Discuss “Pixels and petals: ‘Ultra-Nature’ at the Wood Street Galleries”

Carnegie Mellon prides itself on its outstanding programs in both computer science and visual art. But what if these two seemingly different subjects could somehow be combined? At the Wood Street Galleries in downtown Pittsburgh, “Ultra-Nature,” a new exhibit by French artist Miguel Chevalier, uses mathematical equations and an aesthetic eye to do just that.

One enters the “RGB World” room to the haunting sound of a chorus of bass voices, their tone so constant and low that it immediately sets the mood for the futuristic exhibit. In an otherwise plain white room, three projectors display a virtual landscape of red, green, and blue. The landforms continuously move towards the viewer, as though one is a bird flying low over the computerized...