Nr. 179-190  "Cellular Automaton"  2014  Printing ink on Aluminium  210 cm x 400 cm
Nr. 179-190 "Cellular Automaton" 2014 Printing ink on Aluminium 210 cm x 400 cm

Cellular automata illustrate/model how complex structures may emerge by means of simple rules, whereas you never could detect in the rule whether they generate vast regularity, chaotic or complex forms. The automata may be simple, but also highly complex defined.

 

 “The cellular automaton (short CA) consists of a line of cells, each colored black or white. At every step there is then a definite rule that determines the color of a given cell from the color of that cell and its immediate left and right neighbors on the step before.” (A New Kind of Science by Stephen Wolfram, 2002 page 24) 

More complex automata are created by enlarging the neighborhood, by more dimensions or greater number of colors. Colors serve merely to visualize. Digits or symbols, any marker of distinguishable conditions could be applied.

 

In the simplest case a cell with one left and one right neighbor and two possible colors may have 2³ = 8 different neighborhoods. A Rule assigns to each case the color of the new cell, so there are 2 power 8 = 256 Rules.

 

CA cases and rules
CA cases and rules

Rule Nr.0 assigns to each case white and generates a complete white tableau, Regel Nr. 155 assigns to each case black and generates a complete black tableau. How different instead is the outcome of rule Nr.30:

 

 

Cellular Automaton  Rule Nr. 30
CA Rule Nr. 30

From the aesthetic point of view such basic automata don’t appeal much to me. For my painting I chose a one dimensional CA with one left and right neighbor and 14 Colors. 14 Colors, because the new painting is related to my painting Nr. 131 “Gaußian Gradient” 2006. In this painting the color of each square has been determined randomly under the condition of a probability distribution, previously designed by me. For this painting I choose 14 colors, which I also apply on the new painting, but this time the color of each square is determined by the CA. So the choice of the rule was the main artistic decision.

 

The problem is the vast amount of rules, for the CA which I have designed has not just 256 rules you could check one by one. There are first of all 14³ = 2744 cases how 14 colors may be grouped in 3-tuples producing from that 14 power (14³) rules. A number as big as to fill a whole A4 format sheet.

 

The greatest possible rule would deliver a complete black array

Rule Nr. 0 a complete white one as in the simple CA. In between lies a desert to be searched and most of what I saw was monotone, I had no programm to help me here. I searched by skipping billions of rules to get a small random sample. From this I finally took the chosen rule.

 

Usually the representation of the automata goes line by line from top to bottom, but to observe an extended evolution of the automaton I turned it by 90°  therefore it evolves column by column from left to right.

Nr. 204 2018 without title  printing ink on Aluminium  70 x 100 cm

Nr. 203 Easter-Buquet X Printing ink on aluminium 70 x 100 cm
Nr. 203 Easter-Buquet X Printing ink on aluminium 70 x 100 cm
Nr. 202 Makulature 2016 Collage  156 x 203 cm
Nr. 202 Makulature 2016 Collage 156 x 203 cm
Nr. 201 without  Title 2016  Printing ink on Aluminium  70 x 100 cm
Nr. 201 without Title 2016 Printing ink on Aluminium 70 x 100 cm
Nr. 178  without Title 2016  Printing ink on Aluminium  70 x 100 cm
Nr. 178 without Title 2016 Printing ink on Aluminium 70 x 100 cm
Nr.177  Easter Bouquet IX  2015  Printing ink on aluminium  70 x 100 cm
Nr.177 Easter Bouquet IX 2015 Printing ink on aluminium 70 x 100 cm
Nr. 176  ohne Titel 2015  Druckfarbe auf Aluminium  44 x 58 cm
Nr. 176 ohne Titel 2015 Druckfarbe auf Aluminium 44 x 58 cm

Our Language is unable to describe exactly the millons

Of the representable and perceivable Colors. In Contrast

to scientific color theory which assignes to all hues

 a triple number, defining a place in color space according to their fundamental characteristics: brightness, hue, intensity.

The concept of CIELab Colorspace has been laid down 1975 by The CIE, International Commission of Illumination, founded  1903.

The three tables show some choice of colors from the domains Red, Green and Blue.Out of  each domain I’ve taken 5 plain hues, from each of which there are 3 brighter, Three darker ones, 1 middle grey, 3 brighter and 3 darker greys.

 

(Abb. FH Köln)

Triptychon "In CIELab Color Space"  2015 printing ink on aluminium  100 x 210 cm
Triptychon "In CIELab Color Space" 2015 printing ink on aluminium 100 x 210 cm

 

Nr. 194 "He won't get that one!" 2014 Druckfarbe auf Aluminium 70 x 140 cm
Nr. 194 "He won't get that one!" 2014 Druckfarbe auf Aluminium 70 x 140 cm
Nr. 191 Graphic 2014 "He won't get that one!" Fotoprint unter Acryl 72x100,8
Nr. 191 Graphic 2014 "He won't get that one!" Fotoprint unter Acryl 72x100,8 cm
Nr. 193 without Title 2014  printing ink on aluminium 77 x 101 cm
Nr. 193 without Title 2014 printing ink on aluminium 77 x 101 cm
Nr. 192 without title 2014  printing ink on aluminium  21 x 29,7 cm
Nr. 192 without title 2014 printing ink on aluminium 21 x 29,7 cm
Easter bouquet VIII 2014 Printing ink on Aluminium 70 x 100 cm
Easter bouquet VIII 2014 Printing ink on Aluminium 70 x 100 cm
Nr. 177 without Title 2014 Printing ink on Aluminium 60 x 45 cm
Nr. 177 without Title 2014 Printing ink on Aluminium 60 x 45 cm
without title  2013  Printing ink on aluminium
Nr. 176 without title 2013 printing ink on aluminium 100 x 140 cm
Nr. 174 Easter Bouquet VII 2013 Druckfarbe auf Aluminium 70 x 100 cm
Nr. 174 Easter Bouquet VII 2013 Druckfarbe auf Aluminium 70 x 100 cm