Process
GeeksArt was formed by a group of artists who shared interests in the design of creative public installations. “Wavelet”, an interactive installation of GeeksArt that used light-responsive lightbulbs to resemble the flowing water, which influenced on my IAT 222 final project. I was inspired not only by the visual presentation of “Wavelet” but also its ethos that showed the beauty in mimesis of nature.
In IAT 222 final project “Windwave”, me and my groupmates explored a different way to resemble wave by wind and electricity. We used a leap motion sensor to control 15 fans which covered with a cloth and coded two programs in Arduino and Processing to control them. As a result, the rainbow-colored cloth was blown up and down by the fans to mimic waves. The movement of users’ hands toward the sensor controlled the fans switches that affected the dynamic form of cloth.
Our primary goal is to resemble waves through the aesthetic look and changing form of our piece. When we conceptualized our idea, we also thought of the shape of water and our relationship with water. Water can become any shape and react immediately to any external forces.
We believe that everyone has memories that related to water. For example, swimming in the ocean or playing around with a hose pipe. Thus, our second goal is to recall users’ memories of playing with water. Water has unpredictable nature and people cannot control or create the water flow. As the third reason, we would like to provide users an innovative experience of controlling the form of water as well as creating waves. Our ultimate goal is to remind users the connection between everything and everyone. Life is comparable to an expanding ripple across the water. Even a small ripple in an ocean can change the overall form and motion of ocean. We want to demonstrate the fact that everything we do affects the people in our lives, and the choices we make have far-reaching consequences.