About Ken Salter

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Artist and engineer Ken Salter explores emergence in his evolving body of work called The Garden of Strange Loops. Emergence is a mathematical property where simple rules, applied repeatedly, lead to self-organizing systems whose complexity far exceed that of the underlying rules. From snowflakes to climate change, and flocks of birds to battalions of soldiers, emergence is the engine of creation and calamity — a secular explanation for, so-called, “acts of God.”

Ken views reality from a systems perspective and is skeptical of faith. The concept of emergence reinforces his worldview that intricate systems that appear to be designed need no creator.

How Reflecting Pool Works

Reflecting Pool consists of a downward facing camera looking at an upward facing video screen. The image from the video camera is replicated into several windows and arranged as a mosaic on the screen. The camera then takes a picture of this mosaic leading to a mosaic of mosaics. The cycle repeats, thirty times per second, with surprising results: fluid organic patterns with amazingly complex structure. Soothing tones are generated that represent the blend of colors on the screen. Visitors interact with the work by moving their hands gracefully, much like a Tai Chi practitioner, causing the hypnotic visuals to respond in a way that represent the movements and foster a meditative state.

What it Means

Understanding emergent phenomena is of vital importance. From the structure of snowflakes to galaxies, complex patterns and behaviors arising from simple rules is universal. Tipping points, such as catastrophic climate change and populist political revolutions, are also examples of emergent behavior. Consciousness and artificial intelligence are, perhaps, the most profound examples.

However Reflecting Pool can be appreciated from a purely aesthetic standpoint, without any concern for the underlying mathematics. Its hypnotic effect needs no explanation.