evolutionary-variations — Jeremiah Barber

JEREMIAH BARBER

This indicates that the secondary layer receives defocused images, which contain depth information of the scene in optical theory
32”x24”
2022

Our new data thus suggest a hitherto unexpected sophistication in higher-order control of visual processing
30”x40”
2022

Evolutionary change includes amino acid residues with known importance for spectral tuning
12”x9”
2022

Additional serial repeated ears are recruited for this task
40”x60”
2023

40”x60”
2023

The need to see panoramically on the ground with minimal blind spots
24”x16”
2022

Our work indicates that mobile pupils may be widespread
20”x15”
2023

We would have to develop a phenomenology to describe the sonar experience
24”x32”
2024

Evolutionary Variations
Archival Digital Pigment Prints
2022-24

This series of digital photocollages applies Darwinian concepts of genetic variation, mutation, and genetic drift to technology, imagining cameras and microphones as autonomous, living things in various stages of evolution. Bounded by a cool white background, the devices look back at the viewer imposingly. Their scale breaks the familiar relationship of something to be held, or wielded, and their inaccessibility suggests the kind of tension found in portraiture of presence and desire.

The collages include variations of morphology (body type) and functionality (method of capturing data). Some are directly related to individual species, though most are more broadly in conversation with adaptations such as compound vision (dragonflies, crabs), multispectral imaging (shrimp, birds), and more dispersed forms of light reception (jellyfish, plants).

Each piece is inspired by scientific discoveries, most of them in the last two decades, around plant and animal consciousness. Though meticulously constructed from scanned surfaces, macrophotography, and 3D modelling, they appear somewhat self-realized, with an eeire liveliness that suggests the beauty and anxiety that comes with the increasing likelihood of sentience in AI. Our relationship to technology has always retained a gloss of ownership. As we create the conditions for biotechnological self-actualization, this project suggests the limits of our own knowledge, tools and understanding.