“We are fascinated by the unit; only a unity seems
rational to us. We scorn the senses, because their information reaches
us in bursts. We scorn the groupings of the world, and we scorn those of
our bodies. For us they seem to enjoy a bit of the status of Being only
when they are subsumed beneath a unity. Disaggregation and aggregation,
as such, and without contradiction, are repugnant to us. Multiplicity,
according to Leibniz, is only a semi-being. A cartload of bricks isn’t a
house. Unity dazzles on at least two counts: by its sum and by its
division. That herd must be singular in its totality and it must also be
made up of a given number of sheep or buffalo. We want principle, a
system, an integration, we want elements, atoms, numbers. We want them,
and we make them. A single God, and identifiable individuals. The
aggregate as such is not a well-formed object; it seems irrational to
us. The arithmetic of whole numbers remains a secret foundation of our
understanding; we’re all Pythagorians. We think only in monadologies.”
- Michel Serres, Genesis
The
exploration of Lindenmayer Systems (L-systems) offers an
opportunity to use it as a generative diagram, transcending the
2-dimensional implications it originally had and becoming the basis for a
3-dimensional generative protocol.
Status: School Project