Video 2019  

Wetware


Wetware is a collection of video works by Yoshi Sodeoka. The collection is inspired by the concept of a ‘wetware’ computer, a computer composed of organic material.

Many of the prototype wetware computers developed so far have been built using neurons. Unlike the conventional binary on-off configuration used in computing, neurons are capable of switching between thousands of states, meaning wetware computers have the potential to be far more dynamic and self-organising than conventional computers.

Sodeoka’s fascination with the self-organising computer led him to experiment with audiovisual feedback loops. The videos in the Wetware collection grew from a few seeds of graphic and audio information which was animated, then mutated by automatic video feedback. The resulting visuals are generated by this feedback. This feedback continues to generate forever unless instructed to stop. Like evolutionary processes in nature, the result is often unpredictable and hard to control.

It almost seems like the video feedback has an artificial organic brain. I expect it to do one specific thing and it won't usually occur. It requires endless amount of experimentation to get the result I want. It's almost like training a cat. It’s as though the work has a life of its own…” – Yoshi Sodeoka

READ THE INTERVIEW AT SEDITION