SORT SOL - THE BLACK SUN
Photo by Dimitra Bavea
Art and Technology
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Aalborg University
1st semester project /Fall 2013
Dimitra Bavea, Mette Hvam Larsen, Tanja Pirneskoski, Triinu Sober
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Index
1. Introduction
2. Theoretical approach and analysis
2.1 Considering the subject of art
2.2 The origins of Installation art
2.2.1 Spectatorship in installation art
2.2.2 Sort Sol as an installation art
3. Starlings and the black sun phenomenon
3.1 A vision back in time
3.2 Recent research
4. The process
4.1 The first approaches towards Sort Sol
4.2 From digital to mechanical
4.3 Kinetics and science
4.4 Description of models:
4.5 Final choice and sculptures
5. The final results
5.1 Overall estimation of the model testing cycle
5.2 Final system - reasons for choosing
5.3 The projected image
6. Problem based learning
7. Discussion
8. Conclusion
8.1 User experiences at the exhibition
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1. Introduction
The Sort Sol Phenomenon
Sort sol (in Danish) or the black sun is a phenomenon native to Eurasia1, found throughout Europe,
northen Africa, India, Nepal, the middle East and north-western China.It has also been introduced in
North America, Australia, Fiji and several Caribbean islands.In Denmark it takes place in particular
near Tønder and Ribe. During the Spring and Autumn migration periods starlings are flying back and
forth between the Southern and Northern Europe creating huge formations in the sky just before they
decide for a location to roost for the night. Due to the vast amount of individuals per flock, starlings
tend to fade out the sunlight by their swirling, ballet-dancing flow.
1
Starling, distribution and habitat http://www.britishwildlife.wikia.com/wiki/Starling
(accessed 17 Dec. 2013)
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photo from: http://able2know.org/topic/144159-35
Inspiration and philosophy
Choosing the theme
The first semester project in the fall 2013 challenged us to create a sculpture/sculptural installation
that invites to communication and it had to be made out of used materials. When we were deciding on
our artwork, we got highly inspired by the beauty of the formations of the Sort Sol phenomenon,
formations that change almost rapidly but in a beautiful and harmonious flow. In admiration of the
instinctive orientation of the individual birds not only inside the flocks but also in space as well as the
non-hierarchical attitude of the birds, we came up with our concrete idea. We chose birds as our
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subject because the movement of the whole flock has scientific, especially mathematical background23
and could result into greater discoveries and inspirations (such as using the similar algorithms to
regulate the traffic in the city with the minimum delay) or creating connections between the basic
rules of physics and the intuitive understanding of them.
Flocking behaviour is described as a behaviour exhibited when a flock of birds, is foraging or in
flight. From a perspective of mathematical modeller, “flocking” is a collective motion exhibited by a
large number of individual entities and is a collective animal behaviour that appears also in other
animals. Parallels can be made with the shoaling behaviour of the fish, the swarming behaviour of
insects and herd behaviour in land animals. The birds appear to be very complex structured with high
level of group intelligence, although an individual bird seems not to have the same brainpower as
high-functioning predictive computers or humans and some other species. It is considered to be an
emergent behaviour where more complex patterns arise out of a multiplicity of relatively simple
interactions.4 It does not require any central coordination.
Our intention
By creating an installation that invites people to interact, a sculpture-form that can be transformed into
different kinds of shapes and flows, we wanted to observe if it is possible for people to follow one
another according to a common goal resembling the starlings' natural solidarity attitude. The interplay
between the creation of unexpected shaping forms and the idea of different species interacting with
2
2
Flocking (behaviour) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flocking_(behavior)
(accessed 17 Dec. 2013)
3
The Mathemathics of Emergence, Felipe Cucker, Department of Mathemathics, City University of Hog
Kong, October 17, 2006, http://ttic.uchicago.edu/~smale/papers/math-of-emergence.pdf
3
(accessed 17 Dec. 2013)
Emergence http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergence
4
(accessed 17 Dec. 2013)
4
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each other (humans-birds) would add to our curiosity of perception and probably to the visitor's
imagination and awareness.
In the beginning we intended to make a three-dimensional sculpture, hanging on strings from a surface
probably attached to the ceiling, resembling the formations of the flocks. We wanted it to be
constructed in a way that could be manipulated by 2-4 people who would interact and transform it into
different shapes in space. This interaction by pulling the strings and moving it in the air, would have
in our minds made the installation tremendously more expressive, including sound and light
movement.
Our initial intention was to use recycled-organic materials, programming or pre-recorded sound and
light. We wanted to take advantage of the more advanced methods provided during the 1st semester
period (kinetics, sensors, Arduino, LED's). Ideally the programming system would react to the
movement of the people, making changes in the light and sound when they enter the sculpture area or
when they start interacting, but if not applicable, we could easily switch to recorded sounds and
visuals. In order to cope with the kinetic-mechanical problem that arises we decided to work with
small models and experiment them while researching even more about the complicated flock
structures and their mechanisms.
Finally, in the course of the process and the months working with the project, our initial idea changed
quite many times and got a new and final form of which we will talk more precisely later on this
paper. The name and idea stayed the same. Our installation was to investigate the Sort Sol
phenomenon, to give our interpretation of it and to find out if people are capable of communicating
with each other, with our installation in a way that they could create a harmonious flow similar to the
Sort Sol phenomenon.
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Content of the following essay
In the coming chapters we will examine how our artwork follows the traditions of art and more
precisely the history of installation art. We want to examine is our artwork an installation art and how
it is one if it is. With the help of researchers such as Claire Bishop and Julie H. Reiss we will further
discuss the matters of what is art and art installation and how is the audience taken into the world of
art. Similarly we will with more detail examine the Sort Sol phenomenon. We will also demonstrate
the work process, the final results, introduce our inspirations and other artists that were an inspiration
to us and the chosen techniques and means on achieving our final piece.
photo by Dimitra Bavea
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2. Theoretical approach and analysis
2.1 Considering the subject of art
In this chapter we will attempt to approach the controversial issue about the meaning of art.What
purpose does it serve (if any) nowadays? Considering further the questions: what a piece of art is?
,what is its core matter?Why and how should we engage ourselves into the artistic creation ? we came
across with the words of the French philosopher Alain Badiou: ''...if we want peace-real peace-we
have to find the possibility that subjectivity is really in infinite creation, infinite development, and not
in the terrible choice between one form of the power of death (experimentation of the limits of
pleasure) and another form of the power of death (which is sacrifice for an idea, for an abstract idea).
That is I think, the contemporary responsibility of artistic creation'' 5. The statement by Badiou gave a
new direction to our concern and we started thinking about what a piece of art would mean or better
what it would challenge now in the contemporary world.
Badiou in his philosophical approach The subject of Art describes the contemporary world as a
constant war between enjoyment and sacrifice and art being engaged to this war as a subject. Both
enjoyment and sacrifice are paradigms that confront the power of death. Death ''..as experimentation
of the limits of the body on one side but experimentation of death as the means for a new life on the
other side''. But what exactly is the subject of art nowadays according to Badiou and how does this
connect to our personal inquiries when attempting to create a claimed to be 'piece of art'?
Badiou states that in order to talk about the subject of art we should start with the signification of the
being. There are three levels for it: something is, something exists and something happens (here and
now). Being is mostly about pure multiplicity whereas existence is the being in the world. However,
happening is an event not in the world but for this world. As he says it is ''like a cut in the continuum
5
Badiou, Alain. The subject of art , The symptom- Online journal for Lacan.com,
http://www.lacan.com/symptom6_articles/badiou.html
(accessed 10 Dec, 2013)
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of the world, something new''. He defines as 'subject' the relation between an event and the world.
What happens as a consequence of an event. A creation, a new process ''it's like a protest..'' And the
reality of the subject is the “new body”.
He also defines as “trace” what remains in the world when the event disappears ''It's a mark, a
symptom''. After those definitions he returns to the subject of art and poses the questions: what is a
world of art? What is an artistic event, a trace in art and finally what is the construction of the ‘new
art body’?
Two paradigms according to Badiou are now existing for the 'subject': one is the materialist-monist
philosophy where there is no real distinction between the subject and the body. Here is the
experimentation of the body for enjoyment(which is far from pleasure) the limit of which, is death.
