summ( )n

I already wrote here about the wonderful techno-organic creations by Philip Beesley, artist and architect from Canada. We saw them last year in Linz, during the Ars Electronica festival. They are truly amazing, and somewhat terrifying too, I remember seeing people who were scary to get into these translucent, vibrating thickets.

I am not sure that the lecture alone, even is presented by the author of these ‘creatures’, is capable to convey the whole experience. But for me, who did have the first-hand expereince of Hylozoic Grove, it was very interesting. I can’t say that I buy everything that Philip was trying to explain about the roots and the origin of the idea, some parts of his story looked like a backward rationalization. Bit that doesn’t matter, it was a real pleasure to see more, and more diverse reincarnations of this idea.

For me his ‘hylozoic spaces’ come most close to the Summ()n’s transformative environments, as I imagine them; minus the hylozoism itself, of course. Few more of his slides can be seen in a small set on Flickr.