CYCLE
You know how I keep going on about using unusual inputs and feeding processes into each other to get unexpected new results? This video by Kouhei Nakama is a really good example of one way that can play out.
There’s a lot of layers here, processes within processes. The theme of the piece–dynamic equilibrium–is something I should talk about more here. Dynamic equilibrium in processes is often a desirable goal for a generative, emergent system, with multiple interacting systems in active motion but a stable enough state. (I’d class strange attractors as being similar in effect.)
Other times, of course, making use of the decay of a system to get your story or meaning across is important. In cinematic visual effects, one time-saving trick is to run a simulation to get the look you want, but trim the shot to only include the part that works, and not the beginning or end where the simulation breaks down.
In a more interactive space, cinematic cutting isn’t always an option. But a system out of equilibrium can still produce an interesting, useful pattern as it decays. Dwarf Fortress’s forts collapsing, an XCOM mission gone wrong, a neural network getting stuck on an image: decay is a generative process too.