Sound Installation, 2018-2019
Should the relationship between man and machine be defined as subordinate? The question Do Humans Dream of Machines? represents a negative feedback loop between human and machine. Each of the eight coolers is equipped with a miniature harmonica which generates sound when the cooler is activated. Each module has a built-in microphone, which recognizes the specific note of each harmonica. When the microphone recognizes the specified note, the fingers stop the sound by pressing the center of the cooler. If the microphone does not hear any sound, the fingers return to their original positions. The cooler constantly generates sound, and the fingers constantly stop the cooler.
The machine-human relationship can be described as a negative feedback loop that acts and reacts within a system. The sound generated by the cooler is a kind of message that the machine sends to humans. Through that message, the machine makes two demands of humans: turn it on or turn it off. The act of turning the machine on and off is itself a reaction to the demands of the machine. Humans are controlled by the demands of machines, and machines are controlled by human needs. Human beings are active presences that design such machines, but at the same time are passive presences that respond to messages. At this point, we can ask questions. Do machines dream of humans? Or do humans dream of machines?
SPECS
Dimensions: 1.5m x 1.5m x 0.4m
Materials: eight miniature harmonicas, 8mm Aluminum Pipes, eight coolers, eight servo motors, eight arduino nanos, two speackers, wood, acrylic glass, custom software, custom circuit boards.
Developed at the University of the Arts Bremen
EXHIBITION
European Media Arts Festival No. 32. Osnabrück, DE. 2019
PRESS
[Domus] Two kinetic installations reveal the soul of the machines. by Salvatore Peluso
[Hackaday] The battle between robot harmonica and machine finger rages on. by Lewin Day
[DesignTellers] The search for the soul in two MEKA installations in Jonghong Park