Installation | light beam, Mirror

Kerry Cliffs, Ireland  
51°53'00.2"N 10°25'10.8"W

Collaborate with
Marius Pfennigdorff
2021 ongoing

Now Past Now 

2021 ongoing

The concept of an atmosphere can be understood as a highly divided space in which human-made boundaries subdivide the natural environment through regulation and law.

Our focus lies upon the demarcation of time and space as a human-made construction. The invisible division between time zones tend to follow the boundaries of countries and their subdivisions instead of strictly following longitude. In some areas such as western Ireland, the division of time thus deviates to pass around its national territory. (Coastline)

This project uses light as a vehicle to bridge two western headlands of Ireland at midnight. The light beam strikes from one headland (0 hr) towards another over the North Atlantic Ocean (-1 hr). In a sense, it starts from today, passes through yesterday, and then returns to today again.

Standard Time zone 2020

Three possible installation locations and scenarios.

Investigation | 18 March, 2020, 12:19-16:58 GMT
River Thames (Hammersmith Bridge), London, UK 
51°29'10.2"N 0°14'53.1"W

Archival digital mapping on mixed reality
2020

                     

Hidden Island

Tide is a unique temporal environmental phenomenon, caused by combined effects of gravitational forces exerted by the Moon and the Sun, and the rotation of the Earth. Its change varies in timescales. In River Thames, the time range of tidal changes was approximately 4h 17mins during my observation, which is less than the minimum time scale that orbiting satellites can accurately describe its ebb and flow and the shifting bank line.






To refine a digital representation geographically. I used a photogrammetry technology as my measuring device to orbit and to observe the tidal changes over time. Since the optical scanning performance of the measuring tool was disturbed by the flux state of reflection from the flowing river surfaces, this investigation had unexpectedly revealed an hidden island that is thus generated or  recognised
by the machine’s failure / blind spot / mind to the shifting boundary between water and land.

Our landscape is likely being morphologically transformed by the entanglement of both environmental and technological factors in the era when technology is increasingly becoming our priority sense.
 
                         

Scanned area

Observation | 21 May, 2020, 07:25-11:20 GMT
Central London, UK

Crystallised structure | Metal solution, Electronics, Data
2019

Over Here, Over There

Our increasing demand for interconnected networks such as the Internet of Things (IoT) brings on the redistribution of electromagnetic radiation that is invisible and covering our environment. The technological ambition of the IoT was intended to interlink between us and other artificial systems in order to communicate, and to control. When a signal/message is sent out, what else does it contact?

In this project, directional antennas connected with containers of liquid metal were set up within an urban environment. Each of the setups is able to receive the electromagnetic field propagating through space at a given time. Depending on the fluid volume of electromagnetism, the liquid metal self-evolve and organise accordingly into crystallised structures. Resembling in some way like a growing plant, this microenvironment subtly grown out of information that is randomly fed by human intervened ambient condition.

Antenna used to detect electromagnetic waves

 Crystal morphology from 9:13 - 10:42 - 11:03 

Installation | PVC Sheeting, Wood Structure

W14 0NH Sinclair Road, London, UK   

Collaborate with
Marius Pfennigdorff
2020

Ecological Tunnel - Sinclair Rd I

Whilst rethinking our relationship with the rest of our environment, the concept of Equilibrium emerged, which denotes a state of an ecosystem that is decentralised in its nature by interconnecting all the different participants. The goal of this project is to present actions of individuals that stand at the crossroads between humanity and the environment. The work seeks to blur the human-made and the natural world and question their differences as a whole.

