生命遊戲是一件互動裝置，觀眾可以輕觸木製的單元格，裝置將依照康威「生命遊戲」（Game of Life）的演算規則產生動態和電子聲響。

約翰．何頓．康威（John Horton Conway）於1970年3月發表了一個優雅的數學模型細胞自動機「生命遊戲》（Game of Life），細胞於二維平面中依循一系列極簡的演算規則模擬生命，創造出周而復始並無限擴張的世界和社群。

 

「在康威生命遊戲中，每個單元格的下一個狀態取決於其當前和周圍單元格的狀態。如果一個細胞是活的，且它周圍有兩個或三個細胞，此細胞就會保持存活，其他情況則會死亡。如果一個細胞是死的，它將保持死亡，除非它周圍恰好有三個細胞。」
 

藝術家透過加入機械運動和電子聲響，創造更多層次的感官和資訊維度，回應零玩家遊戲（zero-player game）的概念，觀眾能夠自行編程並觀看演算後的複雜結果，初始的單元設定成為結合數位美學的樂譜，隨著時間推移產生無數的
連續圖案和聲響軌跡，我們的宏觀世界成了一場可被微觀的生命遊戲。

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照片提供：忠泰美術館

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Game of Life is an interactive installation where the participant’s touch on a wooden unit cell will initiate the generation of dynamic motion and electronic sounds, calculated using John Conway’s “Game of Life” mathematical model.
 

John Horton Conway devised an elegant mathematical model of cellular automation called “Game of Life” in March, 1970, where cells on a two dimensional plane simulate life by following a series of simple mathematical calculations, creating a world and community that repeats endlessly and expands infinitely.

 

“In Conway’s Game of Life, the state of each cell depends on the current state of its surrounding cells. A live cell remains alive if two or three of its neighboring cells are alive. A dead cell will remain dead unless it is surrounded by exactly three live neighboring cells.”
 

With the addition of mechanical dynamism and electronic sound effects, the artist responds to the concept of this zero-player game by creating multiple dimensions of sensory and informational layers. Audience members can create a program, then observe the complex outcome of the resulting calculation. The initial setting of the unit transforms into a musical score of integrated digital aesthetics, producing countless continuous patterns and soundtracks with the passage of time. Our macrocosmic world becomes a microcosmic game of life.

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