THE RESEARCH PROCESS FOR ZIGO- BEGAN WITH AN OBSERVATION ON HOW TECHNOLOGY PRODUCTS ARE COMMONLY DEVELOPED: THEIR DESIGN OFTEN DOES NOT SPEAK THE SAME LANGUAGE AS THE HUMAN BODY, AND IT IS USUALLY OUR DUTY TO ADAPT TO THE DEVICE’S SHAPE. THIS GAP LEADS TO DIFFICULTIES BOTH IN TERMS OF ERGONOMICS AND EMPATHY WITH THE DEVICE.

THE ANALYSIS THEN FOCUSED ON AN AREA WHERE TRUST IN AN OBJECT AND ITS ADAPTABILITY TO THE BODY ARE ESSENTIAL: REHABILITATION, ESPECIALLY FOR THE ORGAN THAT ENABLES US TO INTERACT WITH THE SURROUNDING WORLD - THE HAND.

ZIGO- IS A REHABILITATION PROGRAM FOR HAND INJURIES PRESCRIBED DIRECTLY BY THE PHYSIOTHERAPIST. THE CORE OF ZIGO- IS THE HOMONYMOUS CONTROLLER, WHICH, THANKS TO THE ADAPTIVE TRIGGER TECHNOLOGY, ALLOWS THE CONTRACTION OF THE FINGERS WITH DIFFERENT LEVELS OF RESISTANCE, BASED ON THE PATIENT’S CONDITIONS.

A VIDEOGAME EXPERIENCE ACCOMPANIES THE USER FROM THE BEGINNING TO THE END OF THE THERAPY, STIMULATING CONSISTENCY IN EXERCISE AND ALLOWING THE DOCTOR TO VISUALIZE REHABILITATION PROGRESS.

ADAPTIVE TRIGGER TECHNOLOGY ORIGINATES FROM ONE OF THE MOST ADVANCED CONTROLLERS CURRENTLY AVAILABLE ON THE MARKET: THE DUALSENSE OF PLAYSTATION 5.
THIS TECHNOLOGY GENERATES VARIABLE RESISTANCE FROM SOFTWARE INPUTS, RECREATING THE REALISM OF PRESSURE FORCE.

THANKS TO THIS COMPONENT, ZIGO- PROVIDES SUPPORT TO THE USER DURING THE REHABILITATION PROCESS. TO ENSURE THE SUCCESS, THE DIFFICULTY IS ADJUSTED BASED ON THE REHABILITATION STATUS.

TOGETHER WITH THE CONTROLLER, THE PATIENT RECEIVES A SOFTWARE THAT CAN BE DOWNLOADED ONTO ITS COMPUTER. THE PATIENT IS STIMULATED TO EXERCISE THROUGH A "SERIOUS GAME" BASED ON A NARRATIVE ARC THAT SPANS THE DURATION OF THE THERAPY.
THESE VIDEOGAMES COULD BE CHOICE-BASED, ALLOWING THE USER TO MAKE DECISIONS THAT INFLUENCE THE STORY AND ITS DURATION.

THIS STORY-DRIVEN SYSTEM WOULD ENCOURAGE THE USER TO PROGRESS IN BOTH STORY AND DAILY EXERCISE.
THE SOFTWARE CONTROLLING THE RESISTANCE OF THE KEYS ALSO CAPTURES DATA ON THE FORCE APPLIED TO THEM.
THIS DATA, ALONG WITH USAGE TIME AND TREND GRAPHS, IS ACCESSIBLE TO THE DOCTOR, WHO CAN MONITOR THE PATIENT'S REHABILITATION PROGRESS.

DURING THE DEVELOPMENT OF ZIGO-, PROTOTYPING HAS BEEN A FUNDAMENTAL TOOL THAT ALLOWED TO REFINE THE PRODUCT DESIGN AND FUNCTIONALITY. THROUGH MULTIPLE ITERATIONS, WE WERE ABLE TO IDENTIFY THE OPTIMAL SHAPE FOR THE CONTROLLER, WHICH WAS BASED

ON HAND GRIP AND TOOK INTO CONSIDERATION THE RESPECTIVE PERCENTILES. THE SHAPE WAS ALSO DESIGNED TO BE SYMMETRICAL, ALLOWING FOR COMFORTABLE USAGE WITH BOTH HANDS.