The second paradigm is idealistic, theological and metaphysical. It separates the subject from the
body. It's the sacrifice of the body for an abstract idea. And then is the contemporary world, where
there is a constant war between enjoyment and sacrifice.
Badiou goes further to state that nowadays there is no real opening for a new artistic creation. We
have to find a third possibility a completely new paradigm far from reducibility to the body itself or
separability from it. And his proposition is ''immanent difference''. As he mentions ''something like an
independent subjective process'' where there is really a creation. For Badiou an artistic event is a
change in the formula of the world. A fundamental transformation. It's a ''new current in the chaotic
sensibility''. A 'new body' is a real concrete creation in relation with the trace of the event. A manifesto
of what was previously not a form, now is a form.He considers this new form, a new manner of
thinking of the infinite itself. And it is very crucial today that the political question is quite obscure.
Finally, he poses that the responsibility of the artistic creation is to help humanity to find through art
the new subjective paradigm.
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photo by Dimitra Bavea
Would we attempt to claim that a new paradigm seems to be on the process nowadays? Nothing is
certain. However, when observing that in the contemporary world, art and science are merging
together more than ever before there are definitely more possibilities for creating the path for it.
In our installation we looked for an integration between science and art from the very beginning.We
posed questions about how innovative we could be with our concept, how would we personally
manage to create a new path, something different from what has already been shown. We were not
only posing scientific questions about the sort sol phenomenon and how it is connected to human
collectivity but at the same time we were questioning ourselves what is it that gives this phenomenon
an artistic value to investigate .How would we be able to create a ‘new body’ as Badiou states.
All our initial concerns gave us food for thought during the whole artistic creation process and
definitely pushed our limits further to investigate even more.
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2.2 The origins of Installation art
In these following chapters we will examine what exactly is installation art, what makes art an
installation art, what the word installation art itself carries within, the history of the art form and the
relationship installation art has with its audience. In this way we are later able to examine how our
installation on the semester exhibition on December 2013 was part of this tradition and which
characteristics made our work to be an installation art.
As researcher Claire Bishop introduces, the word installation art saw its light in the 1960´s when art
magazines started to use the word installation in regards to the way an exhibition was arranged. Since
then the term installation art is traditionally known as “a term that loosely refers to the type of art into
which the viewer physically enters, and which is often described as 'theatrical', 'immersive' or
'experiential'”. But she also points out that the use of the term is, due to the growing freedom of
expression, furthermore developed into covering a wider spectrum of “any arrangement of objects in
any given space, to the point where it can happily be applied even to a conventional display of
paintings on a wall”.6
Similarly Julie H. Reiss writes in her book From Margin to Center: the Spaces of Installation Art that
the word installation started to establish its position in the course of 1970´s as picturing a work in
exhibition that is produced directly at the exhibition site and for a particular exhibition. She continues:
“Installation art can be abstract or pictorial, controlled or spontaneous. Separate objects can be
included, or no objects at all. There is always a reciprocal relationship of some kind between the
viewer and the work, the work and the space, and the space and the viewer“.7
Even though Bishop and Reiss have shown that the term installation art became in public use first
time in the course of the 1970´s, in trying to research the history of installation art is not that simple as
6
7
Bishop (2005): 6
Reiss (1999): xi-xiii
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the art form itself has existed in different kinds of shapes throughout the times: installation art has
gathered influences from diverse art forms such as cinema, theatre, performance art, architecture,
sculpture, curating, set design, land art and painting. That is why it is not easy to point out a singular
time in history when installation art particularly was born, rather its birth has been a graduate one.
Over the time artists drawn to express themselves through installation art have taken parts of other art
forms, mixed them and turned these into something a bit different for the spectators to experience.8
Bishop addresses that what makes an art piece especially installation art and not installation of
artwork is the fact that it, both the space it is in and the ensemble of elements in that space, is viewed
and experienced as a singular entity:
Installation art therefore differs from traditional media (sculpture, painting, photography, video) in that it
addresses the viewer directly as a literal presence in the space. Rather than imagining the viewer as a pair of
disembodied eyes that survey the work from a distance, installation art presupposes an embodied viewer whose
senses of touch, smell and sound are as heightened as their sense of vision. This insistence on the literal presence
of the viewer is arguably the key characteristic of installation art.9
Installation art is similarly for Reiss conducted in a particular space where the whole indoor space has
been taken into use by the artist in that particular moment. She argues that then the space also has to
be big enough for people to enter. In this way installation art is for her not so much art that is
displayed in a gallery which displays separate works than a space of its own dedicated to the
installation.10
Bishop adds that from 1960´s onwards these artworks that were exhibited on location in a specific
space, were often also demolished by the artists right after the exhibition. This way the art piece only
existed in this certain space a certain period of time and only for the spectators that were able to visit
8
9
Bishop (2005): 8
Bishop (2005): 6
10
Reiss (1999): xiii
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the location during the period of the exhibition - after that, there was no installation to be viewed.
Reiss shares Bishop´s view on that the integral part of the completion of the work is spectators´
participation on it:
Participation can mean offering the viewer specific activities. It can also mean demanding that the viewer walk
through the space and simply confront what is there. Objects may fall directly in the viewer’s path or become
evident only through exploration of a space. In each of these situations, the viewer is required to complete the
piece; the meaning evolves from the interaction between the two .11
photo by Dimitra Bavea
11
Reiss (1999): xiii, Bishop (2005): 10
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2.2.1 Spectatorship in installation art
In comparison to the two-dimensional arts such as traditional paintings, in which the spectators role is
merely to look at the piece, invites installation art the viewer to actively participate in the work
exhibited. Like Bishop reminds us in the case of an installation art the viewer must often walk into the
art piece or walk through and around it in order to fully experience it. In this way the viewer is at the
same time surrounded by other viewers and so also aware of their participation of the same piece
she/he is experiencing. This way installation art activates the viewer whereas traditional art pieces,
such as paintings, do not require such participation in order to be acknowledged.12
Researcher Alex Potts adds that viewing an art piece, whether a traditional two-dimensional painting
in a gallery or an installation in a more modernist interior, is both a private and a public affair. The
arena is still always public in both cases even though the viewer would only have one sided
communication and private relation to the piece of a more traditional kind as there are always also
other people present. In an exhibition the viewer is not alone with the art piece that she/he came to see
even if the attempt was to come alone to experience a private moment with the art piece exhibited.
Potts states similarly with Bishop and Reiss that since the modern times “...much of the more
ambitious work by later twentieth-century artists is such that it can only exist when it is staged
publicly and accommodated to public modes of viewing and consumption”. And he reminds that this
creates new kind of problems to the viewer and to the artists as well as in this kind of a public arena
the viewing experience can be somewhat discomfiting to the viewer.13
As a kind of a solution to this new problem where suddenly the viewer is also viewed by the other
viewers in the exhibition space, Potts concludes that the new forms of art, three-dimensional art pieces
ease the discomfort the viewer might feel. In these cases, where the viewer is publicly interacting with
the artwork, the comforting feeling arises from the art pieces itself since they can now change their
12
13
Bishop (2005): 11
Potts (2001): 21-22
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shape when touched or they can be displayed on a big screen and looked at like television and in this
way they themselves draw the attention away from the viewer who interacts with them. The main
focus still seems to be on the moving and changing pieces itself rather than too much on the viewer
and the anxiety the viewer on a public space could feel is eased.14
2.2.2 Sort Sol as an installation art
Our installation called Sort Sol - The Black Sun was our interpretation of the natural phenomenon of
starlings gathering to migrate to the skies of southern Jylland in Denmark. The installation was
conducted only for the particular space and for a particular time, for the semester exhibition on the 45th of December 2013 at Toldboden in Aalborg. In our work we used mixed-media, a sculpture part
and a projected video. After the exhibition the sculpture part of the work was demolished by us. The
only part that is left of the installation is the animated video that was shown as the background of the
sculpture. The work, Sort Sol, was not only to be admired from a distance but to be touched, moved
and experienced, to be used by the viewer. Our work invited the viewer to act in it and to walk
towards it, under it and around it just like Bishop and Reiss tell that an art installation does. The
strings that had handles, were hanged in the poles nearby so that the viewer soon realized that they are
to be touched and used. The artwork was not traditional two-dimensional art piece but a threedimensional and interactive piece of art that offered the viewer not only something to see and
consume but also the chance to touch it, hear it and play with it, be part of the whole exhibited piece
This interactive three-dimensional element is part of what made our work an installation.
