Vents 2.0 (2020)
article⁄Vents 2.0 (2020)
abstract⁄VENTS 2.0 is a responsive environment that relates the moving air at separate locations using realtime data transmission. Functioning as an exhibition installation, a kinetic canopy produces a ‘rain’ of air puffs subtly felt on the skin with a visual pattern of color LED, translating environmental conditions elsewhere into visual, audial, and tactile experiences within the Wurster Gallery at the University of California at Berkeley. The project articulates forms of airflow as part of a dynamic spatial device that stimulates senses beyond sight in a contemporary exhibition setting. It establishes an active system that triggers the emergence of initial states of air and modulates its evolvement. The installation collects realtime and recorded wind velocities via weather API Application Programmer Interface. The computed data input controls multisensorial effects output by an array of air chambers using a customized script running on a Raspberry Pi. Each chamber generates air vortex rings one can feel when collapsing onto the skin, a typological form of airflow widely used in both art installations and the gaming industry due to its visual and tactile properties. These puffs of air, produced asynchronously, are distributed across the space by a total of twentyfour pairs of chambers assembled onto modified umbrellas on a lightweight aluminum frame. Undulating along the central axis of the 2,200 square feet gallery, the canopy locates right above average human height, illuminating softly a series of projects on display underneath, while at the same time providing visitors unexpected encounters with the constructed ‘breezes,’ the echoing sound, and the fluctuating light.
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| Year |
2020 |
| Authors |
Zhang, Catty Dan. |
| Issue |
ACADIA 2020: Distributed Proximities / Volume II: Projects |
| Pages |
124-129 |
| Library link |
N/A |
| Entry filename |
vents-2-0 |
