Floral Neurons – Grant Recipient

• Installation: Physical interactive experience
• Venue: MARKK Museum
• Location: Hamburg, Germany
• Exhibit: Día de los Muertos
• Funding: Grant awarded by the museum
• Equipment: Canvas, projector, computer, webcam
• Technology: GLSL shaders, hand tracking
• Year: 2024

This animated piece is part of a series called Floral Neurons which are fractal explorations inspired by my home country, México.

The artwork is an abstract representation that blends the vibrant flowers used in Día de Muertos celebrations, the iconic sugar skulls crafted for the occasion, and ancient symbols of the Mexicas — cultural roots of Día de Muertos.

In the first days of November, visitors to the installation altered a variety of generative kaleidoscopic patterns with the movement of their hands, becoming active participants in the creation of the artwork.

The hand interaction used a machine learning model trained for real-time palm detection and hand-skeleton finger tracking in the browser.

Video music by Aaron Graham.