ENTANGLED SPARKS (LinzerSchnitte)

ARS ELECTRONICA FUTURELAB (BASED IN AUSTRIA)
ENTANGLED SPARKS (LinzerSchnitte), 2014

Entangled Sparks is a programme that allows people to take a “pixel” of a media façade home in the shape of a ‘LinzerSchnitte’, a low-cost programmable FM broadcast receiver board. They can take the pixel anywhere in the city, and take over “godparenthood” for it.
This is comparable with the phenomenon of quantum entanglement, in which a particle shares certain properties with an inseparable counterpart. Here, a part of the façade is mapped to a single mobile pixel and vice versa; the building is extruded into the city and the city implodes into the building.
Owners of a pixel can coordinate with their friends in order to program their LinzerSchnitte devices to activate synchronously. The facade dissolves by means of participation: It becomes a transparent membrane and is no longer the outside of a cubature.
Pixels can blink, light up, fade, or do something completely unrelated to light; anything that can be controlled with a switch. Anything that can be “sparked” with electricity is possible. When a device is activated, its “entangled pixel” on the façade lights up.
The concept works according to aesthetical criteria as soon as the social criteria are fulfilled, i.e. if neighbourhoods collaborate. It also works as social reflection by visualizing where social co-operation is successful: A reflection of the city, visualized on the façade.

 

Artist biography

Ars Electronica Futurelab focuses on the future at the nexus of art, technology and society. They consider their works as sketches of possible future scenarios in art-based, experimental forms. In this way, they are aiming at developing contributions through methods and strategies of applied science, the results of which reveal new knowledge and experiences of societal relevance in art and science.
The lab’s team bases its commitment upon transdisciplinary research and work which results in a variety of different disciplines at the lab. Having Artists and Researchers from all over the globe collaborating with – and taking residencies at – the Ars Electronica Futurelab, is fundamental to this Atelier/Laboratory. The lab’s range of services concentrates on expertise developed throughout the years in fields such as media art, architecture, design, interactive exhibitions, virtual reality and real-time graphics.
The team consists of about 25 members from different disciplines such as architecture, biology, chemistry, graphics, informatics, art, media design, media technology, music, physics, sociology, telematics, etc.
Transdisciplinary work is not just an aspired method, but a living reality which has been existent in the lab for 16 years and transcends a mere cooperation of a few artistic disciplines.

Tech info

Media Façade; Custom Hardware; Custom Software