Jennifer Hall, 2015

Abstract

An autopoietic system is one that is either biologically or mechanically self-created. Rather than producing a new entity from reproduction, autopoiesis is another way to understand life as a system of generating 'more of itself'. The autopoietic process involves individual entities negotiating a self-propelled exchange between demarcated systems, and is usually undertaken to provide each participant some sort of lifesustaining or evolutionary opportunity. The autopoietic aesthetic arises from human interaction with an art system that is selfpropelled through the functioning of its own structure, being either mechanically generated or replicated through computer code. The autopoietic exchange establishes a new boundary between the semi-permeable membranes of demarcation between viewer and object, producing a second level union that constitutes the topological domain of all these parts as a whole in an aesthetic network.

download pdf