Artificial Wind is a generative sculptural installation that uses real-time wind data to control four fans placed on the ground around a solitary plant. Custom software downloads wind data from the National Data Buoy Station PWAW3 off the coast of Lake Michigan, and then parses the incoming stream of numbers to isolate wind direction and speed. Based on the angle of wind direction, different fans turn on and off and gently rustle the plant’s foliage. Wind speed data is used to determine the relative speed of the fans. A spotlight from above cues viewers to observe the plant for subtle shifts in movement. Behind the plant and fans, a monitor displays the current wind speed and direction.

 

Artificial Wind attempts to recontextualize a system of environmental forces in an indoor, gallery setting. Doing so is inevitably futile, requiring complicated coordination between software and electronics to imitate patterns already found in nature. My goal is to offer a subtle space of reflection on technology’s inherent limitations and invite viewers to look more attentively at the relationships between human, technological, and environmental systems.