2018-2019, artificial weather installation
collaboration with Itamar Bergfreund & Bruce Yoder
smoke machines, stage ventilators, drain tubing, compression boxes, aluminum extrusions, LED strips, Raspberry Pi, custom software
_Pitch
Ethereal Fleeting is an attempt to synthetically reproduce one of nature’s most stunning marvels outside of its usual context: the creation of a cloud. Though this endeavor appears to be doomed to failure, it raises various questions on how we interact with our environment, as well as about our desire to imitate and eventually control nature. This supposed contrast between technology and nature is explored in a scope of unseen possibilities of sustainable interdependence. The air is used as an ephemeral storage medium, its content gradually dissolving over time. A metaphor for our modern societies: we are constantly writing our stories into the atmosphere – both consciously and unconsciously – manifesting energy into tangible forms.
_Operating principle
Fog fluid based on polypropylene glycol is compresses with a custom ventilation and tubing system, creating cloud sequences which represent the Morse code of a generative text.
_Artistic statement
A continuous series of clouds, generated by a silvery machine-like sculpture, float over its surrounding and slowly dissolve into thin air again. This seemingly natural phenomenon can be observed in strangely repetitive patterns. Its formation is indeed programmed and conceals an algorithmic poem, coded into the winds. The air is used as an ephemeral storage medium, its content gradually dissolving over time. A metaphor for our modern societies: we are constantly writing our stories into the atmosphere – both consciously and unconsciously – manifesting energy into tangible, albeit transient, forms.
The installation is an attempt to synthetically reproduce one of nature’s most stunning marvels outside of its expected context. Though this endeavor appears to be doomed to failure, it raises various questions regarding how we interact with our environment, as well as on our desire to imitate and eventually control nature. This supposed contrast between technology and nature is explored in a scope of unseen possibilities of sustainable interdependence.
_Exhibitions
12/2024 (Un)HolyLight 2024 – Leuven (FR)
09/2023 Marana Golo Arte Festival – Village de Monte, Corsica (FR)
10/2022 Lumières sur le Quai – Quai des Savoirs – Toulouse (F)
05/2022 MMMAD Festival – Madrid (E)
10/2021 No Way Back – Sils im Domleschg (CH)
10/2020 Light Art Grindelwald – Grindelwald (CH)
09/2020 Ars Electronica – Linz (AT)
08/2020 Sensorium Festival – Bratislava (SK)
06/2019 Liminal Festial – Bucharest (RO)
03/2019 Mirage Festival – Lyon (FR)
_Project credits
<> Concept:
Lukas Truniger, Itamar Bergfreund, Bruce Yoder
<> Artistic direction: Lukas Truniger
<> Scientific consulting: Bruce Yoder
<> Structural design: Itamar Bergfreund, Lukas Truniger
<> Software design & development:
Adele Lin, Sophi Kravitz, Mat Pinner, Lukas Truniger
_Support
+ Burning Man 2018 Honoraria art grant
+ Mirage Festival
_Project website
http://etherealfleeting.lukastruniger.net/
