Karl Sims
Encyclopedia
Karl Sims is a computer graphics
artist and researcher, who is best known for using particle systems
and artificial life
in computer animation.
Sims received a B.S. from MIT
in 1984, and a M.S. from the MIT Media Lab
in 1987. He worked for Thinking Machines as an artist-in-residence, for Whitney-Demos Production as a researcher, and co-founded Optomystic. He currently heads GenArts, a Cambridge, Massachusetts
company that develops special effects plugins used by motion picture studios.
At Optomystic, Sims developed software for the Connection Machine 2
(CM-2) that animated the water from drawings of a deluge by Leonardo da Vinci
, used in Mark Whitney's film Excerpts from Leonardo's Deluge.
Sims' animations Particle Dreams and Panspermia used the CM-2 to animate and render various complex phenomena via particle systems. Panspermia was also used as the video for Pantera
's cover of Black Sabbath
's Planet Caravan
.
Sims wrote landmark papers on virtual creatures and artificial evolution for computer art. His virtual creatures used an artificial neural network
to process input from virtual sensors and act on virtual muscles between cuboid 'limbs'. The creatures were evolved to display multiple modes of water and land based movements such as swimming like a sea snake or fish, jumping and tumbling (walking was not achieved). The creatures were also co-evolved in different species to compete for possession of a virtual cube, displaying the red queen effect
. The cover of Artificial Life: An Overview by Chris Langton
notably used an image of the creatures generated by Sims. In 1997, Sims created the interactive installation Galápagos for the NTT InterCommunication Center
in Tokyo
; in this installation, viewers help evolve 3D animated creatures by selecting which ones will be allowed to live and produce new, mutated offspring.
His paper "Artificial Evolution for Computer Graphics" described the application of genetic algorithm
s to generate abstract 2D images from complex mathematical formulae, evolved under the guidance of a human. He used this method to create the video Primordial Dance, as well as parts of Liquid Selves. Genetic Images was an interactive installation also based on this method; it was exhibited at the Centre Georges Pompidou
in Paris, 1993, as well as Ars Electronica
and the Los Angeles
Interactive Media Festival.
In 1998, Sims was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship. He has won two Golden Nicas at the Ars Electronica Festival, in 1991 and in 1992. He has also received honors from Imagina
, the National Computer Graphics Association, the Berlin Video Festival, NICOGRAPH, Images du Futur, and other festivals.
Computer graphics
Computer graphics are graphics created using computers and, more generally, the representation and manipulation of image data by a computer with help from specialized software and hardware....
artist and researcher, who is best known for using particle systems
Particle Systems
Particle Systems Ltd. was a computer game developer based in Sheffield, England. The company was founded by Glyn Williams and Michael Powell. Games developed by Particle Systems include Independence War and its sequel Independence War 2: Edge of Chaos...
and artificial life
Artificial life
Artificial life is a field of study and an associated art form which examine systems related to life, its processes, and its evolution through simulations using computer models, robotics, and biochemistry. The discipline was named by Christopher Langton, an American computer scientist, in 1986...
in computer animation.
Sims received a B.S. from MIT
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
in 1984, and a M.S. from the MIT Media Lab
Media lab
Media lab is a term used for interdisciplinary organizations, collectives or spaces with the main focus on new media, digital culture and technology....
in 1987. He worked for Thinking Machines as an artist-in-residence, for Whitney-Demos Production as a researcher, and co-founded Optomystic. He currently heads GenArts, a Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
company that develops special effects plugins used by motion picture studios.
At Optomystic, Sims developed software for the Connection Machine 2
Connection Machine
The Connection Machine was a series of supercomputers that grew out of Danny Hillis' research in the early 1980s at MIT on alternatives to the traditional von Neumann architecture of computation...
(CM-2) that animated the water from drawings of a deluge by Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian Renaissance polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist and writer whose genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance...
, used in Mark Whitney's film Excerpts from Leonardo's Deluge.
Sims' animations Particle Dreams and Panspermia used the CM-2 to animate and render various complex phenomena via particle systems. Panspermia was also used as the video for Pantera
Pantera
Pantera was an American heavy metal band from Arlington, Texas. Formed by the Abbott brothers, Vinnie Paul and Dimebag Darrell in 1981, bassist Rex Brown would join in late 1981 with vocalist Terry Glaze. Looking for a new and heavier sound, Pantera had Terry replaced in 1987 with Phil Anselmo as...
