Blink, 2007
Dynamically generated computational visualization, dimensions variable



The animation "Blink" consists of a matrix of eyes that open and close based on what each eye’s neighbor eyes are doing, dynamically determined computationally in real-time. The process goes back and forth between states of stability where all eyes try to be like their neighbors, and states of transitional disruption where the eyes look at their neighbors but cant fully decide if they should be like them or not. The status of the overall image at any given moment in time is a consequence of the various stages of each eyes’ individual behaviors, and therefore guarantees a statistically extreme low possibility that the image will fully repeat itself.

To achieve this, the artist uses the Ising mathematical model, described in Ernst Ising's 1925 PhD thesis on how ferromagnetic particles undergo a phase transition between ordered and a disordered states based on shifts in temperature

Activate the dynamic Java animation (May take some time to load)


“Blink” was exhibited at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art (2007) and under the title of “Eyes” at the Pari Nadimi Gallery, Toronto (Sept 2006), Artissimo Art Fair Turin (2006), and ARCO Art Fair, Madrid, Spain (2007), Edward Cella Gallery, Los Angeles (2009), Nevada Museum of Art, Reno (2009).