Installations

Wind Array Cascade Machine (WACM) is a telematic 64 channel environmental mapping and network diffusion system. Using the wind that blows across an open field or rooftop, WACM's 64 motion sensors track the amplitude and wave movement of the wind in real time. Direction and wave movement of the wind is captured in the network data set. The wave patterns in this piece metaphorically represent the sound (sine) wave. The WACM data is then streamed over the WWW anywhere in the internet world to the Heimbecker installation in using the 64 channel WACM data set.

POD (2003) is the first installation created for the Wind Array Cascade Machine (WACM) system. POD is a 64 channel installation that uses 2880 light emitting diodes (LEDs) to portray a real time 4 dimensional picture of the wind, where each of 64 "pods" functions as an amplitude meter of the 64 wind sensors of the WACM data network. Although this installation is silent, a large portion of the audience (approximately 30%), have inquired about the sound source within this light installation, indicating a synaesthetic response to it. The electronic and software systems for POD were designed in collaboration with Avatar, Québec, Canada. POD was most recently exhibited at Oboro, Montréal, Canada directly after it's European premiere at the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, Helsinki, Findland for ISEA 2004.

The Triquetraflux in its most basic form is an acoustic sound generating organism. It consists of three interconnected "harps," cone-shaped structures of ten strings, each touching the sides of a large colourful balloon suspended above the floor. There are three sizes of harp, tuned to three consecutive octaves. Each harp "listens" to the others and reacts to the constantly shifting sets of frequencies to create a chaotic feedback system that produces sound. This sound is then sent back to the other harps, which then react and send their responses back to the first harp. This loop flows continually through all three harps. It exists in the moment and reacts to itself in real time, according to what has just happened an instant before. All sound heard from this system is acoustic; there are no speakers. Only the balloons amplify the vibrational energy of the strings. The quality of the sound is ethereal, quiet and elusive, often moving swiftly from one harp to another. The brass strings stretched over the cables surrounding the balloons can be seen moving into and out of vibration. These strings can be touched, and the effect of the loss of sound from a particular string can usually be seen and heard throughout the ensemble of three harps. Left undisturbed, the piece will constantly vary itself as well as react to ambient sound and shifting air currents (sometimes produced by patrons moving near the piece.) A computer allows for dynamic control of the feedback pathways within each harp, changing the probabilities. The limits can be adjusted in real time or they can be pre-set. These controlled limits turn the Triquetraflux into a real - time stochastic composition machine.

The installation "Surrogate To Natural Harmony" by Ivika Kivi and Sulo Kallas is one possible vision of the future.

The sounds of these birds create a meditative soundscape. Listening to them with eyes closed, it is easy to picture real birds singing in the forest. Resting in such a room might have a therapeutic and calming effect; at the same time, such an area would be easy to maintain. The installation needs no other power source than the light of the sun or an electric light. Surrogate Nature has become a product of fashion since the 20th century. The Sun that has given life to the complex evolutionary processes on our home planet, in the same way, is giving life to these robotic birds.

In the future, when there is too much pollution for birds and other life forms, where will we go to be in harmony with nature. In our mind, we associate nature to the sound of birds singing. When it is gone, how easy is it to accept this disappearance? Assuming that most people on the earth live in the cities and will not notice the disappearance of natural areas, this installation presents the simplicity of finding a replacement to a source of nature with new technology. This work presents the seductive beauty of modern life, where we are distanced from thinking about our role within the natural world. Through the mass media, we are led to believe that technology will solve all our problems. Being part of the very same techno-culture, the artists are concerned about losing their place in the natural world.

We all might be quite surprised how quickly we can adjust to the new conditions...