The Resilience of Emptiness

The Resilience of Emptiness is an installation I created using strings, brushless motors, custom electronics, and software. Threads are suspended from the ceiling and attached to a grid of motors. I wrote my own communication protocol between an Arduino, which controls the brushless motors, and a custom java application that sends emergent patterns to the field of motors.

The installation explores the ways a minimal amount of material, a series of strings in this case, when kinetically activated, can manifest a wide range of spatial conditions. The speed of each motor is variable and the strings create implied volumes of different frequencies based on their speed. I was interested in how contemporary technology could be used to create new forms with a nod to the lineage of cybernetic art.