In order for our sculpture to move like the original birds, spectators had to pull the strings and make
shapes with the sculpture. Therefore an active participation between not only the sculpture and an
individual, but several spectators, was essential. At the same time several spectators were able to
participate in our installation, either by moving it with the strings, going under it to experience the
14
Potts (2001): 22-23
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flow or seeing the work that others did from a distance. Similarly as Bishop and Reiss described, our
work insisted on the literal presence of the viewer or otherwise it would not have been complete.
Spectators had to walk to the space where the installation was and also walk towards it. Also walking
under it and experiencing the flow was possible. Without the experience of being present in the space
the installation was exhibited in, it is hard for an individual to understand the whole meaning of the
piece.
3. Starlings and the black sun phenomenon
3.1 A vision back in time
When Shakespeare was referring to the starlings' mimicking ability while writing Henry IV.Part1
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he wouldn't have imagined that on the late 19th century, a group called the American
Acclimatization Society was working on their pre-environmental-impact-statement project to
introduce to the U.S. every bird mentioned in his scripts. A Bronx resident, drug manufacturer
Eugene seems to be particularly responsible
for the starlings’ arrival in north U.S. The Acclimatization Society released some hundred starlings in
New York City’s Central Park in 1890 and 1891. By 1950 starlings could be found coast to coast,
north past Hudson Bay and south into Mexico. Their North American numbers today top 200 million.
Many Americans now consider them to be pests that serve little purpose other than to dirty car
windshields and destroy crops. They end up killing more than a million birds every year. The birdwatcher Jeffrey Rosen commented on this in his 2007 New York Times article: “It isn’t their fault that
15
Mirsky, Steve Shakespeare to Blame for Introduction of European Starlings to U.S. ,May 23,
2008,Scientific American, http://www.scientificamerican.com
(accessed 2 Dec.2013)
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they treated an open continent much as we ourselves did''.16 Similarly Jonathan Rosen makes his
remark on his book The life of the skies: “Birding is a kind of weaponless hunting, an attack by wellmeaning mimes, and as such”, says Rosen, “it highlights our Jekyll and Hyde attitude. It mediates
between the urge to kill and the urge to preserve; between an America of unbounded abundance and a
country of shrinking resources.”17
However in Europe, where starlings are a native breed, they still manage to attract attention because of
their incredible murmurations, those poetic aerial displays of the flocks merging together and moving
massively and almost fluidly
18
Mozart used to have a pet starling that would sing part of his concerto
in G major but he may have quite probably also put some of their voices into his compositions as well.
In his work Murmur the famous photographer Richard Barnes displays this double relationship
between humans and birds. The question arises: coexistence of urbanism and the wilderness, how to
make the multiple aspects of our nature mesh without a disaster 19 Who is finally imitating whom?
For scientists it is really interesting not only to search about how individual birds manage to
communicate with the flock but also to take out more information on human behaviour. The
STARFLAG is a project between 5 countries “which implements the transfer of models and of
16
Rosen, Jonathan ) Flight patterns , April 22, 2007 New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/22/magazine/22birds.t.html?_r=1&
(accessed 2 Dec.2013)
17
Sullivan, Robert Birder of Paradise March 9, 2008 New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/09/books/review/Sullivan-t.html
(accessed 2 Dec.2013)
17
18
video : Starlings on Otmoor .http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XH-groCeKbE
(accessed 2 Dec, 2013)
19
19
Richard Barnes photography
http://www.richardbarnes.net/murmur/1vqkvwimytjruodyb3oxobabyred5l
(accessed 2 Dec, 2013)
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statistical mechanics tools to the study of three-dimensional animal movements and eventually to the
modelling techniques of economics. It will play an important role in coordinating and consolidating
the community of people working on modelling animal movements and to construct a bridge among
people working in this discipline and economists interested in collective effects in the social
domain”.20.
The Black Sun phenomenon can easily be described as a symphony in motion, beginning slowly with
smaller flocks, then growing into a crescendo of larger groups, before slowing down then swelling up
again spontaneously virtually blocking out the sun. The collective rustle of millions of wings
resembles the sound of a gushing waterfall 21.The scene becomes even more spectacular when birds of
prey are drawn to the marsh, eager to hunt the starlings. Their arrival causes the starlings to fly in
ever-changing wavelike formations in the sky virtually blocking out the sun 22
20
Eu FP6 Project Starling in flight: STARFLAG -Understanding patterns of animal
http://angel.elte.hu/starling/ (accessed 2 Dec, 2013)
21
British library -early wildlife recordings
21
http://sounds.bl.uk/Environment/Early-wildlife-recordings/022M-1SS0001930XX-AAACV0
21
Borror Laboratory of bioacoustics http://blb.biosci.ohio-state.edu/LongData.asp?RecordingID=3
(accessed 2 Dec, 2013)
22
Flocking advantage, Autumnwatch 2010 episode 7 , BBC http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00c8m12
(accessed 2 Dec, 2013)
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Photo from neatorama.com, http://www.neatorama.com/2006/06/23/black-sun-millions-of-birds-block-out-the-sun/#!qZA8P
3.2 Recent research
The question still remains: how do those masses manage to move synchronously, swiftly and so
gracefully?
According to Andrea Cavagna and his colleagues' research in 2010 at the National Council of
Research and the University of Rome, the starling flocks (sp. Sturnus vulgaris) model a complex
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physical phenomenon seldom observed in physical and biological systems, known as scale-free
correlation: “The only way to transfer directly useful information in a permanent way to all
individuals in the flock, with no need of a complex neural process of encoding/decoding, is indeed to
have scale-free correlation of the entire dynamical states of the birds”. 23
The movement of the flock is actually governed collectively by all of the flock members. But the
extraordinary thing about starling flocks is their fluidity of motion. The group seems to respond as a
one unity and can't be separated into subparts. When one starling changes direction or speed, each of
the other birds in the flock responds to the change, and they do it simultaneously regardless of the size
of the flock. Information moves across the flock very quickly and with nearly no degradation. The
researchers describe it as a high signal-to-noise ratio. As they mention “Scale-free correlations provide
each animal with an effective perception range much larger than the direct interindividual interaction
range, thus enhancing global response to perturbations. Our results suggest that flocks behave as
critical systems, poised to respond maximally to environmental perturbations” 24
Another most recent study on the starling flocks appeared in the journal PLOS Computational
Biology. George Young with his colleagues at Princeton did their own analysis of the murmuration
images to see how the birds connect to their flock mates. The researchers determined that the starlings
in large flocks consistently adjust their movements to the position of their seven nearest neighbors.
Also, the shape of the flock, rather than the size, has the largest effect on this number. Seven
individuals seem optimal for the tightly connected flocks of which the starlings are known for.
