floc_
					VG Bild-Kunst 2006
	home events works research : floc : collecting rain workshops cvs contact		floc is based on research about swarms, flocks, shoals, swarm behaviour, particles, cluster formation, flow and shift. The research will be based on art history/theory, natural science and information science. The work itself is planned as three spherical objects. Each spherical object shows a different view/perspective into the research of swarms. The local starting point of our research is the Bass Rock, Scotland – the largest single island gannet colony in the world and regarded by David Attenborough as one of the "Twelve Wildlife Wonders of the World". Concept We will create three spherical objects like miniature worlds. The first sphere will show the local view: Particles surrounding a fixed core like flocks of birds surround the Bass Rock. The second sphere will result from a global perspective – the worldwide migration of the birds (relating to our fixed core). The third spherical object will be about the individual birds' view and perception – a percipient bird circling around the core and migrating to other continents. The three objects will be powered by solar power (eventually the first sphere with water-, the second sphere with wind- and the third spherical object with solar power). Realisation – sphere 1: local view A hollow sphere is the embracing shell for the autonomous movements of particles. The sphere will be developed as computer-controlled space including poles with gravitational and tidal emitters and interactive devices for tracking the presence of humans. Both the particles (ice) and their surrounding medium are made of water. The continuous change between ice and water enables the hovering movement of solid ice-particles. Centrifugal force, drift and buoyancy are mutually influenced by the interaction of humans. Their action (touching of the cold steamed up sphere) allows the change of the particles' spatial routes. However, people cannot change the inner relationship between the poles of the sphere and the long-term behaviour of the particles. People will mainly leave ephemeral traces of their actions. – sphere 2: global view The second sphere results from a global phenomenon and perspective – the worldwide migration of birds of passage. Computers and technical extentions translate migration into visualisation. The mediums for the visualisation are light and artificially produced fog. The fuzziness of fog and the opaque mass of birds symbolised inside the sphere contrasts with the precision of data visualisation. The flocks' real movements are mapped into the fog. In long-term view people attending the space are able to change the "wind". It is possible to lead the fog to a certain area of the sphere. As a result there are less projection areas for the data visualisation. A lot of information gets lost. Human influence in the world can reduce species. It is not possible to retrieve new data about these species' movements. – spherical object 3: individual view The third spherical object is a perceptive photographic apparatus, which one person is able to put over their head. The object consists of a system of spatially aligned camera obscuras. The apertures sit on the outer site of the object thereas the focussing screens form into the inner site of the spherical object. By using an eye-tracking system the person's view will open the focused apertures and their images on the screen will blur and get brighter. The underlying concept is the fact of the surveyed birds on the Bass Rock. They are both observing and observed all the time by life-cams, photo cameras, scientists and tourists. It is a kind of feedback-system which will blur the "real" natural life of the birds because of the intervening translation and filter. The spherical object inverts the birds' focused view. Sometimes it sleeps. The potential impact for the public is to become sensitive to developments in nature and to see the poetry in it. Fundamentally the work is powered and inspired by renewable energy. The floc project is supported by the Alt-W Fund and the Scottish Arts Council New Media Residency Programme at the University of Abertay, Dundee.