In addition to this code-based evolution,
Draves has made Electric Sheep an open source
program like his other projects, which means
third parties are welcome to modify and expand
on the program at will. As a result, multiple
third-party graphical user interfaces have
spawned, which add an interface to Draves’
original algorithm and allow users to easily
design their own sheep, which can join the
evolutionary fray. The many facets of Electric
Sheep amount to an active community of
some 450,000 users that participate in and
perpetuate the flock.
Beyond its thousands of users, the project
appeals to evolutionary biologists and artists
alike. Biologist Jason Munshi-South, who
studies the evolution of urban wildlife at New
York City’s Fordham University, likens this
android evolution to the evolution of animals
cultivated by breeders and fanciers:
“What I found most striking about the Electric
Sheep project is that the selection pressures
on the population of ‘sheep’ are applied by
the human viewers choosing their favored
designs. Such a process is very similar to what
evolutionary biologists refer to as artificial
selection, where humans choose individuals
that breed based on desirable characteristics for
food production, aesthetics, or pet behavior.
Charles Darwin relied heavily on artificial
selection in developing his theory of evolution
by natural selection, and was particularly fond
of show pigeons as an example. Pigeon fanciers
have created very elaborate, whimsical, and
sometimes grotesque pigeons through artificial
selection. By making the code open source,
I think the artist has also opened up the
possibility of ‘genetic engineering,’ whereby
other artists or programmers can circumvent
the traditional, slow process of artificial
selection by adding in new genetic material or
mechanisms. Overall, I think it’s an effective
and appealing process for exploring evolution.”
New York City-based multimedia installation
artist Julia Sinelnikova, who frequently creates
art based on the blending of technology and
society in the present day, says that Electric Sheep
is one of the granddaddies for net-art today.
“Net-art has become increasingly widespread,
especially with the 90s aesthetic coming back,”
says Sinelnikova. “Electric Sheep is such an
inspiration for interactive art with participation
SciArt in America February 2014
on such a large, seamless scale; it is scientific—
almost spiritual—and very representative of the
universe.”
Now that digital technology has gained
prominence in everyday life, people seem to
be more aware of Electric Sheep, Draves says,
though not all the responses are positive:
“Just the other day in reaction to a story the
BBC wrote about creativity of software (using
the Electric Sheep as an example), one of the
comments was that it was preposterous. I
don’t recall, back in say 2001 getting that
kind of reaction, at least not to my face. But
I think that’s a result of reaching a wide
audience. When I started, I was surrounded
by like-minded people, and so I got a biased
and positive reaction.” Culture-wide, Graves
believes more people appreciate his work today.
“I get a lot of very kind emails for which I am
eternally grateful,” Graves says. “Two that stick
with me are: ‘I watch the Electric Sheep every
night before I go to sleep,’ and ‘It’s the only
thing that helps my chronic pain.’”
Besides playing on home computers, Electric
Sheep and Draves’ branch off project of handpicked evolving animations, Dreams in High
Fidelity, continue to appear in exhibitions and
win numerous awards. For example, Electric
Sheep was included in the website for MoMA’s
“Design and the Elastic Mind” exhibit and won
the ZKM App Art Award for cloud art from the
Center for Art and Media (ZKM) in Karlsruhe,
Germany. In the future, Draves plans to expand
the code for the next generation of sheep and
to release Gold Sheep, a high-definition form of
the program.
Visit the Electric Sheep here.
Sheep in MoMA atrium. Image courtesy of the artist.
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