A ONE-WEEK RESIDENCY IN LA GRAND MAISON ROUGE LOCATED IN LA CERDANYA, RIGHT ON THE BORDER BETWEEN SPAIN AND FRANCE. THIS WAS NOT A COINCIDENCE SINCE THE TOPIC OF THE EXPLORATION WAS ABOUT MARGINS, AND THE WAY THEY INTERACT BOTH AS A SPACE TO DIVIDE AND CONNECT.

DURING THE WEEK, WE WERE GUIDED BY MERCÈ RUA, DIRECTOR OF THE MAISON, OUR LECTURER THOMAS DUGGAN, AND LOCALS WHO INTRODUCED US TO ARTISANAL TECHNIQUES.

THE "BORDER" WE SELECTED TO INQUIRE DURING THE WEEK WAS THE ONE BETWEEN DIGITAL AND PHYSICAL, VIRTUAL AND ANALOG. WE KEPT PLAYING AND OSCILLATING BETWEEN THESE TWO DIMENSIONS, SWITCHING FROM ONE TO THE OTHER AND TRYING TO EXPLORE WHAT HAPPENS IN BETWEEN.

IN THE INITIAL DAYS, WE GATHERED SMALL NATURAL SAMPLES LIKE ROCKS, ROTTING WOOD, DRY MOSS, AND DEAD LEAVES TO EXAMINE THEM MORE CLOSELY. ONE METHOD WE USED TO DIVE INTO THEIR PATTERNS AND TEXTURES WAS 3D SCANNING, WHICH UNVEILED WHAT WE

COULD ONLY PERCEIVE BEFORE: THE SAMPLES ROTATED ON A PLATFORM WHILE THE SENSOR CAPTURED THEIR GEOMETRIES, CREATING VIRTUAL REPRESENTATIONS OF THEM. THIS TRANSLATION AND INTERPRETATION PROCESS BY THE MACHINE, WHICH RECONSTRUCTED THE OBJECTS’ GEOMETRY, REMINDED US OF THE BEHAVIOR OF THE MOSS ITSELF. ON THE SCREEN, WE WITNESSED THE 3D MODELS PROGRESSIVELY TAKING ON THE SHAPE OF THE ORIGINAL SAMPLES.

ONCE WE HAD COLLECTED A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER OF SCANS, WE ASKED OURSELVES: WHAT HAPPENS IF WE INSERT THE DIGITAL BETWEEN THE PHYSICAL AND THE ANALOG (PHYSICAL → DIGITAL → ANALOG)? IS THERE A WAY TO MATERIALLY REPRESENT THE RESULTS WE OBTAINED THROUGH THIS DIGITAL PROCESS?

WITH A DARKROOM FOR PHOTOGRAPHIC DEVELOPMENT AVAILABLE AT LA MAISON, WE DECIDED TO EXPERIMENT: COULD WE IMPRESS THESE TEXTURES ONTO PHOTOGRAPHIC PAPER?

USING A PROJECTOR TO DISPLAY OUR PROCESSED TEXTURES, RENDERED AS 3D MESHES OR POINT CLOUDS, WE QUICKLY POSITIONED PHOTOGRAPHIC PAPER IN FRONT OF IT.

IT TURNED OUT TO BE POSSIBLE, WE SUCCESSFULLY TRANSLATED A VIRTUAL TEXTURE IN AN ANALOG MEDIUM! 

SINCE THIS DISCOVERY WAS SO EXCITING, WE DECIDED TO GO FURTHER AND USED AN OLD ANALOG CAMERA TO PHOTOGRAPH THESE PROJECTIONS OVERLAID ON THE ORIGINAL SAMPLES, BLENDING THE PHYSICAL AND VIRTUAL GEOMETRIES SO SEAMLESSLY THAT THEY BECAME INDISTINGUISHABLE. THIS WAS ALSO A WONDERFUL CHANCE TO EXPERIMENT WITH TRADITIONAL PHOTOGRAPHIC DEVELOPMENT IN THE DARKROOM.

