaborating quite actively; in 2020, we decided to call our duo practice ‘Entangled Others,’ and we have been working together under that name since.”
Sharing more on her process, Crespo explained that it all starts with a concept or some inspiring moment that suggests the potential of a concept, and from there, she then works to create a dataset, which can, in some cases, involve going diving with a camera and sampling equipment to collect data or capture a specific subject or phenomena.
In other instances, she’ll search public domain data or generate the dataset herself with her own tools. “Then, if using neural networks aligns with the concept, this dataset is used to train a model, which I then use to generate what might become the final work,” she further explained.
While the process is generally dynamic, pending the project, Crespo explained that it does require a variety of stages and iterations until it gets to a point where it “works” in relation to whatever her conceptual goal was. Once it works, she’ll then often times translate the digital outputs back into a physical medium, specifically through analog printmaking techniques.
“I think there is such a rich tapestry to explore in the natural or more-than-human world. Again and again, I find that through exploring the inner workings of everything from ecosystems to microscopic life, and even DNA yields experiences that change how I see and interact with the world,” said Crespo, adding, “It is these experiences I hope to communicate and replicate through my work. Especially as I don’t consider technology separate from nature, the notion of artificial life and the process of re-creating or simulating ‘natural’ processes through the digital create an exciting space both in terms of concepts and works, but also aesthetically.”
DAT.xyz
DAT.xyz is an anonymous artist duo known for pulling off one of the most obscure fine art heists in recent history, which has resulted in a new life being brought to dead painters via science and NFT technology.
Through a combination of what could be described as creativity, daring, and maybe even a touch of audacity, the two have swabbed the surface of some of the world’s most famous artworks, collecting microbiological samples that they use to grow new artworks out of in their laboratory.
To date, the duo has taken samples from works produced by artists like Monet, Picasso, Matisse, Pollock, Lichtenstein, Keith Haring, Banksy, Jeff Koons, and Kaws — sourced from prestigious settings like MoMA, The Tate, Moco Museum, and more.
Beyond taking samples of these artists’ works and creating their own works from the DNA, the duo also mutates them, as shown in their ‘POLLOCK DANCES WITH A SMILING COPPER,’ exemplifying art as a living organism.
Art as an Organism
Speaking to the broader idea of “art as an organism” or a living thing, both Agoria and Crespos shared insightful and thought-provoking insights, with Agoria stating in a literal sense, that “If you think about the conservation and restoration of paints, you can definitely argue that the art keeps living beyond the ages.”
Taking the concept a bit further and more into the abstract, he shared, “I think all the past art is part of our genes. The impressionist and the academist… are all living within us while we do original digital pieces. When I create, when I make music, when I have an idea, at first, it’s an embryo coming from an art organism living in my genes.”
As for Crespo, she shared that art is a fundamental part of the human condition and that if humanity can be viewed as an organism, then art or culture can more broadly be seen as an emergent property within that.
SOFIA CRESPO
“Whilst art might not be an organism in a clearly delimited sense, it could definitely be seen as part of an ecosystem, or an ecosystem in itself. One that contains a variety of different actors, or species if you will, that all contribute to the continued evolution of it.”
Sharing some thoughts on what the organism that is the Web3 art space needs to survive and ultimately thrive going forward, Crespo said, a greater effort needs to be put toward finding ways to encourage and nurture diverse paths and forms of participation.
She further explained that these should focus on delivering the promise of democratic entry to a shared space, adding, “The dependence of web3 on almost a single social-media platform has, in retrospect, proven to be at once complicated, but also less-than-ideal at accommodating better balance in representation.”
Lastly, Crespo noted that “Finding ways to draw strength from the practices of critics could further help the ecosystem maintain a healthy growth that doesn’t succumb as readily to explosive hype. I think we need to learn to communicate critical ideas constructively and to welcome constructive feedback as a sign of respect.”