Synapse – the last post –

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So, it comes to an end.

over the last few months Ive continued to resolve the prototypical themes with more concrete outcomes. Images below as an extension of the posts of the concepts and prototypes. Dr anna Tweendale has this summary..

During the ANAT Synapse Residency Ross Manning and Anna Tweeddale developed a growing series of kinetic prototypes, intended for installation and intervention into site-specific indoor environments. Each prototypical device creates an embodied experience that provokes both introspection and discussion of the complex aesthetic, technical, chemical, material, biological, and behavioural entanglements that characterise questions of how humans live with buildings and the indoor atmospheres that they co-produce. 

 

This dialogue between aerosol science, human building interaction and art provided a rich space to speculate on new insights into this field of inquiry that compliment, and perhaps challenge, scientific and engineering knowledge systems. 

 

 

Here’s the recap- remake, – extension and continuation- ****these images relate to previous blog posts..

____________———_________——–_______———_____-UV suite, 2024

UV light, parachute, tripods, rocks.

 

 

 

 

_______________——–____————________–suroundsound//danger 2024.

Speakers, tone generators ,blower fans, cable.

 

 

____———___________—-_____—-____—-____—____—______———-

personal turbulence. 2024

Paper fans, LED torches, rope

______———-________————______________________—_________________

ARiBAg

(atmosphere inside an atmosphere inside an atmosphere inside an atmosphere inside an atmosphere inside an atmosphere inside an atmosphere inside an  atmosphere inside an atmosphere inside an atmosphere inside an atmosphere inside an atmosphere inside an atmosphere inside an atmosphere)2024

12v motors, speed control, garbage bags, bamboo, steel rod, rope.

wings

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This type of fan has been used throughout antiquity. Unchanged for thousands of years. A fan such as this is the first tool humans crated to control and manipulate air. And we want to reference this by its use.

The suspended fan acts and as sensor. It shows the air flow in a given space by movement. like a flag or wind-sock, its activated by air-flow and turbulence.

Installed in a space, a cluster of these objects give awareness of the circulation and airflow of an indoor environment.

 

sound surround & danger

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last week, Dr Tweendale was talking about how throughout history humans and sort shelter and safety in building structures. These structures now offer their own threats.

Awareness sound physicality

We wanted to make an environment where the viewers are made aware of others sharing the indoor air of the shared environment.

With room capacity in mind, we would have a sound track that increased or decreased in scale and intensity depending on how many people are sharing the rooms atmosphere.

The installation

Suspended, moving speakers are hung in grid formation from the ceiling.   A pool of round focused light on the floor underneath each one captures the shadow movement’s. Giving a visual layout of the sound overhead.

 

All sound is off, As a viewer enters, a speaker will active with sound and movement. This repeats as each new visitor enters until all speakers are playing. Mirroring this build up of people, the sound track starts soft and somewhat gentle,  as more visitors enter, more speakers will active, each time with a more dissident / noisier tone, so that when all speakers are sounding the volume of will be a dense, atonal mass, in turn having a physical effect on the visitors making them feel  like they want to leave.

Ventilation

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Ventilation shapes

A installation work for indoor airflow. In any give space where the work is to be show,  the airflow is to be redirected, partitioned, channeled, stopped, amplified, segmented, ducted, divide etc etc with thin plastic sheets. The work is a direct intervention on the specifics of the circulation of air in that space. A visual indicator of the physicality of air movement and its interaction within an environment.

 

 

 

 

 

new workshop –

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We have moved into a nice new workshop project space at QUT 🙂

 

ready to star the next chapter-

Mechanical action in air

proof of concept for mechanical action

circulation of air, –

 

 

movement for pushing volumes of gas

all breathing things share

both personal and public .

internal / external.

 

 

UV Suite

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Uv Suite

 

The concept is to make sculptural works with a chamber that collects air, and is held and sanitised by UV-C, then released. To capture air and make it circulate for a while, rather than air just passing over UV light gives the UV more change to destroy pathogens. A breathing and cleaning work of indoor air. This should be hung from the ceiling, as hot air from people’s breath floats upwards and gather at the top of a room.

