ABSTRACT Inspired by proteins, the molecular building blocks of life, the author's presented work re-creates the first step of the emergence of three-dimensional bodies from one-dimensional DNA. Utilizing an algorithmic approach as his point of departure, the artist follows his vision freely, creating sculptures that bring life's isolated components emotionally back to life. In this sequel to an earlier Leonardo article on the inception of his protein-inspired sculptures, the author presents the unfolding of his vision: Large-scale works of increasing formal and conceptual complexity display the emergence of an organic aesthetic from geometric elements and inspire a more holistic view of nature than that provided by reductionist science alone.

ABSTRACT Wolkenkuckucksheim is a site-specific interactive computer installation created for the Cognitive Systems Group at the University of Bremen, Germany. It was conceived and implemented by the authors: an artist interested in the syntax of space and the semantics of materials, and a cognitive scientist investigating the cognitive implications of ubiquitous computing. The project unites the artistic approach of creating metaphors and the scientific approach of theoretical inquiry. In this essay, artist and scientist show in a dialogical manner how art and science gain complementary insights by working with the same cognitive tools.

ABSTRACT Robotic embodiments of artificial agents seem to reinstate a body-mind dualism as consequence of their technical implementation, but could this supposition be a misconception? The authors present their artistic, scientific and engineering work on a robotic installation, the Articulated Head , and its perception-action control system, the Thinking Head Attention Model and Behavioral System (THAMBS). The authors propose that agency emerges from the interplay of the robot's behavior and the environment and that, in the system's interaction with humans, it is to the same degree attributed to the robot as it is grounded in the robot's actions: Agency cannot be instilled; it needs to be evoked.

ABSTRACT Printmaking is a fine art practice that encompasses a variety of media including intaglio, relief, lithography and screen-printing. In this collaborative research project the authors extend the traditional boundaries of printmaking to create editions of micro-scale prints on the surface of silicon integrated circuits using the layers of materials normally used for making transistors and electrical interconnections. The process by which the images are printed on the silicon surface is discussed, alongside some of the conceptual and technical issues related to creating printed images using this technology.

The authors design computer installations that integrate artificial life and real life by means of human-computer interaction. While exploring real-time interaction and evolutionary image processes, visitors to their interactive installations become essential parts of the systems by transferring the individual behaviors, emotions and personalities to the works' image processing. Images in these installations are not static, pre-fixed or predictable, but “living systems” themselves, representing minute changes in the viewers' interactions with the installations' evolutionary image processes.