WE SELECTED THE MAISON ROUGE'S BOILER ROOM TO DISPLAY OUR PROJECT FOR THE FINAL EXPOSITION. THIS SPACE WAS WHERE THE PROJECT WAS BORN, AND ITS INHERENT DARKNESS AND ISOLATION FROM THE REST OF THE BUILDING CREATED A MYSTICAL ATMOSPHERE.

THE EXHIBITION FEATURED OUR PHOTOGRAPHIC FILMS, A COMPOSITION OF COLLECTED SAMPLES, OUR “DIGITAL MOSS” SHORT FILM, A SERIES OF IMAGES DOCUMENTING THE PROCESS, AND AN INTERACTIVE AREA WHERE VISITORS COULD EXPERIMENT WITH DIGITAL TEXTURES ON PHYSICAL SAMPLES.

AN ABANDONED FRIDGE IN THE BOILER ROOM TURNED OUT TO BE THE PERFECT SPACE TO DISPLAY OUR PROJECT, AS THE LIGHT WAS CAPTURED INSIDE ITS CHAMBER AND CREATED A NEW TRIDIMENSIONAL SHAPE. 

LINEA UMIDA IS THE SELF-TITLED DEBUT PROJECT BY THE COLLECTIVE FORMED BY NICOLÒ BALDI AND MATILDE SARTORI (matildee3.github.io/matilde), AS AN EVOLUTION OF THE ‘SLIME MACHINE’ PROJECT.

LINEA UMIDA IS AN AUDIO-VISUAl INSTALLATION THAT EXPLORES
INTELLIGENCE AND THE RELATIONSHIP WITH MACHINES FROM A
NON-ANTHROPOCENTRIC PERSPECTIVE,

CHALLENGING THE DOMINANT CEREBROCENTRIC VIEW.

THE PROJECT RECEIVED AN HONORABLE MENTION IN THE FIRST EDITION OF THE BIOSFERA PRIZE, ORGANIZED BY PESARO 2024 – ITALIAN CAPITAL OF CULTURE, IN COLLABORATION WITH FONDAZIONE PESCHERIA, CTESQUARE, ARTIFACT STUDIO, AND UMANESIMO ARTIFICIALE.

THE CENTER IS THE SLIME MOLD, SPECIFICALLY PHYSARUM POLYCEPHALUM, AN ORGANISM THAT DEFIES THE BINARISM BETWEEN INDIVIDUAL AND COLLECTIVE, EXISTING BOTH AS A SINGLE ENTITY AND AS A COORDINATED GROUP.

MOREOVER, THIS ORGANISM IS DECENTRALIZED: THE SLIME MOULD LACKS A CENTRAL SYSTEM; ITS CONTROL IS DISTRIBUTED EVERYWHERE AND NOWHERE. AND FOR THESE REASONS IT WAS THE INSPIRATION FOR AN ALGORITHM TO FOLLOW ITS CHARACTERISTICS.

THE OUTCOMING ALGORITHM FROM THIS RESEARCH, AAARDM.PY, IS A COMPUTER VISION ALGORITHM INSPIRED BY THE BEHAVIOR OF SLIME MOULDS, PARTICULARLY FOCUSING ON EDGE DETECTION. UNLIKE TRADITIONAL MACHINE LEARNING ALGORITHMS, WHICH ARE DESIGNED TO PREDICT A UNIQUE SOLUTION EFFICIENTLY, THIS ALGORITHM IS METAHEURISTIC IN NATURE.
IN FACT, THE KEY DISTINCTION LIES IN ITS APPROACH: INSTEAD OF AIMING FOR

A SINGLE OPTIMAL PREDICTION, IT ITERATIVELY SEARCHES FOR THE BEST SOLUTION BASED ON PREVIOUSLY ENCOUNTERED SOLUTIONS. 
THIS PROCESS IS STOCHASTIC AND MIMICS THE PROBLEM-SOLVING BEHAVIOR OBSERVED IN SLIME MOULDS.