Through this survey the researchers developed “interaction strategies that yield networks that optimize
23
Supporting Information
Cavagna et al. 10.1073/pnas.1005766107
23
http://www.pnas.org/content/suppl/2010/06/12/1005766107.DCSupplemental/pnas.201005766SI.pdf
23
(accessed 2 Dec, 2013)
24
24
Cavagna, Andrea Scale-free correlations in starling flocks
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2010/06/11/1005766107.abstract
(accessed Dec 2, 2013)
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robustness and can be useful both for better understanding observed group behavior and, when control
is available, for designing high performing groups”.25
Regardless of all the surveys that have been done so far, there has not yet been found any sufficient
explanations on how the starlings are capable of such extraordinary collective responses. The
researchers admit that the mechanism according to which starlings achieve such a strong correlation
remains a mystery. However, it still intrigues and boosts the survey limits further. For example
recently such an research occurred when Palacci and NYU physicist Paul Chaikin with a group of
researchers worked in developing particles, forming “living crystals” due to “interest in selforganizing collective behaviors, which are easier to study in controlled particle form than in schooling
fish or flocking bird”, as Palacci mentions at Wire magazine. He goes further: “Here we show that
with a simple, synthetic active system, we can reproduce some features of living systems… I do not
think this makes our systems alive, but it stresses the fact that the limit between the two is somewhat
arbitrary.”26
Finally, when it comes to the mystery of nature where innumerous mechanisms are not defined and
maybe will never be within the limits of our human perception, it still keeps us fascinated by its
absurdity. As Grainger Hunt, a senior scientist at the Peregrine Fund, vividly describes in his work
Darwinian Dance simply watching such phenomena can be mind blowing:
25 PLOS Computational Biology
Jan 31, 2013 Abstract :
Starling Flock Networks Manage Uncertainty in Consensus at Low Cost
http://www.ploscompbiol.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pcbi.1002894#s4
(accessed Dec 2, 2013)
26
Keim, Brandon It’s (Almost) Alive! Scientists Create a Near-Living Crystal Jan 31, 2013
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/01/living-crystal/
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Driving along the weedy edge of a dairy meadow on a clear winter afternoon, we notice a cloud of quick gray
motion, a presence in the forefront, then rapid withdrawal. A dazzling cloud, swirling, pulsating, drawing together
to the thinnest of waists, then wildly twisting in pulses of enlargement and diminution, a fluid choreography of
funnels, ribbons, and hourglasses, spills and mixing, ever in motion. Dense in one moment, diffuse in the next.
How beautiful! How unlikely!27.
4. The process
4.1 The first approaches towards Sort Sol
After the brainstorming about the general topic of our installation, we came up with an idea to
generate several small models, testing them in cycles, make improvements and then choose the best
solution. To achieve that, we had meetings to come up with many possible solutions for our problem
that was a model which could represent the birds flock in a most appropriate manner.
At first we thought of creating an interactive animation that could be projected on the wall, ceiling and
floor of a dark room. This could have created immersive atmosphere where observers can see the
flock of birds forming various shapes and alter their movement by moving hands or bodies in general.
While the interface was intended to be digital, the smooth flow of birds, atmospheric sounds, soft
fabric and grainy texture was supposed to keep it looking warm and natural.
We developed this idea further to prevent it looking two-dimensional. There was an option to insert a
third dimension through an interface that could provide visitors to interact with the installation also by
27 Grainger, Hunt
27
A Darwinian Dance The Cornell lab of Ornithology
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/Page.aspx?pid=2588#top
(accessed Dec 2, 2013)
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pushing in the canvas, making it to resemble the natural world. We intended to achieve the result by
projection mapping from the viewer’s side of the canvas and sensors that could detect bumps on the
other side of the fabric. This could lead the visitor to enter inside the bird flock and fly among the
birds, while still shaping the flock with hand and body movements in the air.
Observers could also interact with each other or by using objects such as sticks because the shaping of
the flocks would react to any kind of a movement, regardless of the amount of people interacting with
it or extensions. We planned to make the animation more reactive if several people used it, and less if
there was only one person interacting with it. In order to achieve this we intended to link the amount
and the area of the detected movement to the interactivity of the animation rather than counting
people. The latter would have been too complicated or impossible as there are no sensors that could do
it automatically and it had to be programmed which in turn would require skills above our reach.
Instead we planned that if there is movement in the wider area than the reach of one person’s arms or
more than two limbs changing actively positions, the animation would act as two people interacted,
otherwise it would interact as intended for one person. Lights and sounds were meant to become
active only after the person entered our exhibition area.
Conceptual meaning of this was related to the observer and the observed object. When the flock of
birds was not observed they would be in the dark to represent the nature that exists in reality but not in
our minds when we are not paying attention to it. A person becomes an active participant in nature
only if she or he is making an effort to visit the forest, nature park, seaside or any other area that could
be far from their home, or pays attention on the rare animals, birds and plants in the city. When people
are doing their everyday activities they are usually not noticing what is happening around them if it is
not useful or necessary. People act this way especially with birds, animals, plants, the other species
that we take for granted.
Unfortunately we did not have any programming courses during our first semester and had to
reconsider if the chosen solution was the best idea. We wanted the flock to be scientifically accurate
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or at least resemble an actual flock of birds. The simulation was supposed to mimic the group
hierarchy or in case of the current installation, the lack of it, rather than just having an entertaining but
rather random interactive projection. The trajectories of each bird were supposed to have scientific
meaning. It was important to notice the distances between the birds in the middle and on the edge
areas, reaction speed of the first and the following birds when one of them chooses to change the
direction.
Our concept this far meant building a program from scratch, not using the code snippets that already
existed for instance, in open source plugins, web applications or games. The latter were only to give
an impression of manipulated particles that had mostly the entertainment value, were not based on
science and acted in a random manner. We did not have enough programming or mathematical skills
because the first semester did not include any programming courses. Even if it had done that, it would
have been difficult to achieve scientifically based flock effect as most art installations do not claim to
be mathematically accurate. We did not have anything to support or use as our basis. After a long
research both on websites and scientific databases, we had to conclude that there was no other
installation to use as a prototype or an example and we had to abandon the idea of using complex
programming.
4.2 From digital to mechanical
Instead of continuing with the previous idea we tried to make the task less complex by transferring it
into three-dimensional space, abandon the digital concept and making the installation mechanical. The
first idea was to have lots of tiny balls representing the birds that would be able to move in all three
directions. However, we soon discovered it required even more complex programming as they would
move automatically as a sensor-based interactive reaction according to the visitors’ movements. We
found a similar installation made for the BMW museum in Munich. During the consultation we were
told that this particular installation needed the advanced team of interaction designers to make it work
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properly, including technicians and engineers. The installation consisted of 714 metal spheres that
were suspended from the ceiling, using thin steel wires and animated by mechanics and electronics.1
The next idea was to build a manual model where people could push and pull individual birds. We had
found a game from a store that could be used as an example. It consisted of a large amount of pins and
balls which created a shape on the bottom of the structure. When an object, for instance a hand, was
placed on the top or individual pins were pushed, the balls moving downwards created the figure of a
hand at the bottom. However, we had to abandon the idea because it went too far from the concept of
birds in movement as it was too static and fixed in the dimensions of the space and time.
After a while we made research on kinetic sculptures which we could use as a basis of our model. We
found several models that were using wind or long-lasting balanced movements to create new shapes,
structures, reflecting sunlight, even sounds. The one reminding the bird flock the most was Reuben
Margolin’s sine wave structure. The installation consisted of blocks that moved in a wave-like manner
when the wheel next to the sculpture was scrolled. This was the basic mathematical rule that describes
creating the sine wave by rolling a circle. 2
The sine represents a trigonometric function of an angle which is commonly defined as a ratio of
hypotenuse and the side opposite of a measured angle. It can also be defined as lengths of various line
segments from a unit circle, a circle with a radius of one in Cartesian coordinate system. Reuben
Margolin’s kinetic sculptures use the latter definition. They work by pulling up the base points in the
two-dimensional row or the three-dimensional lattice because there is a distance in a scrollable wheel
between the closest and the furthest point. Base points are connected to the wheel by strings and are
heavy enough to fall back to the original position. Then the particular string reaches again to the
closest position. The use of the sine function lets Margolin to create the smoothest transitions possible
because the trajectory of each element on the wave is based on circular movement. The movement
used in Margolin’s kinetic sculptures can also be found in nature, describing the more complex and
concurrent movements, where one force of physics affects other. Ideally, we could see the similar
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movement in water, if there is no wind, plants, animals, landscape or gravity influencing the motion,
making it less predictable and even more complicated. For instance, Margolin’s installations were
inspired by him seeing the caterpillars undulating its way on the desert sands. He wanted to create a
mechanical sculpture that could mimic this behaviour. Margolin was also amazed by the simple
mechanics of bicycles.
Reuben Margolin’s most famous examples of kinetic installations are:
● The spiral wave, that reminds the water vortex 3
● The nebula which contained over 445 stainless steel cables and 15000 reflectors. It reminds
stars moving in slow motion across wave trajectories with different speeds and wave
lengths, at the same time being connected to each other as a net. It is one of the most
ambitious kinetic sculptures in the world, not only the biggest but also the most complex.
