Holding Patterns was a networked installation
for Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. Holding Patterns
addressed environmental problems suffered by wetlands
and migratory birds as a result of population growth
and economic expansion. This project was a portrait
of the conflicting rituals of humans and nature; the
annual migratory patterns of birds that frequent the
wetlands and the daily migratory patterns of the human
commute. This was illustrated via 5 networked, kinetic
chandeliers/bulbs reflecting the daily flow of commuter
traffic via the 5 major modes of transportation in and
out of San Francisco city limits: airplanes (SFO), sub-terrainian
trains (BART), highways (Caltrans), above ground trains
(CalTrain), and ferries. Each bulb housed a robotic
bird. Coordinated behaviors networked through micorprocessors
controlled the movement and glow, and sound of each
pod and bird in relation to the live data gathered from
the respective mode of transportation. At high times
of traffic, all bulbs would retreat to the ceiling of
the gallery, darken and sound would reflect this condition.
At low points of traffic, the bulbs would lower towards
the ground, expand allowing the birds to fly and sound
would reflect this condition.