IN AAARDM.PY, A COMPUTER VISION ALGORITHM HAS BEEN DESIGNED TO MAKE ALTERNATIVE FORMS OF COMPUTING MORE EASILY IMAGINABLE AND UNDERSTANDABLE TO US. IN FACT, WHAT WE INTERPRET AS A MERE EDGE IN AN IMAGE IS A POINT OF OPTIMUM TO THE ALGORITHM, AND GOOD FOOD FOR THE SLIME MOULD.

THIS APPROACH PROVIDES BOTH A PHILOSOPHICAL AND PRACTICAL FRAMEWORK FOR A MORE ECOLOGICAL AND INCLUSIVE FORM OF COMPUTING: THIS ALGORITHM STARTS WITH RANDOMNESS AND LOOKS FOR SOLUTIONS INSTEAD OF PREDICTING THEM. IT ALLOWS THE INTERPRETATION OF MORE-THAN-HUMAN BEHAVIOR, THAT OF SLIME MOULD, THROUGH DATA.

LINEA UMIDA ADAPTS THESE PRINCIPLES TO AN IMMERSIVE AUDIOVISUAL EXPERIENCE THAT COMBINES VISUAL AND SOUND ELEMENTS, MAKING THE CORE OF SLIME MACHINE ACCESSIBLE IN A DIRECT AND ENGAGING WAY.

THE VISUAL PART OF THE WORK IS GENERATED BY THE OUTPUT OF THE AAARDM.PY ALGORITHM, WHICH, IN 18000 EPOCHS, I.E., 18000 COMPLETE CYCLES OF COMPUTATION ON AN ITEROUS DATASET, SEARCHES FOR THE OPTIMAL SOLUTION.
THE ALGORITHM WAS DEVELOPED IN PYTHON USING THE MEALPY LIBRARY (VAN THIEU & MIRJALILI, 2023).
IT WORKS ON IMAGES OF SIZE 100X100 PIXELS AND THEREFORE TO CREATE THE FINAL VISUAL WORK, WE DIVIDED THE FINAL FORMAT OF 2240X1084PX INTO MODULES OF 100X100PX.

THE INPUT OF THE ALGORITHM IS AN IMAGE WE CREATED COMPOSED OF

DIFFERENT ORGANIC FIGURES THAT RECALL THOSE OF THE SLIME MOULD. THE OUTPUT IS GIVEN BY THE SET OF THE GRAPHIC REPRESENTATION OF THE EPOCHS. THE FINAL IMAGE REPRESENTS THE EDGES OF THE INPUT IMAGE OBTAINED BY THE ALGORITHM.

THROUGH THIS INSTALLATION, A NEW WAY OF DOING TECHNOLOGY IS PROPOSED THAT CELEBRATES NATURE AS A SOURCE OF INSPIRATION. THE INTEGRATION OF AUDIOVISUAL ELEMENTS AIMS TO COMMUNICATE THE CONCEPTS OF DECENTRALIZATION AND RANDOMNESS IN AN INTUITIVE WAY, DEMONSTRATING HOW TECHNOLOGIES CAN EVOLVE NOT ONLY THROUGH EFFICIENCY.

THE SOUNDTRACK IS INSPIRED BY THE SEEMINGLY INCOMPREHENSIBLE BEHAVIOR OF PHYSARUM ITSELF: A MOVEMENT OF CHAOS AND ORDER THAT FINALLY MANIFESTS ITSELF AS DEEPLY ORGANIC.

MUCH LIKE THE CALCULATION OF THE ALGORITHM ITSELF, THE SOUNDS DO NOT FOLLOW A LINEAR METRIC BUT RATHER EMERGE IMPERFECTLY AND PULSATINGLY, ALIVE.
WITHIN THE COMPOSITION THEY SEEM TO STRUGGLE TO EMERGE, TO BREATHE.

