二进蝌蚪, which could loosely translate as "binary tadpoles", is the result of many constraints.

The concept being explored here is the cognitive switch, that is to say the wildly different interpretations you can have of a same piece from the exact same point of view. How does your brain interpret, before any conscious processing, the data it is being fed? How do you project a representation of "life" on a static image?


In this case the switch is (not completely unexpectedly) binary. At one end, you see the tadpoles going about minding their own business. This view is strongly favoured by a lower tadpole density, a higher disorder propension, and a larger tadpole size. At the other end of the spectrum, the tadpoles are all watching you. This is conversely prompted by a higher density of ordered, smaller elements. The circles are not nucleus or bodies in cells anymore, they are the eyes of surveillance. In both cases, it's about life. Life you are watching, or life watching you.

A more detailed article is available at https://observablehq.com/@anaglyph-ic/the-cognitive-switch

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