Rule 57 - Fabric scraps weaved together / Marker on plywood
For my week 1 homework I tried to create my own elementary CA with p5.js. I messed around with different rulesets and I think this is rule 105 with an asymmetrical initial state. I exported the sketch as an SVG and plotted it with an axidraw using a ruling pen and watercolor paints.
For this week, I explored and reflected on the famous Rule 30 of ECAs. While researching on Rule 30, I learned about the principle of computational equivalence & computational irreducibility.And I find this to be an interesting way to reconcile determinism and free will. I feel a sense of relief about this concept cause as a modern citizen living in the information age or post-truth societies, I always have some pressure of maximising certain efficiencies or avoiding an imagined trap here or try to take a shortcut there to be the absolute captain in our life and make sure we have a happy ending whereas in fact there is a possibility that life like Rule 30 is something that is simply computationally irreducible and we can’t really predict the ending of our life (like t = 100) when we are still at t = 20.
Another thought I had was around the meaning of complexity vs chaos. I learned that currently it has not been proved that Rule 30 is or isn’t computationally irreducible. But based on the calculations so far and the fact that there are also other rules that don’t demonstrate any repeatable pattern, it is considered “chaotic” or “random” and is used as the random number generator for large integers in the Wolfram Language. But putting this “chaotic” Rule 30 under the perspective that it is generated based on these simple 8 rules, it appears more like a poetically complex output rather than simply “chaotic” which usually has a negative connotation. And it led me to rethink all the chaos I witnessed or experienced in my daily life, from a dusty table to a loud and controversial comment section. Are they mere chaotic or do these actually possess a complicated pattern that we have yet known? Or can this be applied to the complexity of a human civilization, can the history of human civilization be simply never-repeating or some extremely complicated but repeatable patterns?
Some links that I encountered during research:
Humans are cellular automata | Stephen Wolfram and Lex Fridman
Cellular Automata and Rule 30 (Stephen Wolfram) | AI Podcast Clips
Inventing Game of Life (John Conway) - Numberphile
I wanted implement the rules in a different medium, and while looking at some outputs of different rules, I thought of MIDI files and how the rules could be implemented on ableton to get a musical output. I used rule 18!
-> here is the result
(Rule 30)
I used rule 90, and went kid of “meta” using the binary numerical code for “90” (01011010) as a starting condition. First I drew it, then did a section of cross stitch to image it:
Then I wondered what it would look like, or if it would change the patterning if the lines, instead of infinitely expanding on the edges, were connected (as in, like a cylinder). I ended up knitting “in the round” (like one can do for socks or sleeves) to prototype the pattern, using knit stitches as 0’s and purl stitches as 1’s (they look like bumps):
I found a pattern with Elementary Machine that repeats after 30 lines. I drew it on graph paper (instead of weaving) because I wanted to see how it looked graphically. I would like to meet this character.
Using this ruleset:
(googly eyes and pink sequins)
Was playing with some js code. Was going to make base-6 ECA with dices and some DnD rules stuff, but was stuck with base-3. Here are my fav ones! More Sierpinski triangles!
https://editor.p5js.org/k-t-l-h/sketches/QM8KTbMHd
Also read books and wrote some notes about Peano curves and Brazilian indigenous people. Shared the book with my local community
And look at this! Not mine. But sooo cool
https://twitter.com/kimasendorf/status/1637932129953939456
Had a bunch of paper for the class, but then I found a bunch of CAT7 cables being thrown out at work, so of course I went with the trash. It is definitely not a beautiful object and it’s extremely difficult to work with…but I certainly did something!
I was sick last three days, but found this website: https://sciencevsmagic.net/\nAnd played around. My idea is to weave the following image later this week.\n
I had my last crit today so I was a little preoccupied with that last week, but I did spend some time trying to add CA rules to my tile-drawing application, and in the process I tried testing some rules out on a chessboard, here’s rule 126:
I also like this cool rule I found:
Rule 110
03.27.2023
So, I tried a bunch of random rulesets, and this ruleset probably has a number (?), but I didn’t check. But I’m going to post what I had started 2 weeks ago:
I used a Go board because I liked the idea of a ruleset being potentially affected by the material used. Or the idea that a ruleset is not in a vacuum. I could possibly try different rulesets, and see if I could capture an opponent’s pieces depending on the ruleset. This one so far isn’t very successful at capturing any stones.
But I want to experiment with the idea of repetition being folded by context, I think. Or legacy being transmitted, and context being the material of transmission. Or something something… 🤔
