From http://www.electricsheep.org:
Electric Sheep is a collaborative abstract artwork founded by Scott Draves. It’s run by thousands of people all over the world, and can be installed on any ordinary PC, Mac, Android, or iPad. When these computers “sleep”, the Electric Sheep comes on and the computers communicate with each other by the internet to share the work of creating morphing abstract animations known as “sheep”.
Anyone watching one of these computers may vote for their favorite animations using the keyboard. The more popular sheep live longer and reproduce according to a genetic algorithm with mutation and cross-over. Hence the flock evolves to please its global audience. You can also design your own sheep and submit them to the gene pool.
The result is a collective “android dream”, blending man and machine to create an artificial lifeform. Learn more about it.
Radical Bliss 
Comments on: "electric sheep–LIVE art…" (2)
“Blending man and machine to create an artificial life form”, Great idea but also thought provoking!
I haven’t heard about this program before, I am going to explore it in the next coming days! It would be amazing if it enables people to create such a great images like what you shared here without programming! I am particularly interested in the idea of “collective intelligence” and how it can help creativity in a community. It is great to see in projects like this how collaboration of thoughts can make tasks easier, but I honestly should say, while I am a fan of digital revolution and virtual communities, I don’t like the idea of blending man and machine together! I specifically can’t get the meaning of “creating an artificial form of life” which is proposed here as the result of this collaboration. We are definitely experiencing a new form of life when the borders between virtual and physical spaces are getting faded, but is that really artificial or a completely natural trend?
I appreciate your personal inquiry into this notion. You may want to read “How to Create a Mind,” the recent book by futurist Ray Kurzweil. It’s a brilliant exploration into “the singularity,” and includes the question of consciousness. Looking forward to hearing from you some more.