Subroutines 001-003

Subroutines (2025)
30×30 cm, unique algorithmic prints, mounted behind acrylic glass.
Subroutine #001, #002, #003

Subroutines are a continuation of my exploration into algorithmic decision-making, first developed in Pixelrun. In this series, I wrote an algorithm tasked with “understanding” its immediate pixel environment — sensing, responding, and adapting as it progresses. Each work captures the frozen trace of that journey, where local choices accumulate into complex, emergent structures.

In the context of our lives, a subroutine could be the habits we perform without thinking, the patterns of behavior we repeat daily. It could be the way we navigate familiar streets, the rituals that frame our mornings, or the mental shortcuts we use to make sense of the world. These routines shape our days, and in turn, the environment we move through begins to adapt to them.

At the heart of each piece lies an anomaly — a colored spirit in the corner: the agent whose interventions shape the entire environment, yet are also shaped in return. Like in life, the environment and its anomalies exist in constant feedback, each rewriting the other’s path.

But anomalies happen. A sudden disruption — a new path taken, a chance encounter, an unexpected event — can rewrite the flow. What was once a closed loop now becomes an open system, altered by one deviation. That deviation, however small, can propagate, reconfiguring the structure around it.

The resulting labyrinths are not random: they are the visual residue of countless micro-decisions, a coded choreography between order and disruption. They invite us to reflect on how small deviations can alter an entire system — and how we, too, are both products and shapers of our surroundings.

A subroutine in programming is a small, self-contained sequence of instructions — a fragment of code that serves a specific purpose, yet is part of something larger. It runs, completes its task, and quietly hands control back to the main program.

Mainboard::[PIXELRUN]  [CONTINUUM]