| The Connection Machines CM-1 and CM-2
Tamiko Thiel, 1987
Links
http://mission.base.com/tamiko/
"The Connection Machine was the first commercial
computer designed expressly to work on simulating
intelligence and life. A massively parallel super
computer with 65,536 processors, it was the
brainchild of Danny Hillis,conceived while he was
a graduate student under Marvin Minsky at the
MIT Artificial Intelligence Lab.
Departing from conventional computer architecture
of the time,it was modeled on the structure of a human
brain: Rather than relying on a single powerful processor
to perform calculations one after another, the data was
distributed over the tens of thousands of processors, all
of which could perform calculations simultaneously. The
structures for communication and transfer of data between
processors could change as needed depending on the nature
of the problem, making the mutability of the connections
between processors more important than the processors
themselves,hence the name "Connection Machine"[source]
Form: The form of the machine was to express both its
function and the passions of its creators: the dream
of producing a "Machina Sapiens," a new genus of living,
thinking machines."
The idea of how does one begin to make a design for 65,536 processors?
- is fascinating. Fascinating both in the process itself, philosophy and
end result.
Other work by the artist:
The Totem Project, 1996 - video/digital image
Submitted
by
Katalin Banlaki
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