SoftMachine / A Natural History of Networks
SoftMachine / A Natural History of Networks
Electrochemical audiovisual performance and installation 2020/21 ongoing (online)
Credit: Ralf Baecker
SoftMachine / A Natural History of Networks is an electrochemical algorithmic performance and installation that explores an alternative computational and technological material regime. At its core, a custom-built electrochemical experimental apparatus (SoftMachine) creates a dynamic fluidic microcosm that performs a continuous becoming of form, structure, and material narrations.
The performer is manipulating and modulating galinstan, a liquid metal alloy composed of gallium, indium, and tin immersed in a solution of sodium hydroxide (NaOH). This wetware is stimulated by applying alternating electrical pulses through a set of cathodes and anodes. The evolving plexus of liquid metal creates distinctive electrochemical milieus (resistances/currents) between the electrodes. By measuring and analyzing the milieus, a (un)control process establishes that allows the network to react to its input in a closed feedback loop. Models and methods of self-organization and adaptation are introduced into the system to enable an autonomous agency resulting in a strange dialog with its performer. SoftMachine is an analog/digital hybrid to speculate about a heterogeneous technological culture. The material performance is captured by multiple cameras composed and displayed in real-time on a projection screen. The visuals are accompanied by a sonic layer taken directly from the fluid, a melange of drifting frequencies, pulses, patterns, and noise.
The process can be described as a dissipative structure, a term introduced by the physical chemist Ilya Prigogine. A negative entropy flow that exists in an open system far away from its equilibrium state. The evolving fractals and structures result from energy exchanges between the inside and the outside of the system. A dissipative structure is characterized by the spontaneous appearance of symmetry breaking (anisotropy) and the formation of complex, sometimes chaotic structures, where interacting particles exhibit long-range correlations. These kinds of systems appear on different scales, from hurricanes to chemical reactions and living organisms.
The apparatus is based on current scientific research on liquid metal actuators and soft robotics that enable flexible actuation, intelligent sensibility, and biomimetic functionality. A Natural History of Networks refers to the idiosyncratic research of the British cybernetician Gordon Pask, whose work looks at a theory of conversation and electrochemical learning mechanism (Physical Analogues to the Growth of a Concept).
Materials:
galinstan, sodium hydroxide, water, petri dish, custom electronics, microcontroller, aluminum framework, custom led lights, microcontroller, cables, camera, projection
Credits:
Thanks to Ada Weller for the construction support.
Digital Premiere:
29 January 2020 Performance live on Instagram Live (@statestudiobln)
plus high-quality process stream on twitch (https://www.twitch.tv/anaturalhistoryofnetworks)
Softmachine / A natural History of Networks is part of Vorspiel/ Transmediale 2021.
Artist
