Diffusion Choir by David Wicks is a massive kinetic sculpture consisting of hundreds of independently-actuated folding paper forms. These forms are powered by a flocking algorithm that makes them appear to have the flapping motions of birds. This piece stuck out to me particularly because of its use of an art form that I am newly interested in and an art form that I was interested in a number of years ago: generative art and origami. I used to spend hours trying to fold, with occasionally moderate success, intricate origami models. Recently, though, I have been increasingly interested in algorithmic generative art. Seeing the two combined, both of which begin with relatively simple concepts (bits for generative art and just a piece of paper for the origami) and turning them into something so complex amazes me. My only real piece of criticism for the installation is that the artist seems to emphasize the idea that each item in the installation portrays a bird in his statement for the piece. While I can see the image quite clearly from the bottom, from the side (the piece is designed to be viewed from all sorts of angles), the image of birds gets lost for something far more abstract.
The piece can be viewed here: https://sansumbrella.com/works/2016/diffusion-choir/
