“85 CE 86 EE 4B B1 72 9B oA AD 15 46 47 33 2C 30” is an eighteen minute sonic reenactment of the Boids program, developed by artificial life researcher Craig Reynolds in 1986. TFC is Lars Holdus, a Norwegian artist, whose technology engaged practice deals with rhythm, seriality and melody. 85 CE 86… features what synthetic birds sounds over layers of synthesizer textures. Holdus doesn’t explain how the piece reenacts Boids, and it’s unclear whether the piece depends on Boids poetically/conceptually or structurally/technically. The work is compositionally dynamic: it oscillates between modes of ambience and noise. If 85 CE 86… is procedural, it’s difficult to detect an algorithm or set of rules governing the sound. Holdus writes on the project page that “labelling computer generated species after preexisting ones complicates our relation to the former.” We project our understanding of birds into Boids, and see the artificial creatures as lesser imitations.

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