I work on generative art, algorithmic visual systems, sound-based computation, and critical explorations of artificial intelligence in artistic contexts.
My artistic practice focuses on collective patterns, movement, rhythm, and emergent behavior expressed through code, visual systems, and sonification.
Selected Works
EIXAM
Eixam is an exploration of complex behaviors emerging from local interactions. Through a swarm of small robots, redesigned from the original Kilobots (Harvard, 2012), the piece shows how patterns of self-organization emerge in a system without a central control.
The robots flash their status through LED lights and subtle vibrations that generate movement. They are set in a darkened space, where their lights, and sounds that resemble the fluttering of bees (generated by the mapping of the light pattern), evolve in time. Viewers can observe how these beings “negotiate”, influence their neighbors, and sometimes align in a collective behavior.
Inspired by recent research on behavioral avalanches and consensus building (Mugica et al., 2023; March-Pons et al., 2024), we explore how individual behaviors shape social dynamics. One example is the role of leadership as a catalyst for change. While leadership may seem at odds with self-organization, it can emerge as a characteristic of the system. Ultimately, it is the group’s response that defines a leader: a robot’s behavior can spread like an avalanche as others replicate it or fade if it fails to resonate. In consensus building, positive feedback amplifies behaviors while negative feedback stabilizes them. In our swarm, this unfolds as a conversation of light and sound: some robots remain stubborn to their decision, others are easily persuaded, and some change unpredictably.
Eixam challenges classical models that assume uniformity, by emphasizing individual diversity (preferences, beliefs, information, and spontaneity). It invites reflection on collective intelligence, drawing parallels with social, biological, and technological processes. From the simplicity of interactions among diverse individuals, a complex world emerges, where order and disorder coexist in a system far from equilibrium.
Concept and production: Axolot Collective
Algorithm design and programming: Julia Múgica
Sound Design: Lina Bautista
Electronics: Andrés Costa
Funding and Support: AI&Music S+T+ARTS, Beques Barcelona Crea - Ajuntament de Barcelona
Exhibited at:
Sonar 2024, June 14-16, 2024
ECHO
Lua Coderch, Julia Múgica, Iván Paz and Lluis Nacenta
Echo es un cuerpo que escucha, un cuerpo que habla, un cuerpo que “piensa”
Echo es una escultura de código abierto, resultado de la colaboración entre Lúa Coderch, Julia Múgica, Lluís Nacenta e Iván Paz. Haciendo referencia al mito de la ninfa Eco, la escultura solo conoce y solo puede usar las palabras que ha oído previamente. Echo escucha, responde y ensaya formas de combinar las palabras aprendidas. Depende de lo que los otros le quieran decir para enriquecer su lenguaje y articular pensamientos cada vez más complejos. Como en el mito, Echo es un cuerpo desposeído de sentido, o que solo tiene sentido por casualidad. A pesar de esto, acaba encontrando una forma de hablar, en gran medida apoyándose en la capacidad del que escucha de entender más allá y dotar aquello que escucha de mayor profundidad.
Exhibited at:
Dilalica Gallery · 2021 ARCO · 2022
AMusicBOX
Lua Coderch, Julia Múgica, Huaqian Zhang, Iván Paz,Lluis Nacenta and Andrés Costa
Exhibited at:
Sónar+D · 2025
Collaborations
Projects developed in collaboration with other artists and collectives.
Órbita
Una Pell distant
Eco i l’oracle
TRACES
Multivariate Sonification