Gallery: Geometric Death Frequency Takes Over Museum Courtyard
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Geometric Death Frequency-141 looks like an alien force from God knows where, which seems entirely appropriate given the massive sense of menace radiated by the black-ball monolith that recently took up residence in the courtyard of MASS MoCA in North Adams, Massachusetts. Assembled from 420,000 robotically milled black spheres, [Federico Díaz](http://www.fediaz.com/)'s sculpture draws inspiration from a digital photograph of the museum's clock tower entryway. The artist, who lives in the Czech capital Prague, transformed the two-dimensional image into pure data, then used analytical and fluid-dynamic modeling techniques to reshape the building's contours into wavelike forms. "Federico is the ultimate shape-shifter, in a way," said [MASS MoCA](http://www.massmoca.org) director Joseph C. Thompson in a statement. "The bricks and mullions and windows of our buildings become files of digital data; the pixels become black spheres meticulously cut, stacked and assembled; the courtyard becomes and contains sculpture. There's something alchemical or magical about it, and all the while Federico remains behind the curtain, as if to say, 'Look ma, no hands.'" Check out Wired.com's gallery above for detailed views of *[Geometric Death Frequency-141](http://www.massmoca.org/event_details.php?id=549)*, along with a making-of video and other examples of Díaz's machine-made installations. __Above:__ Alogrithmic Architecture ------------------------ Díaz said in a statement that his MASS MoCA project embodied his desire to create "a unique object which transformed the museum into a new form of algorithmic architecture."
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Brick Walls, Black Balls ------------------------ MASS MoCA director Joseph Thompson describes the development of *Geometric Death Frequency-14*: "Pure data and algorithms based on particle physics served as the primary guiding forces behind the sculpture's shape, texture and size." The robotic manufacturing process can be seen in the video embedded below. [#iframe: http://player.vimeo.com/video/16019145](660x371)||||||
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Spheres as Pixels ----------------- MASS MoCA's Joseph Thompson likens *Geometric Death Frequency-14*'s constituent black balls to pixels. "The three-dimensional black spheres that make up this work are in some ways distant relatives of the pixels of that original, two-dimensional photograph" upon which the sculpture was based, he said. "But instead of being transcribed into a flat image as micro dots of ink on paper, here they well up into great waves that crash against the very walls of their original subject matter."
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An Invisible 'Tank' ------------------- Federico Díaz's interest in cellular growth, physics and fluid dynamics is reflected in the sculpture, said museum director Joseph Thompson. "This massive wave confined within an invisible 50- by 20-foot tank penetrates the wall of MASS MoCA's lobby from the exterior of the museum's main entrance courtyard. As the wave hits imaginary boundaries, it splashes back and up as high as the second story galleries of the museum."
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Robots at Work -------------- To physically generate *Geometric Death Frequency-14*, Federico Díaz and his team programmed computer-aided robots to produce a sculpture completely untouched by human hands.
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Mnemeg ------ Defined by forms inspired by the syntactical analysis of words, Federico Díaz's massive [Mnemeg](http://www.yvaa.net/index.php?page=artist_info&artist=182&photo=666&country=2&year=53) installation took shape at the Institute of Contemporary Arts/ICA in London.
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Mnemeg in Progress ------------------ Federico Díaz, founder of [Supermedia Studio](http://www.vsup.cz/en/volne-umeni/atelier-supermedii), has exhibited at Ars Electronica. His work is included in the permanent collection of the [ZKM Media Museum](http://on1.zkm.de/zkm/).
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A Sembion --------- Born in Argentina, Federico Díaz has been creating software-generated art pieces like A Sembion since the early '90s.
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At the Race Track ----------------- This Fluid F1 piece is among the works covered in architect/designer Federico Díaz's book *[Resonance](http://www.amazon.co.uk/Federico-Diaz-E-AREA-Resonance/dp/8881587211)*.
