The Water Within (Hertzian Field #3.1) - Stelios Manousakis, 2018
The Water Within (Hertzian Field #3.1) is an intimate 20-minute experience of complete multi-sensory immersion. Groups of up to 6 visitors enter a parametrically-designed structure, developed in collaboration with architect Ping-Hsiang Chen. The space has its own very hot and humid microclimate and is monitored by an autonomous software agent. An electromagnetic bubble engulfs the steam room, acting as its sensing apparatus. The agent’s sensing system harnesses the interference of water on radio waves to conduct something akin to a continuous X-ray or MRI of the space – but with ordinary WiFi signals. The system was entirely developed by the artist, inspired by obscure surveillance research. The agent performs an algorithmically-driven dynamic soundscape in response to the density and flow of water molecules in the space from the steam and the water inside visitor’s bodies. Lights and 3D sound projection is embedded in the structure. Six ceiling-mounted full-range speakers envelope visitors with a canopy of sound, while two subwoofers project deep vibrations that can be heard but also felt through the seats and wooden floor.
The piece uses the raw materiality of wireless communication to expose the sympathetic resonance of the body to its flows and to celebrate interference, signal-loss and disconnecting, both metaphorically and through its (ab)use of WiFi technology. It creates a place for visitors to slow down, listen, relax, and playfully communicate with the system and with one another through the body – by being there, experiencing heat, space and sound together.
For a different iteration of the work from 2016, visit this page. The principal difference of the 2018 version (The Water Within (Hertzian Field #3.1) is that the work is a composed interactive experience for a group of visitors entering and leaving the work together, with sound, light, and interaction evolving throughout the piece.
| Year: | 2018 |
| Type: | Immersive multi-sensory experience |
| Description: | A 20 minute experience in an interactive hot steam sauna with sound, light and WiFi waves |
| Dimensions: | 3.6m x 3.6m x 2.1m |
| Duration: | 20′ |
| Capacity: | Groups of up to 6 people at a time, seats for 7 |
| Materials/Media: | Hot steam generator, WiFi networks, Raspberry Pi computers with WiFi cards, custom-made software, stands, loudspeakers, sound, light |
| Software: | SuperCollider, Perl, Unix Shell networking tools |
| Concept, interaction, composition & sound design, light design, software programming, steam: | Stelios Manousakis |
| Sauna design: | Ping-Hsiang Chen, Stelios Manousakis |
| Skin design & fabrication: | Stephanie Pan |
| Speaker cabin design: | Dionysis Manousakis, Stelios Manousakis |
| Fabrication: | Ping-Hsiang Chen, Dave Kalle, Gijs Thermorshuizen, Djurre Kooistra, Johannes Fischer, Stelios Manousakis. 2018 remounting: Stelios Manousakis & Stephanie Pan |
| Photo credits: | Stelios Manousakis, Stephanie Pan |
Videos
The Water Within / Hertzian Field #3.1 at Broedplaats WD4X, The Hague, 2018.
(Audio contains low frequencies, please listen with headphones or good speakers)