In mid 2010, we were approached by OgilvyOne, an ad agency, with an interesting brief: what does the taste of something look like?

They had Freggo, a luxury ice cream brand, willing to get involved. And we were excited by the prospect of creating a generative engine to respond visually to how things tasted.

We set about creating a system that took data from someone who had tasted one of twelve flavours of ice cream. They then told the system how it tasted, based on six different criterior: Juiciness, Intensity, Richness, Sweetness, Creaminess, and Afterglow.

This data was directly linked to a generative engine that had been constructed to represent this information. We had constructed “visual universes” that flowed and blossomed as the new data arrived. Whilst we are not known for visual work, in galleries, it was a fabulous opportunity for greyworld to hone the generative engines that underpin many of our installations.

Exhibited in the Menier Chocolate factory in London, the work was also displayed on digital signage sites around London. Whilst an unusual project for us, we really enjoyed the opportunity to hone our generative art, and create variations on the art systems that we often employ in our installations.

Below are videos, each with three or four flavours. As the videos play, user data is changing, causing the visual sculptures to evolve and blossom.

These Taste experiments won 4 Gold and 1 Silver Awards at the DMA’s, London 2011.

See also Trafalgar Sun, Urban Sketches and Digital You