Chrysalis III, a sculpture by Andrew Kudless and MATSYS Design, is a piece with elements to appeal equally to the naturalist, the computer geek and the art snob. The work is based on nature, specifically the self-organization of barnacle-like cells. He explains, “The cells shift and slide across the surface as they attempt to find a more balanced packed state through the use of a relaxed spring network constrained to the surface.”
How exactly they do that, though, is not left up to nature or the artist’s eye, but programmed in using a zoo’s worth of computer programs, including Grasshopper, Kangaroo, Python, and Rhinoscript. The cell components are unfolded digitally, cut from wood veneer and then assembled by hand. An inner plate stresses the outer cone of each cell into shape. The final piece is suspended from the ceiling to allow movement and different effects of light.
Chrysalis III was created for an exhibit called Multiversités Créatives at the Centre Pompidou in Paris in 2012 and is now in the center’s permanent collection. Lots more pictures, charts, graphs and video (relaxed voronoi network, anyone?) can be found at the MATSYS website.
The Finch and Pea 
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