Bubble Sort, 2022

6 minutes
computational animation

This computational animation takes a set of 2331 name colors as defined by the World Wide Web and using a bubble sort algorithm, resorts them from alphabetical order by name to a hue-based ordering. Once the sorting is complete, the algorithm resorts the colors back into alphabetical order.  Bubble sorting is an extremely inefficient way to sort information as each element is compared to every other element. However inefficient, bubble sorting allows us to see the comparison of information in real time, creating an aesthetically engaging visual experience. 

This work examines Internet-based protocols and the various methods of sorting and translating between organizational systems. I think of translation as a liminal, problematic, but also a generative site of symbiosis. There is no perfect translation; something is always lost and something is always gained. As we think through various ways that we organize our world, how can we meaningfully question and interrogate how these structures interface and interpenetrate each other?