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ORCH_SYS.195

orch_sys.195 was completed for my senior studio at the University of Utah. The studio was prompted with identifying a domain and unit. I selected a domain of “natural systems” and a unit of “distortion.” There was an immediate interest in simulating organic structures with a digital tool. Primarily seeing what digital techniques could push the system farther and introduce new outcomes, ones that would rather not be possible in nature. 

The main focus was to experiment with the recreation of the natural system found within the orchid inside of a digital space. During my initial research I learned about the orchid’s whorl system. The whorl being the structural arrangement of an orchid flower's parts. The whorl follows a five layer system that includes the sepal, petal, stamen, carpel, and ovule. Due to a strict deadline, I chose to focus on three of the five. That being the petal, sepal, and lip. 

An obvious starting point was using Houdini to create a procedural workflow around modeling the petal, sepal, and lip geometry. Introducing imperfection and noise that is found in nature in a tightly controlled digital environment exercised the relationship between natural and digital processes. This geometry was then imported into TouchDesigner where I  created an interactive installation allowing for the viewer to control the parameters that influenced the selection of geometry using a MIDI controller. Ten pieces of geometry per respected orchid part, being the petal, sepal, and lip, were then able to be randomized and interpolated in real time. Allowing for the creation of thousands of new forms within the orchid to be visualized in a digital space. Adding digital effects on top of this system granted amazing results. Seeing how the orchid geometry responded to digital degradation, quantization, and displacement offered a unique insight that could not be found elsewhere. 

The objective of the advertising poster was to play on the relationship of the audience and the maker. The relationship being defined as the active decision of what to show and what not to show in completed work. The focus of technicality in the background allows for transparency and a space for a deeper connection between the audience and maker. With all thirty pieces of orchid geometry being displayed together at once. The left side of the poster advertises the information behind the scenes. That being points from the perimeter of every piece of geometry and the average path from each respected whorl layer (petal, sepal, lip). The right side displays the seen geometry that is found throughout the project. The beauty in data in relation to its creation allows for more understanding as well as offering inspiration on its own. 
release-  12 13 24 

software- TouchDesigner / Houdini / Illustrator / Photoshop