D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson's Generative Influences in Art, Design, and Architecture
From Forces to Forms
Author: Ellen K. Levy and Dr. Charissa N. Terranova Series: Biotechne: Interthinking Art, Science and Design
Practitioners, theorists, and historians engaging organic forms creatively build on the ideas proposed in 1917 by Scottish zoologist D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson.
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Summary
Practitioners, theorists, and historians engaging organic forms creatively build on the ideas proposed in 1917 by Scottish zoologist D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson.
Description
Scottish zoologist D’Arcy Wentworth Thompson’s visionary ideas in On Growth and Form continue to evolve a century after its publication, aligning it with current developments in art and science. Practitioners, theorists, and historians from art, science, and design reflect on his ongoing influence. Overall, the anthology links evolutionary theory to form generation in both scientific and cultural domains. It offers a close look at the ways cells, organisms, and rules become generative in fields often otherwise disconnected.
United by Thompson’s original exploration of how physical forces propel and shape living and nonliving forms, essays range from art, art history, and neuroscience to architecture, design, and biology. Contributors explore how translations are made from the discipline of biology to the cultural arena. They reflect on how Thompson’s study relates to the current sciences of epigenesis, self-organization, biological complex systems, and the expanded evolutionary synthesis. Cross-disciplinary contributors explore the wide-ranging aesthetic ramifications of these sciences. A timeline links the history of evolutionary theory with cultural achievements, providing the reader with a valuable resource.
Critic Reviews
“The life and work of D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson is a reminder of what can be achieved when we remove the silos into which so many academic disciplines have been confined. By revealing Thompson's immense influence, this book offers a profound argument for the interdependence of art, science and technology.”
D’Arcy Wentworth Thompson’s Generative Influences in Art, Design, and Architecture offers a significant contribution in its explication of the interrelationships between art, architecture, design, and biology and in situating Thompson’s biological model within a broad cultural frame. Woman's Art Journal
D’Arcy Wentworth Thompson, in his beautifully written book, On Growth and Form, describes how if artists wanted to look for beauty in nature, they would have to turn to science. The present new volume is a fitting tribute to this accomplished thinker. Arthur I. Miller, Emeritus Professor of History & Philosophy of Science, University College London, UK and author of "The Artist in the Machine: The World of AI-Powered Creativity"
The life and work of D’Arcy Wentworth Thompson is a reminder of what can be achieved when we remove the silos into which so many academic disciplines have been confined. By revealing Thompson’s immense influence, this book offers a profound argument for the interdependence of art, science and technology. Eleanor Heartney, Contributing Editor, Art in America and Artpress, USA
About the Author
Ellen K. Levy is an independent artist and scholar in New York, USA.
Charissa N. Terranova is Associate Professor of Aesthetic Studies, University of Texas at Dallas, USA.
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