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In Swarm, an assortment of tiny electric
fans are suspended across a space above a number of ultrasound sensors.
As the fans spin, the motion of their blades is transduced and heard
as a low rumble that corresponds in pitch to the rate of their rotation.
Through electronic control the fans' speeds vary over time in a series
of flocking patterns, with the entire swarm occasionally spinning or
changing speeds in unison and at other times in separate groupings.
Like information through crowds, these patterns of movement follow quick
and unpredictable paths as they articulate a perpetually shifting terrain
of alignment and realignment. Alluding to themes of instability and
physical force, technological acuity and hazard, and collective will,
Swarm is an image of a living entity awakened
and intoxicated by a sound of its own making.
Installation views at the
Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane, Australia (September, 1998). Mixed
media, electronics, sound (dimensions variable).
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