Real Time Live Simulation, 2023, Dimensions Variable
One or Several Agents: Machinic Animism
Machinic Animism proposes that ideas, concepts, and futures are beings with their own agency, existing within a complex ecosystem where they function as predators, prey, spawn, and mates. Building on the ontological turn in philosophy championed by De Castro and Kohn—where plants, animals, spirits, AI, and people are ontologically human but epistemologically different—this work extends this framework to suggest that thoughts and concepts robust enough to withstand rational scrutiny possess their own life force.
The interface between humans and non-human entities has a rich divinatory history, from Indian Parrot Astrology to Paul the octopus, demonstrating our enduring tendency to interpret animal gestures for insight. Similarly, games as governmental models and cognitive tools have followed diverse historical and fictional trajectories. "One or Several Agents: Machinic Animism" manifests as a real-time simulation where ideological factions, represented as atavistic agents and their pawns, coexist in a symbiotic ecosystem. Their interactions generate textual interpretations through procedural narrative techniques, offering glimpses into possible futures—futures that diverge from our timeline due to alternative relationships with techne and computing across past configurations and potential trajectories.
Credits
Conception, environment and model design, and programming: Brandon Tay
Graphic Design: Darius Ou
Sound Design: Leon Wan