Building it required almost impossible engineering skills.4
● Another sculpture by Margolin is called Round Wave which resembles a drop of water
entering the surface of the liquid and acting as ripples, or previously mentioned caterpillar.
It consists of 9 circles inside of each other that are moving up and down. 5
● Copper square Wave resembles the 3D water wave where all the points of action are
connected as a net.6
● Probably the most known of all Margolin’s waves is the Yellow Wiggle which consists of
two two-dimensional waves placed on top of each other. They are connected with
aluminum rods. It adds a three-peaked sine wave to a four-peaked sine wave. He used this
wave sculpture to demonstrate the mathematical movement in TED conference.7
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● Table Top Wave is a simple sine wave that used wooden pegs which looked similar to
bones or other organic building blocks. These pegs were connected on the one end to the
backbone of the sculpture and on the other end to the wave, using strings.8
1. Kinetic sculpture BMW http://www.joachimsauter.com/en/work/bmwkinetic.html
(accessed 17 Dec. 2013)
2. Sine wave http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sine
(accessed 17 Dec. 2013)
3. Reuben Margolin http://www.reubenmargolin.com/waves/spiral/
(accessed 17 Dec. 2013)
4. Kinetic sculptures exhibition http://www.wired.com/underwire/2010/10/video-sneak-peek-insanekinetic-sculpture-tests-limits-of-math-art-man/
(accessed 17 Dec. 2013)
5. Round wave http://www.reubenmargolin.com/waves/Round/
(accessed 17 Dec. 2013)
6. Copper wave http://www.reubenmargolin.com/waves/Copper/
(accessed 17 Dec. 2013)
7. Yellow wiggle wave http://www.reubenmargolin.com/waves/YellowWiggle/
(accessed 17 Dec. 2013)
8. Tabletop wave http://www.reubenmargolin.com/waves/TableTop/
(accessed 17 Dec. 2013)
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4.3 Kinetics and science:
There was relatively little information on the science of kinetic sculptures as an art form, although it is
possible to find resources of them separately - on the kinetics as science or the kinetic sculptures as an
art form. We watched many videos to figure out how the forces in the sculptures are interacting.28 29
Kinetic art itself is relatively new, it was mostly practiced in the 50s and 60s, when it was considered
to be one sub-branch of Op art. The phrase „op art“ referred to the optical illusions and all optically
simulated art that was on canvas or stationary.30 However, this contradicts with the most widely used
meaning of contemporary kinetic art, which includes mostly moving sculptures.
One of the most known kinetic sculptor is Theo Jansen, a Dutch artist who created Strandbeest. It is a
wind-powered walking example of the artificial life http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theo_Jansen, a
fascinating combination of analog and digital. Made of analog elements, its working mechanism
includes also some basics of binary system, like a computer. The sculpture, a walking beach monster,
detects if the water is in the tube and can therefore change the direction when it walks into the water.
Later we also had lots of help from Dario’s lectures on how to calculate or just visually estimate the
applying forces.
Kinetics:
Ripple effect. At one point we tried to mimic the effect that is commonly seen in the case when a
force disrupts the surface of a liquid, for instance wind on water or a person throwing a rock into the
pond.
28
http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/multimedia/video/x1275653259/VIDEO-Kineticexhibit-at-MIT
29
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/03/top-5-amazing-k/
30
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinetic_art
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The phenomenon usually described by media and literature as ripple effect 31 is commonly seen on the
fluid interfaces and we were wondering if it could be simulated also with solid structures or even
programmed kinetic sculptures, in which the heavier building blocks are alternating with the lighter
ones. In science, the ripple effect is observed, when a capillary wave is travelling along the phase
boundary of a fluid.32 Although this seems to be only fluid-related phenomenon, we wondered if it
was possible to construct a sculpture that would mimic the behaviour, choosing the right structure and
angles between the elements.
Sensors and interactivity:
To achieve lighting up, we came up with several ideas of creating sensors. We hadn’t had any lessons
on actuators and sensors at that point of time and had to ask Jesper and Rasmus for personal advice.
After told about the advantages and disadvantages of the different sensors, we chose the pressure
sensor which was the cheapest and the most reliable as we couldn’t keep track on the number of
people. We built a small example of the pressure sensor from the tinfoil and cardboard. It was
supposed to trigger the lights and possibly even the automated movements in the sculpture when
stepping on it. We intended to build a platform on the doorway that turned the lights and sound on, but
because it was impossible to count how many people came in or went out, we decided to build a
platform around the sculpture.
The small mock-up worked well and triggered the light when we tested it with Arduino. It was also
cheap to build, compared to bought sensors.
Motors:
We tried to automate our sculpture and for that intent we borrowed 4 servo motors from Jesper’s lab.
As we hadn’t learned programming at school, especially integrating it to the physical objects, we had
31
32
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ripple_effect
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capillary_wave
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some trouble to get all the 4 motors to work at the same time, but finally we succeeded. Nevertheless,
we had to give up using the motors, as they were not powerful enough to move the whole sculpture
and required hacking to work without limitations. 33With factory settings, servo motors were working
within the angles of 180 and 160 degrees. We found tutorials to remove the limit, but it meant taking
the motors apart and therefore making it impossible to return them as a loan from the university.
4.4 Description of models:
After quitting the idea of projecting an image on the wall and researching about the kinetic sculptures,
we decided to have new thoughts of having ideas and making the models. We were drawing and
writing down some ideas and chose some of them to make into models.
Drawn ideas included:
● the previously mentioned sculpture that has individual birds which could be pulled up or
pushed town;
● the cloth hanging from the two crossed wooden sticks that could help the stucture to be
moved like a puppet;
● wooden blocks attached to each other so they formed a surface which could move
according to the mechanical or physical manipulation by the visitors. This structure would
have a difference of applied forces between the wooden blocks and strings in between of
them, coming from weight and rigidity. Wooden blocks would be so heavy that they carry
the force to the next block abruptly and unhindered. The strings attaching them together
don’t have so much impact on motion, they were supposed to be there only to connect the
blocks. Also the spectator could see the blocks while strings are less visible, which makes
the motion more detectable.
33
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-modify-a-servo-motor-for-continuous-rotatio/
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● We believed that such structure could help to create the ripple effect which is commonly
happening in the water, but not discernible even in very light fabric. We intended to let
different visitors to play with a solid surface like in water, creating ripples which would
integrate with each other. The effect would be similar to situation when several people are
dropping stones into water and can see how the ripples are integrating.
However, we had to abandon this idea. It required lots of work and we couldn’t estimate
how well it functions, because there was not enough evidence that could support our
hypothesis about mimicking the ripple effect in solid materials. We also didn’t have too
much time to spend one idea.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ripple_-_in_rail.jpg (Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic
license)
● a wave that could be scrolled by the visitors, either manually or automatically by stepping
on the platform. For this reason, we were also looking for sensors, learning a little bit of
programming and Arduino, besides of learning about kinetics.
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● several waves that could be placed behind each other and create psychedelic or illusional
effect where after changing the speed of the waves the viewer sees that the wave is
changing direction, seemingly going backwards when it was seen flowing the other way in
the beginning. We wanted to achieve the illusion which could be similar to the Wagonwheel effect. The latter is an optical illusion where a spoked wheel appears to rotate
differently from its true rotation. In everyday world, we can see it watching the car wheels
that seem to rotate in the opposite direction for a moment, but the effect commonly known
also in wagon wheels in the Western movies or recordings of aircraft propellers.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wagon-wheel_effect)
●
a grid structure that could be moved by the wave or the individual strings.
From this moment, we decided to go through rapid prototyping cycles, while being not getting stuck
on one idea, but being flexible and adding on to previous concepts, diverting from them or coming up
with a completely new and fresh idea. We decided to create the models for the basic functions and
then repair, integrate these or add extra features. Because the budget was low and we had to pay for
the materials ourselves, we had a limited option to choose between the models we concluded to build.
We chose to create the single wave, puppet and a grid structure to test out how they function in
practice.
The single wave was a representation of a small wave structure, similar to Margolin’s sine wave. We
used a tape as a wheel, strings, a piece of a flexible, netty structure as a wave, straws as pipes for the
string and a plastic box as a base for the wave. We bought these materials from the local shop,
because it was impossible to find recycled materials at this point and in so small scale.
