The "Genome of Luck" is a multimedia installation produced by Curiosity Media Lab (Evgeniy Afonin, Yan Kalnberzin, with support of Amr Ali & Oksana Lavrinenko and Pixelord) for Mars Art Center, Moscow, 2015 (side project of Moscow Biennale). Moreover, the installation was also showcased at Kolla, Limassol, Cyprus in 2023.
In the center of the room, there stands a table, surrounded by a metal grille. On table two virtual organisms run in a race. The organisms for each race are taken randomly from a pool of 30 creatures, which were bred with the help of Framesticks simulator.
Framesticks uses genetic algorithms, rigid body simulation, and simple neuron networks to simulate the evolution of a creature with the random structure in the direction defined by the fitness function. In this case, the condition of survival for the organism was the ability to run quick and run for a distance. Evolution of each racer on the simulator took from 1 to several days. Before the race starts, the speeded-up evolution of the ancestors of the two participants of the race is shown on two separate screens.
The visitor can choose the organisms he belives to be quicker and bet some money(drop his money in a glass jar standing by each of the screens).
And you can win! Or lose.
The place is decorated as an Asian underground illegal sweepstake. LEDs and spotlights controlled through DMX create the atmosphere of a cheap casino low entertainment. The subject of the Bienalle 2015 was "East and West". So "Genome of Luck" is the place where western high-tech meets the eastern proximity to the wild human nature. Sweepstakes is an ironic but quite natural application of science and technology in our everyday life.
