2004 – Array of Belts Visualize Public Presence

Standards and Double Standards is an interactive installation that consists of 10 to 100 fastened belts that are suspended at waist height from stepper motors on the ceiling of the exhibition room. Controlled by a computerized tracking system, the belts rotate automatically to follow the public, turning their buckles slowly to face passers-by. When several people are in the room their presence affects the entire group of belts, creating chaotic patterns of interference. Non-linear behaviours […]

Standards and Double Standards is an interactive installation that consists of 10 to 100 fastened belts that are suspended at waist height from stepper motors on the ceiling of the exhibition room. Controlled by a computerized tracking system, the belts rotate automatically to follow the public, turning their buckles slowly to face passers-by. When several people are in the room their presence affects the entire group of belts, creating chaotic patterns of interference. Non-linear behaviours emerge such as turbulence, eddies and relatively quiet regions. One of the aims of this piece is to visualize complex dynamics, turning a condition of pure surveillance into an unpredictable connective system. The piece creates an "absent crowd" using a fetish of paternal authority: the belt. Source: Rafael Lozano-Hemmer http://lozano-hemmer.com/standards_and_double_standards.php

Added by: Karine Charbonneau. Category: Interactive installation Tags: kinetic sculpture, presence, tracking, walkable

2004 – Synaptic Caguamas: Visualize Cellular Automata

Synaptic Caguamas is a kinetic sculpture consisting of a motorized Mexican "cantina" bar table with 30 "Caguama"-sized beer bottles (1-litre each). The bottles spin on the table with patterns generated by cellular automata algorithms that simulate the neuronal connections in the brain. Every few minutes the bottles are reset automatically and seeded with new initial conditions for the algorithm, so that the movement patterns are never repeated. This kinetic sculpture is a primitive and absurd […]

Synaptic Caguamas is a kinetic sculpture consisting of a motorized Mexican "cantina" bar table with 30 "Caguama"-sized beer bottles (1-litre each). The bottles spin on the table with patterns generated by cellular automata algorithms that simulate the neuronal connections in the brain. Every few minutes the bottles are reset automatically and seeded with new initial conditions for the algorithm, so that the movement patterns are never repeated. This kinetic sculpture is a primitive and absurd attempt to make tangible the mathematics of recollection and thought. Source: Rafael Lozano-Hemmer. Synaptic Caguamas (2004).

Added by: Karine Charbonneau. Category: Uncertain Tags: beer, cellular automata, kinetic sculpture

2007 – Wavefunction: Visualize Public Presence in Waves

Wavefunction is a kinetic sculpture comprised of fifty to one hundred Charles and Ray Eames moulded chairs (designed in 1948) and placed in a regular array of rows, facing the entrance to the exhibition space. When someone approaches the work, a computerised surveillance system detects their presence and the closest chairs automatically begin to lift off the ground, creating the crest of a wave that then spreads over the whole room. A system of electromechanical pistons raises each chair forty […]

Wavefunction is a kinetic sculpture comprised of fifty to one hundred Charles and Ray Eames moulded chairs (designed in 1948) and placed in a regular array of rows, facing the entrance to the exhibition space. When someone approaches the work, a computerised surveillance system detects their presence and the closest chairs automatically begin to lift off the ground, creating the crest of a wave that then spreads over the whole room. A system of electromechanical pistons raises each chair forty centimetres from the ground. The pistons are controlled by a computer that runs the mathematics of fluid dynamics, thus making the waves interfere with each other, creating turbulence or becoming calm, just like real water. Rafael Lozano-Hemmer http://lozano-hemmer.com/wavefunction.php

Added by: Karine Charbonneau. Category: Interactive installation Tags: fluid dynamics, kinetic sculpture, mechanical chairs

2022 – Kinetic Sculpture of Pi Digits

Pi is a kinetic sculpture based on the noise of randomly distributed digits of the eponymous number. The noise appears as a seemingly inexhaustible well of non-periodic elements, setting the objects in motion. In turn, the object’s shapes communicate the source. Every of the ten installation objects represents a decimal place’s integer, zero to nine. The seemingly infinite quantity of digits triggers the rotating movements of the objects with a predestined sequence but without any […]

Pi is a kinetic sculpture based on the noise of randomly distributed digits of the eponymous number. The noise appears as a seemingly inexhaustible well of non-periodic elements, setting the objects in motion. In turn, the object’s shapes communicate the source. Every of the ten installation objects represents a decimal place’s integer, zero to nine. The seemingly infinite quantity of digits triggers the rotating movements of the objects with a predestined sequence but without any repeating patterns. Video: https://vimeo.com/760540429 Source: Robin Woern (2022) Pi. (archived version)

Added by: Robin Woern. Category: Interactive installation Tags: pi, mathemathics, kinetic sculpture