Modeling Emergence of Complexity: the Application of Complex System and Origin of Life Theory to Interactive Art on the Internet

The origin of this paper lies in the fundamental question of how complexity arose in the development of life and how one could construct an artistic interactive system that can model and simulate this emergence of complexity. Based on the idea that interaction and communication between entities of a system are the driving forces for the emergence of higher and more complex structures than its mere parts, we propose to apply principles of Complex System Theory to the creation of an interactive, computer generated and audience participatory artwork on the Internet and to test whether complexity within the system can emerge.