Unfortunately the wheel was too small to see the distinctive difference and we concluded that we have
to make the bigger model. We were also thinking how to integrate several visual styles, whether the
wave should be constructed of wooden pieces, soft felt-like fabric, clay or glass pieces. There was also
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a possibility to either integrate it into a bigger cloth or make it as a prolonged, almost two-dimensional
object.
After that we decided to integrate the wave into a one side of a bigger square-shaped fabric to see how
the further areas react to the force of the wave. We used napkin as fabric, strings, straws and a carton
box as the base for the sculpture. Although it was larger than the previous sculpture, the wave was still
too small to see it influence rest of the fabric. Also, we decided to use very fluid fabric in our next
sculptures, as the paper contains rigid wooden pieces.
Secondly we made a puppet structure which consisted of sculpture hanged from the two crossed
wooden pieces.
Another sculpture we made was a grid that consisted of straws, balls between them, strings, metal grid
and the carton box as a base. This time the individual strings could be pulled, as there was no wave
interaction, although the idea of it was not eliminated. The grid functioned unexpectedly well, giving
very delicate and visually kinetic impression. At this point, we could imagine of creating the sculpture
only with strings, leaving out the wheel.
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4.5 Final choice and sculptures
After finishing these models we chose to continue with the wave on the one side of fabric, but this
time in a very fluid one, instead of paper that is rigid. In the other parts of the canvas we decided to
put individual strings to let people interact with each other pulling them. The model worked well, but
individual strings and the wave didn’t fit together which meant we had to choose which way to
continue.
We got many ideas on how to proceed from there and unfortunately we had to choose only one.
Luckily we got flexible plexiglass pieces and got inspired by them, especially the sound and the idea
of minimalism. Half of us were building the sculpture and another half was making the animation.
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photo by Dimitra Bavea
5. The final results
5.1 Overall estimation of the model testing cycle
The long lasting test period would have not served its purpose if we were not able to evaluate the final
outcome of it, especially the malfunctions that we came up with during the modeling process. It would
be vital at this point to be able to distinguish between the best solutions to the raised problems in
terms of the aesthetics, the technology implemented and especially on how people would be integrated
in to what we create and claim it as a piece of art. The final structure should be simple but not
simplistic, affordable using recycling materials as much as possible, fully functional and should fulfill
our original concept of communication. By simple and not simplistic we mean the most effective
according to affordances, getting rid of any exaggeration and what does not serve its purpose but not
being simplistic in the way that it minimizes the quality because of lacking elements or the inability
to make an efficient application of the actual structure to the philosophy.
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According to John Maeda, professor in MIT's Media Lab “(...)there is a question of how we can
redefine the notion of "improved" so that it doesn't always mean something more, something added
on”. 34
Taking these factors into account, the first model with the grid structure seemed to be inappropriate to
be considered as the final sculpture. The grid structure, based on Reuben Margolin's Magic Wave
would give the smooth floating effect we were looking for only with the use of motors or when a lot
of people were present to manipulate it but would not manage to give a dramatic movement of the
structure as a whole, resembling the flocks' rapid formations in the sky as we intended. However, this
model gave us the opportunity to go further and to imagine integrating a cloth above it or maybe
sewing a grid structure underneath a piece of cloth when people could manipulate the cloth finally
according to the hidden structure. We also came up with ideas of connecting the strings between each
other so that they would be manipulated by two to four performers.
The second model of the wave connected to the wheel, again inspired by Reuben Margolin's
basic wave structure, alone would not apply for the final structure.
The wheel would be manipulated by only one person and the interaction between people would not be
possible in this way. However, experimenting with the wave structure and learning more about basic
kinetic sculpture mechanisms established our idea of using this technique in order to achieve our goal.
The last model, a combination of the previous two, a wave attached to the side of a cloth and
connected to a wheel and more individual strings which were supposed to be moved by the people,
technically and aesthetically did not seem to function. Individual strings created peaks to the cloth
when pulled and this did not fit to the curvy impression we would like to create, regarding also the
curvy-shaped formations of the birds. Additionally, the flow of the wave and the ripple effect it
created, did not seem to integrate well with the movement of the cloth with the separate strings.
34
Maeda, John The laws of simplicity, The MIT press http://mitpress.mit.edu/books/laws-simplicity
(accessed Dec 19, 2013)
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The attempt of a fourth model, by using many servo motors (180, 160) with attached flexible pieces
on them that would give motion to the strings, or the cloth itself, was abandoned because of the
heaviness of the structure and the fragility of the motors. Secondly, interaction would not have been
included, something that would not serve the purpose of communication the we thought about it.
Along with all the construction experimentation, through the test cycle we considered implementing
sensors that would activate lights or visuals and even sound. However, there was always a question
whether additional technology would really add to the final installation, if there was a real reason for
it, or it would even maybe distract the spectators- performers of the art piece.
The above analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of the models, the experience gained through
the work with different material qualities and various kinetic mechanisms, dissatisfaction from
complexity and inefficiency in various forms was the way to proceed and investigate more about the
possible final project.
photo by Dimitra Bavea
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5.2 Final system - reasons for choosing
The above process put us in the path of searching for new materials and a simpler method according to
which we would create finally the enlarged structure. The mobility of the sculpture was already
decided but it was not until we found some flexible plexiglas pieces at the scrap yard that it was
decided that the sculpture should be made out of these because they seemed to fit perfectly with our
kinetic concept. Those really thin pieces, big enough to support easily the 3.50 m x 2.45 m of cloth,
were able to move like elastic platforms, resembling the movement of bird wings. At the same time
they produced a natural sound while the air was trapped underneath when they moved. This solved the
problem of adding any recorded soundscape to the installation immediately.
The final project would be at the same time a kinetic and a sound sculpture. The pieces of plexiglas
should be enough to support and should not be so many so that a significant percentage of the cloth
would be loose at the four ends, in order to have many degrees of freedom. In this way it would give a
floaty impression and would create interesting effects.The flocks of birds in the same way seem to be
quite massive in the middle to maintain a core and much more flexible in the periphery which always
adapts to the main movement.
The cloth material was also decided from the beginning. The first quality we searched for and found
was a semi-transparent, white and quite heavy to be stable above the plexiglas, but not too heavy so
that it would not be so easy to move and able to create the ripple effect when manipulated. The
strings, long enough would support the sculpture somewhere in the eye level and slightly above, but
the sculpture should have the means to be able to be moved higher and lower than this.
It would add to the dynamic of it if we managed somehow to let the performers check their energy
potential by letting it free throughout the maximum distance possible, that is from the floor to the
ceiling.
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That was one of the main reasons why the final project should not have been connected to a wheel as
that would have confined it to a certain level, minimizing a lot of its potential. This decision was
critical and maybe the latest that we took about the installation.
After making the above decisions the system we chose turned to be, almost naturally, much more
minimalistic. For this reason, the implemented lights or visuals projected on the moving sculpture
should also fit in the same way so that the performers would be able to focus on what they create
themselves, the formations they would give to the kinetic sculpture but at the same time get a hint
about what the project is about. It should also fulfill creating a quite mysterious atmosphere, a little bit
unexpected without being overwhelming. This was solved by putting the projection on the upper half
of the installation. An animation video of black and white drawn birds, edited in a way that would
seem almost like abstract lines, moving from left to right in a flow that is somehow rhythmic but in a
slow smooth pace. That was our final decision for the project.
The experimentation with the projection gave us the opportunity to discover that by letting half of the
background wall free, light reflections from the plexiglas were created underneath when people
moved the sculpture high enough in order to see the images on the cloth. Vice versa when the
performers kept the sculpture lower than the eye level they could easily follow the video projection on
the wall above the sculpture while plain light was projected on it from the same projector as a light
source.
5.3 The projected image
We finally agreed that there should be a background video projected behind the sculpture in order to
give the audience a hint that it is a flock of birds we want to depict with our sculpture and to create a
certain kind of a smooth and harmonious atmosphere. We agreed after numerous discussions between
us and teachers and supervisors that the video should give hints of birds, so that it should contain
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pictures of birds in order for the audience to see the resemblance between the phenomenon and the
sculpture.
