Forrest Stonedahl

Forrest Stonedahl, Graduate Student, EECS Department

Happy Birthday Dear Darwin, 2009

NetLogo multi-agent modeling environment, 30.02 Kb

Artist's Statement:

This interactive art piece is intended to honor Charles Darwin in two ways. On a surface level, it performs a "Happy Birthday" song for him. On a deeper level, it demonstrates an evolution-inspired technique known as a "genetic algorithm", which is used in computer science to find (or evolve) solutions to many challenging problems. This computer program starts with a collection of random songs (different arrangements of notes from the familiar Happy Birthday tune), and by breeding these songs together, and giving the "fitter" songs a higher probability of reproducing, over time a good song evolves. This march of progress can be observed visually as the colored notes on the right-hand side of the screen move downward toward the goal, and audibly as the best song evolved so far is played.

Jurors’ Comments:

"This work shows a commitment to the idea of evolution and its root in science. There was a lot of effort put into this project. It exemplifies the idea of evolution in that by changing the rate at which evolution occurs, whether it be through mutations, population size, etc., someone can eventually end up with the correct tune "Happy Birthday." Wonderful!"

"What do you get when you combine multiple variables, chaos, and a computer system? Well, Evolution, of course – in this case the evolution of a birthday!"

"A deceptively simple piece that becomes more and more complex as one digs deeper into its nuances. It beautifully reflects Darwin's exploration as well as evolution itself."

"I can think of no birthday song more fitting for Darwin than one that evolves – a very creative idea and nicely done too."

"Algorhythmic hit-maker."