Abstract

Biomodd: A Living Game Computer As Social Sculpture

Angelo Vermeulen

Biomodd is a social and interactive art project that brings together ecology, game culture and installation art. The work tries to visualise and rework the intricate relation of organic life, technology, pleasure and consumption. Inspired by the case modding scene, a monumental custom computer is built as a form of expanded sculpture. Inside the case, excess heat of overclocked processors is recycled by an elaborate living ecosystem. The computer hardware is used as server for a new computer game. The objective of this game is to bring some of the main themes of Biomodd into an imaginative multiplayer game experience.
Both the computer structure and the game are developed with a group of biology, game and art enthusiasts. Furthermore, exhibition visitors can also actively modify the piece: through playing they generate heat and hence influence the interior ecosystem.
Biomodd is not a project with a classic art object-oriented focus. It is rather conceived as a nomadic project where each local version will have its own temporary character. Only parts of previous versions are integrated in each new structure. The travelling, social and evolving nature of the project is essential.
The first Biomodd version is created during an artist residency at the Aesthetic Technologies Lab in Athens, Ohio from September 2007 to January 2oo8. Collaborations have been arranged with the departments of game design, computer engineering, telecommunications and biology, with a group of 10-15 students at Ohio University. Filmmaker Morgan Riles is filming a documentary of the project's progression.
During the lecture, this first version will be presented using excerpts from the documentary, photos, work sketches and testimonies of the participants. The main focus will be on the observed interactions between electronics and organic life, and on the interplay between social group dynamics and the course of game development.