First the idea was to film flock of birds flying in the sky, even making a trip to Jylland to film the
original Sort Sol phenomenon and edit that video into something smooth and peaceful. But
unfortunately we did not have enough assets to make the trip. The final decision was to film the sky
and then make a stop motion animation of birds flying across the sky. This attempt was a challenge as
none of us had done stop motion animation video before so the technique had to be learned by
ourselves and with the help of tutorials found on the internet.
We managed to find a trial version of an editing program called Sony Vegas Movie Studio HD 11.0
that had all the right features for the editing and final result that we needed. We draw the birds on
paper with black markers, pencils and charcoal, cut them, moved them little by little to shoot them in
stop motion, then added them in the editing program to the background sky and started the editing
process. First we only had separate versions of birds flying in the changing atmosphere of the sky as
they traveled day and night towards their destination. But our supervisor Betty Li Meldgaard gave an
excellent idea of editing it yet a bit more and making the birds seem more abstract. This way we
edited the video once more and came to the final and satisfactory solution of the more mystical video
of the migrating group of birds in which every now and then the viewer is able to see a whole bird
flying in order for him/her to make the resemblance to the sculpture.
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Photo by Dimitra Bavea
The video is 15 minutes 55 seconds long and we showed it on loop with a projector so that there were
no pauses in between in case one wanted to watch the whole travel of the birds from start until the
end. We agreed to place the video on the back wall on top of the sculpture as this way the sculpture
touched it every now and then if someone was moving it and it reflected an interesting image to the
sculpture itself and so reminded the viewer of the nature of the piece. In this way the viewer
him/herself could determine how they wanted the installation to look like and the sculpture and video
to interact. It was the viewers´ interaction that determined the way the installation at each time looked
like: the shape and the movement of the sculpture as well as the interaction between the video and the
sculpture, if they should touch each other or not.
The video did in the end compliment the sculpture itself and became an essential part of the
installation like we were also able to witness at the exhibition. In the exhibition there was for example
an older gentleman who was watching our installation as some others were playing with it and he said
at one point, when the video was in a part where a whole bird was shown, that “ah, now I see, it is
birds!”.
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Maybe the video also helped the audience to interact with the sculpture and so also helped the
individual viewer to overcome their possible fear or shyness as in the exhibition space they were
surrounded by other viewers at the same time and so the viewing experience was public. When we
examine this interaction according to Alex Potts arguments, due to the video the attention was not
only on the viewer who pulled the strings and moved the sculpture but also on the video that was
shown on a big screen on the background. It can be argued that this atmosphere somehow made the
interaction easier even when there were other viewers around as it felt as if the eyes were not only on
one individual but on the moving image and the moving sculpture as such, on that what was created
by the viewers pulling the strings.
6. Problem based learning
As we entered the university, we had very different ideas how to work in a group. In Art and
Technology study we come from very different places and backgrounds, it is therefore very difficult to
maintain balance in a group, as people have different views and experiences in life and different
cultural backgrounds. Therefore we have the course on Problem Based Learning. This is a course
where where we students could come and learn how to interact with other pupils and create and
maintain balance in groups. First the lectures were to help us work together on P0 Parking Day
project. That gave us a start and an idea how to work together in the project 1, which was the main
focus. Now we were to use the given knowledge so we were to work together, and create the balance
that was needed to receive a splendid result on exam.
On the 18 September we had a lecture called Problem based learning that taught us the basics which
we used in our process of project 1.
First we needed to organize. We had to make sure all that we needed to do were done in time without
too much stress and panic. We had to divide the parts of the structure of the report in parts for every
group member, so nobody had too much work or too little. In that way we would avoid any stress or
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panic. The terms for the paper was that every group member was demanded, that the part of their
report should be the between 6 – 10 pages long. Of course there is always somebody who would write
6 pages and somebody whole 10 pages. By dividing we made sure that is was not big differences
people were to write.
Afterwards it was very important that there were agreement in what to include in the report, so that
each group member did not mix anything up. That would also include sorting the quotations and used
knowledge from other classed and literature, so nothing was repeated unless that is was useful.
Everybody came to terms with the content. Most important everybody had to be on the same view.
Every argument had to be supported throughout the report. The same methods were to be used and
repeated in the whole report, as it was about the same focus, which is Black Sun at therefore only one
approach is possible. In the lecture we learned how to write project reports.
Most of our knowledge how to write a report, we learned from the course Problem Based Learning
and previous studies. It can be very difficult how to work together and agree, when you are 4 to 6
people in a group working the same focus. Every individual has their own views even if is the same
general opinion as the other it can still be very different, as people are different from each other,
therefore it is important to go through some guidelines.
To create a well functioning group, you can start by writing a contract. This contract would help the
group members maintain the focus. A well functioned group is a group where all members are
satisfied and pleased by the process, not only by the result, because the project is also a lot the process
not only the result. That can be explain by picturing that the final result is and reflection of the
process; if a stressed group is having a unbalanced dreadful drag of a process, then typically the result
would be just as dreadful as the process. In a peaceful group they often have a balanced and peaceful
process; the group has the time and energy to gain a beautiful result, in this case a beautiful sculpture.
According to experiences the definition of a well function group is a shared vision firstly, so the
members work in the same direction. The originating of the work, so the coordination and
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responsibilities are shared and there gaining appropriate work and a commitment to a shared
responsibility. Synergy, so you make each other’s good by using group resources appropriately.
Utilizing each other’s differences and that makes individual knowledge into collective knowledge.
A group has to be productive and eager to work, so interest for the project also is maintain, so the
group would not be short lived. If every step is successfully achieved the group would have a flow
that would make everything easier and heightened the productiveness in the group. This flow is
explained by the known psychologist Csikszentmihalyi. He explained in a useful way how to create
balance. If the severity is proportional with the competence, it would create a flow. The flow is what
makes the work pleasant and productive. The flow would affect the group members in the way that
they wanted to work with the other without any tiring effect; with the flow the student would gain the
optimal learning.35
There are different roles in a group, and they almost always fit in a group, and if not it is typically a
group that is not working, and has no flow.
·
Idea generator
·
Start up
·
Coordinator
·
Analyzer
·
Organizer
·
Contact Creator
·
Specialist
·
Exits
·
Communicator
Each word defines what each role includes. The communicator is the one creating the conversations
between the group members but also with guide counselors and teachers, and this part is very
35
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology)
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important to maintain the connection to everyone else, keeping everyone grounded and bound to each
other, so the group work is maintained.36
The first semester of Art and Technology had several classes, to help us achieve the knowledge we
needed for our semester project. In our first year we do not have any big amount of time to get the
knowledge to make extraordinary results, but from the knowledge received from the moodles it comes
close.
For our group working as a group was hard and did not at times work properly: people had different
views, it was hard to make decisions and take solutions democratically, to honour everyone in the
group. One of our problems was that we did not have good structures on working together as no one
wanted to be the organiser. We also experienced a lack of trust and the lack of taking others into
consideration as people did not always show up to agreed meetings or inform about not showing up,
did not answer the other group members when they asked about something related to the project or the
paper or did not contribute as agreed on in time or with the specific amount of work, which lead to
stress and more workload for others. In this way the workload was not divided equally. All this lead to
downfalls in the course of the project but no one luckily walked away from the project. One member
left after the exhibition because of his personal choices in life to do something different and pursue his
dreams.
There is a process in learning anything new. In the beginning, people are eager to learn but if the
learning curve is deep or just the first obstacles are met, they are starting thin king about agiving up.
This is just very usual human behaviour which happens anywhere from the sport, language learning,
coping at work, to making new friends, organizing events and any other activity that requires stepping
out of the comfort zone.
The same can be expected to happen in the case of problem based learning, which is an unique
concept compared to the traditional teaching methods. Aalborg University has taken on an opportunity
36
http://www.persontests.dk/personlighedstests/belbin/
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to use alternative learning styles that can’t be said about most universities in the world, because
universities as institutions are hierarchical and therefore bureaucratic, not very quick to change when
it comes to the internal structure and methods.
