Boredomresearch Public Art Proposal Yellow Mall MetroCentre, Gateshead

Transcription

1 Boredomresearch Public Art Proposal Yellow Mall MetroCentre, Gateshead Proposed Artwork: Floral-Falls

2 Presentation contains: Artist summary Artistic concept how viewers will relate to the artwork & how the artwork will address the intended location. Technical description materials, fabrication methods, size and configuration, conservation & maintenance Site plan & location map Production costs Software demonstration & time for Q&A

3 boredomresearch summary

4 This computational system has been created for an art gallery, framed like a digital painting. OBG001 has been awarded honorary mention at Transmediale.05, Berlin & VIDA7.0 Art & Artificial Life Competition, Madrid. Exhibitions include SIGGRAPH05 (LA), DAM (Berlin), Natural Habitat (Amsterdam); ACE (Hollywood). It is the first computational artwork to be acquired by the British Council Collection.

5 The biomes use the potential of artificial life modelling and gaming mechanism allowing an experience over extended time frames. Funded by the Arts Council of England for a national solo exhibition Theatre of Restless Automata (April 2005-May 2006). The computational universes are viewed through glass portals which can be positioned on the wall or floor-standing.

6 Thousands of bodies inhabit the space of each biome and the space is so vast that when you witness a body leave the viewable area it may never be seen again. This is good for audiences wanting to revisit the space to see something different.

7 Artistic intention of the proposed work How viewers will relate to the artwork & How the artwork will address the intended location.

8 Floral-Falls will create a landmark focal point for visitors meeting in the Yellow Mall catering area. The work responds to the concept of the alfresco plaza with a contemporary re-imagining of an urban water feature with the stature of a clock tower.

9 The tower consists of four large screens enclosed in a glass column. Running down the screen will be a steady trickle of naturalistic floral vines generated live by software. The public artwork will harness the possibilities of computational techniques to create a compelling animation of ever changing floral blooms that will never repeat in the lifetime of anyone that sees the work. Unlike its traditional counterpart the abstract digital clock driving and morphing the forms in Floral-Falls will have cycles extending into millennia.

10 Unlike traditional clock towers this generative timepiece offers not only an iconic location for meeting but also an engaging and intriguing animation to occupy time while waiting. The tall glass tower will be clearly visible from all entrances to the Yellow Mall catering area and has the potential to be illuminated from within. The computational Floral-Falls software will be viewable from the Yellow Mall dining area.

11 Visitors will enjoy watching the system generate overtime. Diners and passer-by s will be captivated by a drift of vibrant blossom constantly twining down the column screens.

12 In computer animation we have the ability to combine ideas and qualities from varied sources to create new and unique entities. Floral-Falls will combine the physical motion attributes of water droplets running down a pane of glass with accelerated growth algorithms that have the appearance of time lapse photography. This will be combined with a generative system that will create floral forms. Each individual bloom will be unique and last only for the brief duration that the droplet takes to travel from the top to the bottom of the screen.

13 The software we will develop to create the blooms will have the ability to create countless billions of unique forms that will rival even the diversity of forms found in nature. The system will shift through periods of subtlety and delicacy and also periods of electric vibrancy. Every visit to the Yellow Mall s tower will be unique.

14 Unlike many striking works that become invisible through familiarity - sudden and dramatic shifts in the appearance of Floral-Falls blooms will reinvigorate visitors interest in the work; many may even make a point of going to the tower to see what the blooms look like on that particular day.

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28 The animation is designed to be immediately captivating so that as the vines fall and grow down the screen a spectator has something to watch. Then as the blooms on subsequent vines morph and change there will be a degree of suspense and curiosity as to see what will come next.

29 As new blooms appear from the leading edge of the vine old ones will unfurl, dissipate and fade away fluidly. This allows each vine a brief and fleeting opportunity to perform never to be repeated.

30 Some visitors may like to spend lengths of time watching as vine after vine weaves its way down the screen each with a unique appearance. As visitors dine they may punctuate their meal with comments and judgments on the appearance of each subsequent vine.

31 The software will be diverse & have a huge library of different shaped petals. Each flower petal can composite different layers and choose from a multitude of colours enabling each bloom to be unique.

32 Floral-Falls will be a compelling landmark for people to meet and congregate around. The column will be seen from a distance and with it constantly changing a waiting person can spend quality time observing the beautiful system generating. It is a contemplative artwork which will allow you to transcend momentarily to a private space in the imagination. Other potentials: -Sound sound library attached to the flowers. -Interactivity webcam to drive the flower colour generation. audience selecting flowers to genetically drive the system. -Lighting changing the environments lighting so it complements the Yellow Mall lighting. creating a different quality in the morning and evening. blossom could have different hues dependant on the time of day. -Timing aspects of the work could be timed to move synchronously i.e. changes in traffic, purpose and mood.

33 Technical description: materials, fabrication methods, size and configuration, conservation & maintenance

34 A beautiful glass column will house four 40 Harp Halifax LCD displays (W526mm x H913mm x D120mm), built into a vertical steel rectangular framework of (W526mm x H3652mm x D385mm).

35 The benefits of using these LCDs - thin mullions, slim profile, stackable, high resolution, ease of maintenance as lamplife is 50,000 hours.

36 HARP Visual Communications Ltd ( would be contracted to fabricate and install the screens, framework and display wall controller to drive all screens as one. Maintenance This company would provide a 3 year maintenance contract for the hardware usually this doesn t need to be renewed as LCD are so reliable. HARP would install the screens and service them. At the back of the column will be a service panel so a HARP technician can access the screens twice a year to service during the maintenance contract period.

37 The back and sides of the vertical column will be panelled in frosted 10mm Matelux laminated safety glass to provide a translucent appearance. There is the potential to also silkscreen print onto the back and side panels of glass. A series of subtle white blossom prints could trail down the glass to give the allusion of traces of blossom from the software captured in the glass. This will enable the column to have a captivating appearance from the side and back when accessing the artwork from the Red Mall.

38 Matelux is an acid-etched glass which is easy to maintain and highly resistant to stains. With the column being translucent it will allow light to filter through and produce soft silhouettes. So the column will enable the eye to see the contours of the architecture beyond. Maintenance The column panels will be fabricated using safety laminated glass, which is highly stain resistant and can be cleaned using clear water only without any special detergent. Security All the computer equipment will be housed within the glass column which will be secure and not accessible to the public. The computer system will have a extended five year warrantee.

39 The column s glass panel which is in front of the LCD displays will be fabricated out of either 10mm Optiwhite laminated glass or 8mm anti-reflective Schott Mirogard glass; ensuring the artwork displays can be viewed excellently and have unaltered colour rendering.

40 The glass column will sit on a large circular steel plate, so the blossom twine falling down the column will reflect in the pool beneath. The plate will be fabricated out of stainless steel (diameter 1500mm x thickness 3mm) with a bright finish, polished to be highly reflective with a mirror quality. Maintenance By using stainless steel for the circular plate it will ensure durability and rust and scratch resistance.

41 Site plan & location map

42 The Floral-Falls column will be installed in the art zone peripheral where the ceiling steps up to 7.65m so it gains maximum impact with a much higher ceiling above. The artwork will need a power supply from the floor for the computer, controller & screens. The artwork will enable clear public access through as the floor footprint is only 1500mm.

43 The height of the Floral-Falls column (3655mm high) will ensure that the artwork makes an impact when entering the space from the escalators and throughway to and from the Yellow Mall catering area.

44 Thanks Vicky Isley & Paul Smith [boredomresearch]