The gave us a platform to create an interactive installation at the Kala Academy in Goa 2010.
The brief was to create a new media installation during the Jewellery exhibition in an open space such that it is dynamic and captures the attention of people visiting the show.
Ferrum is a physical installation that provides the audience a chance to engage in the playful activity of generating and enjoying the exciting patterns formed in iron dust using magnets.
Our motive was to make a design which people can touch,feel. We focused on the human perception of "power" when he realises that "something happened" because of him. We also wanted to use a material which people might have experinced in their lives but not in a way we might present to them.
The structure of the installation is also an outcome of concious decision. The square shape of each individual block is representation of the shape of the site, which was square. The upward/downward movement of the squares in a spiral fashion is represenation of a whirlpool, ( as the site was adjacent to a waterbody ).
Since the site was in Goa, famous for its beaches, the incorporation of pebbles in the installion seemed indispensable.
The installation was equipped with PIR (passive infrared) sensors to detect motion. The sensors were arranged so as to detect proximity of the viewer, in the event of which stepper motors were triggered. This further resulted in a controlled motion of magnets which in turn created patterns in the iron-dust, spread on the surface.
The site showcased ten models out of which we intentionally chose four to exhibit patterns in iron-dust. This limitation was intended to make the viewer enjoy the play-ful activity by enabling him to focus on few of them. Too many of them would have un-necessarily increased the randomness of the site and would have rendered the viewer confused.
All four installations formed different patterns from the interaction between the magnets and the iron dust.
The brief was to create a new media installation during the Jewellery exhibition in an open space such that it is dynamic and captures the attention of people visiting the show.
Ferrum is a physical installation that provides the audience a chance to engage in the playful activity of generating and enjoying the exciting patterns formed in iron dust using magnets.
Our motive was to make a design which people can touch,feel. We focused on the human perception of "power" when he realises that "something happened" because of him. We also wanted to use a material which people might have experinced in their lives but not in a way we might present to them.
The structure of the installation is also an outcome of concious decision. The square shape of each individual block is representation of the shape of the site, which was square. The upward/downward movement of the squares in a spiral fashion is represenation of a whirlpool, ( as the site was adjacent to a waterbody ).
Since the site was in Goa, famous for its beaches, the incorporation of pebbles in the installion seemed indispensable.
The installation was equipped with PIR (passive infrared) sensors to detect motion. The sensors were arranged so as to detect proximity of the viewer, in the event of which stepper motors were triggered. This further resulted in a controlled motion of magnets which in turn created patterns in the iron-dust, spread on the surface.
The site showcased ten models out of which we intentionally chose four to exhibit patterns in iron-dust. This limitation was intended to make the viewer enjoy the play-ful activity by enabling him to focus on few of them. Too many of them would have un-necessarily increased the randomness of the site and would have rendered the viewer confused.
All four installations formed different patterns from the interaction between the magnets and the iron dust.
Detailed documentation of the project could be viewed - HERE
Below is a snapshot of the electronic components involved in the working of the installation -
