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Epigenesis: The Growth of Form
by Roman Verostko
Copyright, 1999. All rights reserved.


Frey Science and Engineering Center
University of Saint Thomas
Saint Paul, Minnesota USA

Owens Science Hall , Science & Engineering Center (19kb)

Location.  The Frey Science and Engineering Center is located at Summit Avenue west of Cretin in St. Paul, Minnesota. Verostko's mural is located on the first floor of the Owens Science Hall (west side) and is best seen in the morning, the early afternoon  or in the evening after sunset.

View  eastward, evening lighting.

Site and structure.  The University's new Frey Science and Engineering Center was dedicated in September 1997. The mural project, located on the main floor of Owens Science Hall, employs technologies developed in the pioneer stages of the digital arts revolution. The project consists of eleven pen plotted improvisations presented as a visual symphony of form. . The plots were executed with a multi-pen plotter coupled to a PC employing acrylic inks mixed by the artist. Each pen-plotted unit was executed on Stonehenge paper measuring 3 feet by 6 feet. Installed in eleven units framed with oak paneling the finished project measures 40 feet by 9 feet, occupies two alcoves, and wraps around a central pilaster.

left end    |   left triptych    |    mid triptych    |     right triptych     |    right end

This view shows assembled works. Single and triplet units were photographed at Prism Studios in Minneapolis before installation. The central unit steps forward about two feet as seen in the view eastward above.

The 1996 Scale Model for Epigenesis. This preliminary model, created by the artist as a work of art in its own right, served as the first stage of this project. A second version of this model is permanently on display at the downtown Minneapolis campus of the University of St. Thomas (second floor, main overpass) Click below for model details.

The 1996 Model  (76" by 18").

Interpretation and Title. With his software Roman creates works that are visual analogues of their generators somewhat as the winding banks of streams display the traces of the forces with which they were shaped. From this perspective the mural displays the visual traces of the procedures with which it was shaped. Throughout the mural the form generating process manifests itself in clustering webs of pen strokes with each stroke echoing the shape of  the large brush strokes.

Viewing the brush stroke initiator (34kb).

Brush Strokes. The brush strokes that mirror each other  identify the initiator used to generate all the visual forms. Thousands of lines, derived from this initiating shape, cluster and mirror themselves throughout the eleven visual improvisations. In effect the mural displays the growth of form and, by analogy to the biological term, may be viewed as epigenesis.

Detail shows 1 of 4 gold leafed roundels.©

Above: The end panels include gold leafed roundels embellishing the initiator brush stroke. The black strokes were executed with a sumi brush mounted on the pen plotter's drawing arm. The burnished gold leaf was applied by hand after the strokes were made.

Sisyphus renders the stroke -  animated time warp (962 KB) ©

Above: The Saint Thomas brush stroke was rendered as a sand etching on December 10th, 1998 in collaboration with Atelier Ho in Jean Pierre's Santa Barbara studio.  Atelier Ho, a studio collaborative of the artists Bruce Shapiro and Jean Pierre Hebert, had created several versions of a sand etching machine, Sysiphus, that plotted vector graphics on a sand surface with a steel ball. Verostko provided the vector coordinates of  the St. Thomas brush stroke that was executed by Sisyphus. This procedure demonstrates how algorist'  form generators can be transported across media. The time warp animation shows the path as it is traced in the sand. Further Sisyphus documentation may be found at: www.taomc.com/art_machines/sisyphus.htm 

Historical note. Historically we had no term in the arts to identify the art-making process whereby works are generated by the artist's own coded procedures. In 1986 Roman set out in search of a term to accurately describe his art-making process. In 1987 he settled on the term epigenetic as a specific descriptor of the algorithmic procedures in his work. The following year he presented a paper identifying the biological analogues for work created with fine art generators (algorithms) created by artists. This paper, presented at the First International Symposium on Electronic Art (FISEA, Utrecht, 1988) and later published in Leonardo (23:1,1990), outlined the rationale for the use of this term. Since then Verostko has come to be identified with a group of artists who work algorithmically and are known as algorists.  As an algorist Roman continues to see analogies between algorithmic form generation and epigenesis.

Epigenetic by analogy only. The biological term epigenesis refers to the process whereby a mature plant, say an oak tree, is "grown" from an acorn. By analogy, an artwork such as the mural, is algorithmically "grown" from the software that contains the form generating instructions. This procedure for generating the work may be viewed as epigenetic but only by analogy to the growing process.

Installing the last unit (29kb),  August 1997.

Installation. Work was installed in August 1997 using a reversible method as a conservation measure. The six foot paper units were hung on secure acid free backing and protected with UV filtering laminated glass.  The frames and white stained oak panels were crafted by  Don Zwernik who is shown with Roman installing the last unit.

View westward (10kb)

Technical specifications:

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