 

 

We are not using UV-C . Even though 222nm is meant to be safe for humans while being effective as a germicide , killing pathogens in the air by breaking down the DNA or RNA of the viruses. Safety precautions are necessary when using UV-C lamps, and they should be operated in controlled environments by trained professionals.

They can cause cancer, damage the eye and potentially interact with other particles causing unknown chemical reactions.

There is no regulation regarding UV-C lamps…..even though they are for sale.

A fan or multiple fans push air into a bag / bladder / canopy / lung, and inflates, the air circulates around a UV lamp, killing pathogens then is expelled.

We are using long-wave form UV for this stage of experimentation. –  i.e Blacklight.

Blue Light- Phosphor

When the UV lamp is placed inside the air ‘bag’ ‘lung’ , the phosphor in the white material excites and produces a glowing light through a process known as fluorescence or phosphorescence. Phosphors are added to clothes and paper etc to make them super white and look clean…  here it give a sense of deep monochrome to almost the paranormal apparition.

 

in person you can see the change of coloured light from the naked UV tube, an intense, vibrating purple filter to a deep neon blue when placed in side the air bag. The white glows a vivd blue and I wonder if that then means that the harmful UV light is trapped inside the bag and the light emitted is filtered now on the blue part of the spectrum and less harmful..?

This could be measured with a UV meter.

 

Effects of blue light

Blue is visible light that has a relatively short wavelength and a high energy level. It is part of the electromagnetic spectrum. located in the range of the spectrum between violet and green light, with wavelengths typically ranging from about 450 to 495 nanometers (nm).

Blue light comes from the sun and artificial sources like LEDs, tablets, smartphones and screens. It can have effects on our circadian rhythms- ie sleeplessness at night from screens. But also can have stimulating effect on brain chemistry and make you more alert, maybe hard wired from the blue sky during the day…?

Above is the material fluorescing under the UV light, making visible the cresses and undulations as air passes underneath

Along side the inflatable bag / bladder / canopy / lung concept for holding air captured while the UV cleans it. I have tried a more linear wall based version.. Also including the ideas around the flow of air in a space. The best way to ventilate is having the air being circulated from the floor upwards.

This is called Laminar Flow.

Below, a hollow wall wrapped in white filter material sucks in air at the top through tiny holes with fans. UV-c lamps inside the ‘wall’ sanitise the air and also make the white material glow and gives a kinetic downward ripple like water. The clean air is then ejected at the base of the wall through vents to rise up to the ceiling again via negative pressure.

Ive used layers of materials to experiment with the feeling of depth and saturation of the blue.

 

 

 

Blue with the EYE..

Cells called rods and cones in the turn light into electrical signals in the retina. Rods and Cones are photoreceptor cells that are responsible for detecting different aspects of light and colour. The cells for collecting shortwave length blue light are called S-cones.

S-cones are a lot smaller than the other cones used for collecting green and red light. The thinking behind this is that in nature blue is the most rare colour, where as green is usually most prevalent, with many shades. So through evolution the eye is more capable to seeing greens and reds.

i can’t focus completely on blue light, if i think of looking at a blue led digital clock (they have them at some train stations), i cant focus on the time until Im really close, even then the colour always seems fuzzy….

 

 

Next up- ideas on room capacity and awareness of shared breath.

 

 

prototypes upcoming

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We are soon to start building 5 prototypes and are moving into a nice new QUT workshop this week.. stay tuned…

Active perusal of concepts through materials process-

a/

ventilation architecture model

– wall – floor & pavilion-

b/

breathing while sanitising –  kinetic UV mobile x 2 – hanging and free standing – plastic lungs –

c/

installation of small movements and lights that activates incrementally depending on how many people entre the space (awearness)

d/

molecule movement visualisations.

e/

social ventilation canopies for bars and restaurants, *think Cone of Silence from Get Smart.**

————————————————————————–particles move.

——————————molecules nebulas.

flushing toilets + air hand dryers = fecal plumes.

————————————————————————————-

open the window

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gas dynamics

laser light reflecting off air born particles. a look at visualisation of the Invisible

https://youtube.com/shorts/-78052h0Q6E

https://youtube.com/shorts/1vY2wkycUCs

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Recipient of ANAT Synapse Residency 2023