Agent-Body Retreival

Agent-Body Retrieval is the inaugural piece in a series dedicated to exploring the concept of image consumption. At the heart of this work is my fascination with the scales at which different sizes of organisms function and how at a certain scale something tragic becomes opportunistic. The piece consists of two simultaneous video feeds that illustrate a continuous cycle of decay and renewal.

In one video feed, maggots are generated and dispersed across the canvas. These maggots consume any light pixels they encounter and follow the areas already eaten by other maggots. This feed represents a process of decay and consumption, capturing the moment-by-moment degradation of the image.

Conversely, the second feed depicts the same animal species being reconstituted from distant particles. This reconstitution occurs over the same duration it takes for the first animal to completely disappear. While we may perceive the first feed as a slow and sorrowful process of decay, the other video feed transforms into a canvas for the birth of another organism. This duality emphasizes the cyclical nature of existence, illustrating how life and death are intertwined—where organisms die and disperse, new forms emerge and persist in the world.

Agent-body retrieval is presented through rear projection and is calculated in real-time, with occasional adjustments made to speed and behavior. The work encapsulates the ongoing interplay between creation and dissolution, offering a contemplative perspective on the perpetual cycle of death.

Credits: Johaness De Young (overseeing instructor)

This project was made possible with support from FRFF Grant #2024-0206