lightning_signals >>
b-side open dag 2017
radion, amsterdam dance event dogtime, gerrit rietveld academie
oktober 2017, amsterdam januari 2017
"De blinde man in een bos.
Fosfor op zijn vingertoppen veroorzaakt ontladingen,
lichtschichten die zich doorheen het woud verplaatsen.
We zien nu in momenten dat er bomen staan
en ontmantelde lantarenpalen"
- Geert Mul
By the use of modern day (open source) online media systems like ‘the internet of things’ it has become possible to tap into a great deal of information about ‘things’ happening in the world in real time. The lightning.signals installation translates real time recorded digital data from lightning strikes happening anywhere in the world into a dynamic play of patterns of light.
24/7 internet connected devices like our smartphones and ‘the internet of things’ work as an extension of the human perception to the world. Time and space are reduced to digital code and electrical signals, which creates ‘organic digital micro-environments’ where we can experience ‘things’ happening anywhere in the world in real time at any given place.
The lightning-signals installation as a whole works as an objective medium to experience the worlds connectivity to (digital)media systems like ‘the internet of things’ on one hand, and ‘the global weather system’ on the other. The work offers a space for (self)reflection on our relationship within the natural world and todays media-oriented society through the use of the internet, smartphones, digital code, electric signals and patterns of light.
To build the lightning.signals installation a homegrown (max msp) data processing machine was used to interact with realtime information from Google’s lightningmaps.org. The API detects lightning strikes occurring anywhere in the world at any given time. The lightning.signals installation translates the meta-data from 100’s of detection stations around the globe into a dynamic play of light and sound.
pk8studio, amsterdam, 2017