Although universities in general are naturally places of new thinking, great minds and innovation, but
the structure, top-down approach and hierarchy is something innate and neverchanging for the most
educational institutions. Even so much, that we have to use the word „alternative“ to describe nonhierarchical, practical or flexibly communicative systems. There exists a conservative, traditionalist
thought in a system that by definition should not be to conserve, but innovate and discover. Already
because of that the problem based learning deserves our attention, consideration and ideas, how to
make the system function better.
As with every new concept, the problem based learning has some obstacles that have to be surpassed
to make it effective. It is the requirement to learn anything from the process or the concept, to improve
it, make it better, which means that critique should be mostly constructive on behalf of the students
and accepted on behalf of the teachers or administrative staff. This, in turn, requires constant and
dynamic dialogue between the students and school workers, much more, that is expected from the
universities using the traditionalist methods. To make it happen, school probably needs finances to
help to encourage communication, as well as students who are proactive and take charge. Luckily our
school has lots of possibilities for the students to work together after school.
In conclusion, we can say about the problem based learning that although there are obstacles, there is
also a lot to learn through this unique communicative process. Like every new thing, it is hard and not
perfect, but at least we have the opportunity to change this and for many, seeing the change that they
have created, is the biggest motivation of the all possible.
7. Discussion
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Our main focus and test was to see if humans reacted the same way birds did when they were several
of them together. Would they panic and bump into each other? When birds like the starling bird came
together, they create a system, so that they can fly side by side without making a chaos. The result of
this system is a beautiful view for those passing by on the ground. The birds fly on the sky in a special
way, so they make a pattern on the sky. So if birds can fly together without making any chaos, then
can humans walk, run or otherwise physically communicate in big groups without making any chaos?
We wanted to figure this out and the result would be a beautiful sculpture, in the final of our project.
We started watching videos on YouTube put in by other people from the whole world. The massive
crowd of people, we wanted to find, could not be done in the nearest part of Denmark we are in. So
we found some videos from the greatest parts of the world, where people walk side by side in massive
crowds of people in the world. This is part like the countries Hong Kong and Tokyo.
In the videos we saw both slow-motion videos of the crowd and fast passing crowed. In both of the
videos we saw no panic or chaos. In the on slow motion video, the humans actually made a realizing
flow that was beautiful, also because the humans were blurred. That means that the humans also have
some kind of system, so that shy can walk side by side. Like the birds the humans do it quietly, and so
does the birds on the sky. So how do they do it? That next question we also answered by our project.
We learned that the humans watch each other’s moves to learn how to work together: when to lower
your hand or lift the hand. So maybe birds also watch each other’s moves to fly in the sky.
When they stood by our project, and where to make a flow so the fabric were to float better on the air.
They therefore had to look at each other to see their hands or moves with their bodies. Every time the
audience would play with our project, they would always make a beautiful flow in the air. They did
not even have to communicate oral to each other, but only with the focus on the others moves and
reaction, they were able to create the beautiful flow in the air. Maybe also because of what they
understood by our project. The project were supposed to look like the black sun, and people were
given a hint that it was the movement of the flock of birds, we were inspired and focused on, because
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we had projection lightning on the fabric and on the wall, and the projection was animated birds that
we had zoomed in on, so the things that you saw, were enlarged bird wings and other parts of the
birds. So we did not actually tell the audience at first what they were looking at, they had to look
longer and get the bigger picture to understand that it is birds creating art while flying. Some problems
to this were actually that they did not always understand that the fabric was indeed a big flock of
birds. Some people guessed that is was a ghost, because of the white transparent fabric, and the art
piece beside us was constructed to make some ghostly sounds of the surroundings, so that did affected
our piece. If we could have known this in time, we could have placed the piece in some quit
surroundings. In silence the audience could have had another view of the piece and would maybe
therefore understand it better.
We had many test before our final piece. We tested if we could hang the fabric straight from the
ceiling without any skeleton made of plexiglas. That made the fabric look like a big thundercloud,
because of the pointy parts were the strings were attached, and the strings would get tangled. That was
not the vision, we had for the statue, so we tried to discuss some other possibilities. We had some
models were the string were constructed by some sort of pips, so they would not get tangled, but the
construction was too complicated, and the piece would be too heavy, and it would not be durable to
hang from the ceiling. So we had to think of other solutions.
When the time came, and we were to build the final construction, we hang the fabric from the ceiling,
by attaching the strings to a long piece of wood. Our plan was really to make a wheel, were holes for
each string was made on the sides and in the middle, the strings would be tied together with a ball or a
stick, and that stick or ball, would be able to be pulled or pushed around. The strings would follow and
the fabric made a beautiful waving, when the strings were pulled. But the wheel was hard to make,
and we had hard time imagining how the audience would interact.
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We tested how handles, where the strings were attached to, worked. Four handles was made, and then
two or four people could pull the strings together, and thereby being interacting with each other. So
when we tested that we all agreed that the project would be complete and successful with the handles.
If we had gone with the wheel, the test result would have been completely different. The wheel was
only able to invite one person from the audience to interact with the art piece, because only one person
could move the strings attached to the stick. Then we could not see if people could make a flow
together, and we could not see if people had any strategies or systems to move the fabric without
making any chaos.
8. Conclusion
8.1 User experiences at the exhibition
One of our goals, besides mirroring the flock of birds, was to make the sculpture attractive also when
it is not moved, that it awakens emotions or just seems beautiful and dreamlike to watch even when it
is still. We wished that the audience would want to stand to look at it and feel something, feel the urge
to walk towards it and so to want to take the strings and move the sculpture any way they wanted. In
this way we wanted the sculpture to attract the audience to interact, not only with the sculpture and
video, but with each other as the best way to move it was when there were two people on the strings.
We imagined that people want to find the flow together by following each other and the soft
movements of the background video. It was interesting to see if this would happen, did people find
their way to the sculpture and the movement?
There were lot of people every now and then by our sculpture, and in most of the times, there were
always people moving the sculpture. For some it was fun to play with it and at times the movements
were rough and the viewers seemed to go into their own world while playing with it, laughing and
having fun. Other times the approach was more poetical and like earlier said, people also found the
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connection between the sculpture and the video when they realized it was all about the birds and their
movement.
One of our goals was that the installation itself is attractive to watch of which we have also user
review. While two viewers were moving our sculpture, a girlfriend of the other said, that her
boyfriend had said that he liked the sculpture. And at that point he had not yet seen that it can be
moved. The girlfriend encouraged him to take the strings and move the sculpture so he and his friends
started to play with it. They started to have fun with it and went in their own childlike world as they
tried to make worm-like movement with it. After finding the playful side of the sculpture they did not
think about the installation as a whole anymore, the poetical approach to the movement of the flock of
birds, the sort sol but we are not disappointed by that, on the contrary, they found each other, the
playfulness and the interaction; they formed their own movements and flow like we initially had
wanted. And they did find it beautiful installation as a whole even before finding out that it also offers
a chance to play.
We had wanted to explore if people are capable of forming such coherent and beautiful movements as
the flock of birds, to interact so intuitively as the starlings. And these two viewers did try to co-operate
and find the perfect rhythm and shape together in a form of fun, concentrated but still laughing
together but interestingly they also tried to give each other instructions on how they both should move
in order to make it work as they wished. So in human hands, the intuitive part in this case was not
enough but words and instructions seemed to be needed in creating something that they already knew
that existed in a certain way, in a certain form, the worm-like movement.
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References
Literature
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Potts, Alex (2001): The Sculptural Imagination. Figurative, Modernist, Minimalist, Yale University
Press.
Reiss, Julie H. (1999): From Margin to Center: the Spaces of Installation Art, Massachusetts Institute
of Technology.
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Supporting Information
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(accessed 2 Dec, 2013)
Cavagna, Andrea Scale-free correlations in starling flocks
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(accessed Dec 2, 2013)
PLOS Computational Biology
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Jan 31, 2013 Abstract : Starling Flock Networks Manage Uncertainty in Consensus at Low Cost
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(accessed Dec 2, 2013)
Keim, Brandon It’s (Almost) Alive! Scientists Create a Near-Living Crystal Jan 31, 2013
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A Darwinian Dance The Cornell lab of Ornithology
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