On Growth and Form

Daniel Brown is a designer, programmer and artist who works with code to explore the creative possibilities of algorithms. His On Growth and Form series depicts continually growing flowers and takes inspiration from 19th-century flower collecting and cultivation practices to pose new questions about the possibilities of artificial life. The work is titled in reference to the book of the same name written by D'Arcy Thompson in 1917. In it, the scientist uses mathematics to investigate the shape of plants and animals and the relationships between different species. Brown’s piece, commissioned by the museum in 2009, reveals petals formed of generated textures derived from images of objects in the V&A collection including William Morris textiles and kimono fabrics. 

Part of the V&A’s inaugural Digital Art Season which addresses questions of technology, creativity and digital culture.