Interaction

'Man is always aiming to achieve some goal and he is always looking for new goals' (Pask)

We constantly search for pattern and order in what we see. When looking at an array of dots the brain begins to piece it together as a pattern and labels it as a grid. In looking at a painting we search for recognisable attributes and apply our own unique meaning. 'Perception is not determined simply by stimulus patterns; rather it is a dynamic searching for the best interpretation of the available data' (Gregory 1966)

When faced with a work of art we naturally look for images we can latch onto in order to understand it and apply it to our experience. Gordon Pask's Colloquy of Mobiles for the 'Cybernetic Serendipity' exhibition (ICA 1968) took this insight and created a literal representation of it. He did this by building an interactive system in which the traditional observer of the work of art was brought into the creative process and became a creator him or herself (within the limits of the system). Rather than the interaction taking place purely by scanning the artwork with our eyes and perceiving it in our individual ways, a further interaction takes place where the artwork responds to the observers movement (in this case observers were given flashlights and mirrors to interact with the mobiles). In the constant rearrangement of the artwork the observer has a new goal of trying to understand what the system is doing. The exploration is then likely to continue to try and find out what the systems limits are and what it's trying to achieve. Perhaps the most productive interaction is that which the machine makes possible in sharing the experience with others.

In the Weather Project, Olafur Eliasson turned the huge Turbine Hall at the Tate Modern into a sunset, his main conceptual driver was the way we talk about the weather and experience it in our everyday lives. In the run up to the opening of the installation he interviewed the gallery staff to find out what they thought about the weather. He displayed the statistics as part of the publicity as a talking point. This was both a good way of getting people involved and talking about the project and a commercially astute piece of advertising. It is interesting that the most talked about thing was the power of the atmosphere and the shared experience of lying on the floor underneath the mirrored ceiling, the conscious conversation about the weather became an aside. A poignant moment came when, in response to the Madrid train bombings on March 11, 2004, a group spelt the word Spain by arranging their bodies on the floor of the Turbine Hall to the applause of everyone else in the gallery. The atmosphere was electric as it was 10pm on the last day of the exhibition, dark outside but inside the light of hundreds of sodium lamps reflected in the ceiling mirrors made a warm glow and the reflections of all the people who had stumbled into this strange, calming, apocalyptic scene were reflected in the ceiling as tiny dots within the vastness of the turbine hall. It is interesting also, to note the way in which groups gathered together on the floor in an attempt to define themselves apart from the mass of tiny dots.

Other works by Eliasson demonstrate similar conversations. In 'Your Utopia' Eliasson presents you with a red button with 'press' written on it, having pressed the button there is a short pause and then just when you don't expect it, a bright flash blinds you momentarily. As you regain sight the word utopia is now printed on your retina. Many people who experience the work may have heard about or learnt about after images, many won't, but the actual perception of the phenomenon takes that learning to a new, slightly irritating, level. This harks back to Goethe's gradation of understanding from empirical to archetypal. The actual, real, experience of the light and the after image when combined with an understanding of what physically and psychologically happens, leaves you slightly blind for a few moments and perhaps enlightened.

It is this witty provocation into spectators 'seeing themselves seeing' as he puts it, that makes Eliasson's work fascinating. This 'seeing yourself seeing' alludes to a new perceptual position affording fresh insight in to the way our vision works. It also alludes to an out of body experience, perhaps a transcendental experience where in the blink of an eye, or the flash of a light, new understanding is revealed. Maybe this is part of the process of escaping from the cave and gaining insight on who we are? The complex study of feedback and conversation theory is the realm of cybernetics, or literally 'helmsmanship'. I can't do it justice in this essay but further information is available through the links page.

Jeppe Hein's work involves interaction or reaction at it's simplest and most playful. In Smoking Bench (2003) a bench sits in the exhibition space, on sitting down, the bench blows out a plume of smoke which engulfs you in a cloud. A mirror in front of the bench allows you to see yourself disappear in the cloud. It's interesting that he felt the need to put a mirror in front of the bench so you can watch yourself disappear and others can watch you watch yourself disappear.

The above all instigate a dialogue between the designer and spectators and most importantly between the spectators themselves.

As I mentioned briefly at the end of the last section 'The Eye and the Brain', I want to create an environment where the spectator can begin to take some control themselves as part of the creative process.

It is conversation which I want my work to trigger, through experience of abstracted natural, scientific phenomenon and the ability to play and interact with it.

Yantra Mandir

A very good example of this is the story of Yantra Mandir or Jantar Mantar in India. These amazing constructions were built in the 16th century by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh (1688 - 1743), ruler of the kingdom of Amber. The name is derived from yantra, instrument, and mandir, meaning temple so Yantra Mantar lierally means the 'temple of instruments'. Sawai Jai Singh studied science and astronomey extensively and placed a high value on his learning. It was from a want to share this knowledge that he constructed a series of astronomical observatories. The observatories were built in Dehli, Jaipur, Mathura, Ujjain and Varanasi, all but the Mathura observatory still exist.

The truely amazing thing about these observatories is their scale, it was possible to fully inhabit the space of the instrument. This made the observatories much more precise than the small hand held devices of the time. It also allowed the observer to experience the phenomenon of the earth's movement through space in relation to the rest of the solar system and beyond. I want to focus on one device at Jaipur, the twin hemispheres of Jai Prakash Yantra which are used to measure the sun's movement through the sky during the day, and at night, view the stars through a sighting tube. The Jai Praksh Yantra are two six metre diameter hemispheres sunk into the ground. Within the hemispheres trenches are cut to allow the observer to view the measuring surface at waist and head height rather than have to stoop down. The reason for the two hemispheres is that they are a complementary pair, the trenches cut out of one are inverse to the other, this is illustrated best in this drawing. Moving from one hemisphere to the other every two hours means that continuous measurments can be taken.

A time lapse film of the light moving across the surface of some of the instruments of Yantra Mandir can be found here.

I have included the example of Yantra Mandir because it shows so clearly my intentions. I see Yantra Mandir as the creation of an architecture which gives people the opportunity to gain deeper understanding of the world around. It does this not through learning of laws and theories but by direct experience. The Jai Praksh Yantra is both an astronomical instrument and an inhabitable space. It is this duality that allows a depth of experience which has the potential to enlighten and inspire.

In the next section I will go through the plans for a Sun-Space Modulator.

The making of a Sun-Space Modulator