Autopoiesis, here rendered as self-generation, refers to an approach in which the artist does not directly determine the final form of a work, but instead designs the process or system that produces it. The work emerges through repetition and interaction within that system. In metacreation, this marks a shift from making a finished object to making the process of creation itself. Cellular automata are closely associated with this idea because they exemplify how simple local rules can give rise to unpredictable complexity and emergence.
In this framework, what matters is not fixing meaning, argument, or interpretation in advance, but designing computational rules such as neighborhood relations, relations among multiple species, vitality, and the linkage between image and sound. Through their interaction, change continues to arise. The result is a bottom-up, dynamic generative system in which the final shape is not directly decided by a human author.
The idea is also linked to Auto-creative Art, where change, growth, and movement are central. A cited example is an environment in which color and light change autonomously through the physical transformation of liquid crystals. In that sense, self-generation emphasizes a work whose generative process remains active, rather than one that is fixed as a completed form.