's cover of Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath are an English heavy metal band, formed in Aston, Birmingham in 1969 by Ozzy Osbourne , Tony Iommi , Geezer Butler , and Bill Ward . The band has since experienced multiple line-up changes, with Tony Iommi the only constant presence in the band through the years. A total of 22...
's Planet Caravan
Planet Caravan
"Planet Caravan" is a psychedelic song by Black Sabbath. The song's lyrics and mellow music create a dreamy atmosphere.Geezer Butler has stated that the song's meaning is floating through the universe with your lover. The song appears on their 1970 breakthrough album, Paranoid...
.
Neural network
The term neural network was traditionally used to refer to a network or circuit of biological neurons. The modern usage of the term often refers to artificial neural networks, which are composed of artificial neurons or nodes...
to process input from virtual sensors and act on virtual muscles between cuboid 'limbs'. The creatures were evolved to display multiple modes of water and land based movements such as swimming like a sea snake or fish, jumping and tumbling (walking was not achieved). The creatures were also co-evolved in different species to compete for possession of a virtual cube, displaying the red queen effect
Red Queen's Hypothesis
The Red Queen's Hypothesis, also referred to as Red Queen, Red Queen's race or Red Queen Effect, is an evolutionary hypothesis. The term is taken from the Red Queen's race in Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass...
. The cover of Artificial Life: An Overview by Chris Langton
Christopher Langton
Christopher Langton is an American computer scientist and one of the founders of the field of artificial life. He coined the term in the late 1980s when he organized the first "Workshop on the Synthesis and Simulation of Living Systems" at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in 1987.Langton made...
notably used an image of the creatures generated by Sims. In 1997, Sims created the interactive installation Galápagos for the NTT InterCommunication Center
NTT InterCommunication Center
NTT InterCommunication Center is a media art gallery in Tokyo Opera City Tower in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. It was established by NTT to commemorate the 100th anniversary of telephone service in Japan and opened in 1997...
in Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
; in this installation, viewers help evolve 3D animated creatures by selecting which ones will be allowed to live and produce new, mutated offspring.
His paper "Artificial Evolution for Computer Graphics" described the application of genetic algorithm
Genetic algorithm
A genetic algorithm is a search heuristic that mimics the process of natural evolution. This heuristic is routinely used to generate useful solutions to optimization and search problems...
s to generate abstract 2D images from complex mathematical formulae, evolved under the guidance of a human. He used this method to create the video Primordial Dance, as well as parts of Liquid Selves. Genetic Images was an interactive installation also based on this method; it was exhibited at the Centre Georges Pompidou
Centre Georges Pompidou
Centre Georges Pompidou is a complex in the Beaubourg area of the 4th arrondissement of Paris, near Les Halles, rue Montorgueil and the Marais...
in Paris, 1993, as well as Ars Electronica
Ars Electronica
Ars Electronica is an organization based in Linz, Austria, founded in 1979 around a festival for art, technology and society that was part of the International Bruckner Festival. Herbert W. Franke is one of its founders. It became its own festival and a yearly event in 1986. Its director until 1995...
and the Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
Interactive Media Festival.
In 1998, Sims was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship. He has won two Golden Nicas at the Ars Electronica Festival, in 1991 and in 1992. He has also received honors from Imagina
Imagina
is the name of an annual conference on computer graphics that takes place in Monte-Carlo, Monaco. It was created by The Institut national de l'audiovisuel . The first IMAGINA festival was held in 1981, while the actual name IMAGINA was only introduced in 1986. It is sometimes compared to the CG...
, the National Computer Graphics Association, the Berlin Video Festival, NICOGRAPH, Images du Futur, and other festivals.
Filmography
- Evolved Virtual Creatures, 1994 (archive.org copy)
- Liquid Selves, 1992 (archive.org copy)
- Primordial Dance, 1991 (archive.org copy)
- Panspermia, 1990 (archive.org copy) (Incorporated into Beyond the Mind's Eye, 1992) )
- Particle Dreams, 1988 (archive.org copy)
- Excerpts from Leonardo's Deluge, 1989 - software developer