↪↪Wave pendulum. Physical Oscillators, Future everything, Victoria Baths residency, Manchester 2011

↪ Physical Oscillators, Future everything, Victoria Baths residency, Manchester 2011

Work commissioned by VB Arts, Victoria Baths. Shown during Future Everything 2011

An installation continuing my research into physical oscillators to generate sound and visible patterns in a new kinetic artwork, created within the space of a now empty swimming pool. The project used pendulums and the gyroscopic action of motors and fans to create a sensory walk through environment reflecting the behavior of small swimming or flying insects.

Wave pendulum - The swing of a pendulum is governed by its length, which sets frequency of the swing. When a pendulum set in motion, the time it takes to swing fro side to side [frequency] remains constant, until it stops moving, even as the movement [amplitude] gets smaller. A longer pendulum will swing slowly, where as a shorter pendulum will swing faster.
This set of pendulums are hung at equal spacing while increasing in length in 10cm steps. When all the pendulums are released at the same moment form the same angle, a continually morphing waveform emerges as the pendulums begin to find their own unique frequency. The wave form is an illusion that becomes increasingly complex as time goes on until eventually it becomes difficult to recognise the patterns at all.

↩ "Tech Know: Etch A Sketch and robotic swarms at FutureEverything" By Andrew Webb, BBC News http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-13443240