THE RANDOM REPETITION OF MELODIC PARAMETERS WAS MADE POSSIBLE BY THE USE OF THE INSTRUMENT THAT
MOST EMBODIES THE CONCEPT OF A VIBRANT, INDEPENDENT SELF: THE SYNTHESIZER.

COMPOSED IN FACT WITH ANALOG AND DIGITAL SYNTHESIZERS, THE TRACK FOLLOWS A PROCESS OF SOUND SCULPTING THAT RESEMBLES THE PROCESSING OF THE ALGORITHM ITSELF: A CONSTANT OPERATION OF SELECTION AND EVOLUTION THAT ULTIMATELY DEFINES A SINGLE FORM.

I'VE ATTENDED AN INTERNSHIP IN GENT, BELGIUM, AT BRAM VANDERBEKE STUDIO AND ATELIER FOR THREE MONTHS.
DURING MY TIME THERE, I'VE ASSISTED BRAM THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE DESIGN PROCESS. THIS INCLUDES DESIGNING SCULPTURES AND FUNCTIONAL OBJECTS, FROM SKETCHING AND PROTOTYPING (USING BOTH MAQUETTES AND SOFTWARES) TO THEIR CRAFTING AND COMMUNICATION.

IN FACT, I'VE HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO WORK DIRECTLY WITH MATERIALS SUCH AS ALUMINUM, CONCRETE AND WOOD, GAINING THE FUNDAMENTAL HAND-WORKING TECHNIQUES. THE EXPERIENCE HAS BEEN FURTHER ENHANCED BY THE CHANCE TO INTERACT WITH THE ENTIRE DESIGN CONTEXT, INCLUDING CONCEPT AND EXHIBITIONS DEVELOPMENT, COLLABORATION WITH OTHER ARTISTS, LOGISTICS, AND MEETINGS WITH CLIENTS.

THE PROJECT WAS CONCEIVED AS A RESEARCH ON MATERIALS AND TEXTURES. THE STUDY ON MATERIAL EXPERIMENTATION FOCUSES ON WILLOW WICKER COMBINED WITH PAPAER, BIOPLASTIC AND CONCRETE EACH MATERIAL CAN BE MODIFIED DURING THE MAKING PROCESS TO ACHIEVE UNEXPLORED OUTCOMES.
FOR PAPER, IN ADDITION TO TRYING DIFFERENT COMPOSITIONS OF STARTING MATERIAL, IT IS POSSIBLE TO INSERT CLOTH INTO THE SHEETS TO CREATE A MORE ROBUST STRUCTURE.

FOR BIOPLASTICS, VARYING COMBINATIONS OF INGREDIENTS OR DRYING THE MATERIAL ON DIFFERENT SURFACES WILL LEAD TO DIFFERENT VISUALS.
FOR CONCRETE, MULTIPLE METHODS ARE POSSIBLE: IT CAN BE PULVERIZED REPLACING THE SAND IN THE MIXTURE, OR CHOPPED AND ADDED TO THE ORIGINAL COMPOUND, OR INSERTED IN THE DRYING PHASE.

THE SURFACE TEXTURES ARE THE PROTAGONISTS OF THE ARTIFACTS MADE WITH THE TECHNIQUES OF MI·MÈ·SI. TO MAKE THE TEXTURE EVEN MORE EVIDENT, THE PHOTOGRAPHIC EXPEDIENT OF INVERSION OF COLORS WAS USED. 

THIS ALLOWS TO VISUALLY IDENTIFY THE LOCAL DEVIATIONS OF THE SURFACE FORMED BY THE PRESENCE OF WILLOW WOOD, WHICH BECOMES A SIGN OF IDENTITY OF THE OBJECTS CREATED.

DECAY   

   
DECAY IS A PARALLEL STUDY TO MI·MÈ·SI THAT ANALYZES THE BEHAVIOR OF AN ORGANIC MATERIAL, AND CONSEQUENTLY CHARACTERIZED BY A NATURAL DEGRADATION PROCESS. THE VISUAL RESULT SIMULATES THE DECAY OF A VOLUME MADE WITH WICKER AND CONCRETE.