A new perspective might arise from studying biological membranes as mechanisms of exchange and transference. According to landscape architect James Corner, “rather than separating boundaries, borders are dynamic membranes through which interactions and diverse transformations occur. In ecological terms, the edge is always the most lively and rich place because it is where the occupants and forces of one system meet and interact with those from another.“ Corners method of field operations “enables alternative ideas and effects to be played out through conventional filters and provides ways in which borders may be respected and sustained, while potentially productive forces on either side may be brought together into newly created relationships. Thus, we shift from a world of stable geometric boundaries and distinctions to one of multidimensional transference and network effects.“

One aspect of architectural practice is the separation of habitable and inhabitable space, therefore it necessarily has to deal with the notion of connecting and dividing. This partition visualises our relationship with nature through our concept of property. Our home is designed as a unit that is divided from nature. It is designed to withstand natural influences and to protect us from their unpredictability. Architecture offers us a space of predictability. This installation creates a tunnel connecting the «outsides», using built forms as a vehicle for deconstructing and reconstructing our physical and psychological perception of our habitations, beyond sovereignty and property. To rethink our built environment we propose a possibility of coexistence with the non-human by narrowing the boundaries between «inside» and «outside», blurring the barrier between «over here» and «over there».

During our research process our perspective shifts to non-human architecture and specifically to the concept of ecological corridors. These ecological corridors are designed to reconnect landscapes which are interrupted and blocked by human-built obstacles. Roughly, three types of corridors can generally be distinguished;

1. linear corridors: long, uninterrupted strips of vegetation, such as hedges, strips of forest, and the vegetation growing on banks of rivers and streams
2. stepping stone corridors: a series of small, non-connected habitats which are used to find shelter, food, or to rest
3. landscape corridors; these consist of diverse, uninterrupted landscape elements which offer sufficient cover for a safe journey from one core area to another.

In light of their purpose, core areas and corridors should be free of human exploitation.

«Ecological Tunnel at Sinclair Road» seeks to identify the common ground shared between humans and nature and to use the environment to shape a peaceful coexistence and solidarity between the two.

After linking two windows, certain conditions changed within its space. Namely the utility of the living space (movement, rearrangement to remain functional), the diversity in atmosphere (fall of temperature, feeling less secure) and the clear boundary between «inside» and «outside».

 

Equilibrium / « Ecological Tunnel - Sinclair Road »

seeks to identify the common ground shared between humans and nature and use the environment to shape a peaceful coexistence / convergence and solidarity between the two.

After linking two windows, certain conditions changed in that space, such as the utility of the living space (movement, rearrangement to remain functional), the change in atmosphere (fall of temperature, feeling less secure) and the clear boundary between «inside» and «outside».

   
 

Investigation with Aerocene team | 10 September, 2019, 5:23-19:45 GMT
Olympiapark, Munich, Germany 
48°10'14.4"N 11°33'15.9"W

Airborne sculptures | Plastic film,  Atmospheric currents, Solar radiation
2019

Rethinking Environmental Sensing with Aerocene

Aerocene is a series of experiments launched by Argentinian artist Tomás Saraceno with airborne sculptures aiming to explore the possibility of environmental sensing. Mobile structures made of black plastic membrane, like a bloom. It applies atmospheric physics principles that rely on solar radiation from the sun during the day, and infrared from the surface of the Earth at night. Its inflatable technology with zero carbon emission for air transportation allows the sculptures to be navigated solely by atmospheric currents.

The balloon-like sculpture which is as light as air, and is surrounded by air. Essentially, the structure itself could be viewed as just another type of air driven by atmospheric currents. But the thin film on the structure’s surface turns the air into a tangible object, therefore it may require a permission for crossing the border. After reporting to the air traffic control between countries, the floating structure (83AQI) was free from borders. It launched from Munich, Germany, on 10 September 2019 at 5:23, flew 247.9 miles and came back down to the Earth on the same day, in the evening near Sloupnice, the Czech Republic, at 19:45.

As with the film on the surface of the sculpture makes a clear air division but allows solar radiation to infiltrate, the concept of division can also be regarded as political affairs. Demarcations such as border (geopolitical boundaries) and airspace (a portion of the atmosphere controlled by a country above its territory). To cross these boundaries requires a hierarchical authorisation. They are human made subdivisions over the natural environment, open and close to a certain condition.

Here, the boundaries whether visible or invisible, they stand at the intersection of connection-division, and block-osmosis. Due to this indefinite boundary shift, we are potentially displacing the localities between ‘over here’ and ‘over there’, reverse ‘inside’ and ‘outside’.