(n)certainties – Die Angewandte – Fall 2008

Creating atmospheres by processing the material.
Atmosphere in the sense of the impression of space.
Ways of affecting the atmospheres differs depending on the sense we´re focusing on. For start I´ve decided to focus on the sense of vision: affecting the atmospheres by introducing and controlling a set of parameters affecting the visual perception of space: thickness of the material (in order to achieve desired amount of opacity),  porosity (manipulating the amount of light), complexity of the pattern , colour, width and height of the space, and ways of connecting the spaces (for example: ramps or stairs).
(Since the character of the atmosphere is highly influenced by the scale of the space, different parameters should be used for different scales.)

Examples: intimate, seductive atmosphere – semi-transparent material (thinner layers), subtle pattern, darker colours, no sudden changes in the space flow, spaces are connected with ramps of gentle slope
psychotic atmosphere – perception of narrowing or widening the space , the pattern is more intense, the amount of light varies from extremely high to extremely low, steeper connections between spaces

…

Variation of transitions between atmospheres (depending on the atmosphere and the desired effect):

- subtle transitions

- abrupt transitions

- overlapping the atmospheres

MATERIAL AND ITS PROPERTIES: – synthetic resin
- fit for moulding
- different degrees of opacity
- possibility of adding colour

ROBOTIC BEHAVIOR (methods of processing the material):

- controlling the porosity by creating systematically dispersed light openings (perforating the material by stabbing, scratching, passing through a surface…)
- imprinting the pattern into the material (by rolling over the material, suction…)
- controlling the opacity by controlling the thickness (the amount of layers of the material)
- the robot changes the nature of its movements according to the atmosphere it´s creating (more subtle and continuous movements for the intimate atmosphere, aggressive discontinuous movements for the psychotic
atmosphere, etc.)