context ::
In the course of history wind chimes have been used in different contexts. They have been used for therapeutic purposes as their soothing sounds are considered to dissolve stress and anger. Moreover, in some cultures they have been used to attract so called benevolent spirits. Their most practical use has been to forecast weather in farms. Through the strategic position of a number of them in space, and the direction in which the wind chimes move, the farmers could assume the wind direction. Wind coming mostly from one direction triggers parts of the wind chimes that create the same sound. Thus, people assume wind direction by recognizing the predominant note. Moreover, the rate at which the chimes hit the striker can give an estimate of the wind speed. The rate is understood as the sound density and volume in the human ear.
In the context of weather forecasting, the chimes play the role of a ‘space translator’. They are instruments of perception, helping people recognize signs that determine the forthcoming spatial conditions. Wind consists of a temporal event closely associated with space, through its capacity to shape space. A cold and humid wind brings about a completely different spatial sensation from a warm, dry wind. Thus, the wind chimes are capable of rendering these signs readable to the human ear. The capability of the wind chime as a ‘space translator’ is of great interest to me. Its sonic language assigns each wind type a note which is translated into the x, y, z coordinates, and also assigns the intensity of the wind to the volume of the sound. The shifts in the coordinates and the volume over time can be used in the Wii/nd Chime to manipulate this ‘translation instrument’ and explore the potential of this translation.
On the other hand the Wiimote is a game-controlling device, launched with the game console Wii Nintendo. The Wiimotes allow the computer games to simulate physical games. Its revolutionary aspect in relation to older, classic game-controllers, such as the Atari digital joystick, is that it brings the players back to the physical through the virtual. In game design one of the basic principles is the motion inside the gaming environment. The better the computer graphics, which renders physical the virtual environment and the motion of characters, the more enthusiastic the gamers are. Moreover, the more responsive are the controlling devices the more the player gets a sense of participating and affecting the game. Thus, the accelerometer inside the Wiimote renders it into a tool that drives us from the real to the virtual, without any turbulence on the way. I am interested in the ability of the Wiimote to transfer people smoothly from the real to the virtual and back in a very casual way and I intend on using this in the installation. Furthermore, however novel, the Wiimote functions upon another set of gestures, the pressing of certain buttons. This design choice brings us back to older game consoles such as the Atari, with a slightly nostalgic feeling. This retro feeling about video games is also something I intend on integrating in the Wii/nd Chime.
purpose ::
In this project the intention lies in the inversion of the object’s temporal attributes but also the questioning of its object-related aspects. On the one hand, the coordinates and the volume can be used to signify a different sequence of events of cause and effect, signifying the ‘new’ reality of the fake. Thus, the Wii/nd Chime here does not trigger sound following the wind shifts, but is triggered by human interaction, which propagates sound and behaviour over-time. On the other hand, the object fulfills its object-related goal, which is its ‘real’ existence based on a autonomous technological system, however, it is totally fake because it does not follow its own vocabulary and syntax to convey meaning, but rather simulates the medium of the original object.
To me the Wii/nd Chime represents a different path of understanding/ interpreting the world around us. It seems as though we may need to approach the physical through the digital (and the virtual) to gain a better understanding of our environment. It consists of a real object, but it gains its fakeness by simulating two other objects. It imitates a function rather than exploring its own content. It is therefore not an autonomous object, but a simulation. This does not mean that it is not real. It is even “better than the real thing” because it can do more.
medium ::
In conclusion, I will summarize the principles of the Wii/nd Chime. The nostalgic feeling created by the wind blowing on wind chimes is something I want to maintain, in combination with the nostalgic feeling about old video games. Furthermore, the x,y,z coordinates and the volume used in wind chimes for weather forecasting, but also for transferring us smoothly from the real to the virtual in computer games is a language I will use to make another kind of transition; possibly stage a pattern-based sound behaviour on these properties. For me, the Wii/nd Chime is an instrument of nostalgia, which depends on the visitor’s playfulness and according to their interaction with the object; it gradually transforms notes from chimes overtones to video game 8-bit music.
+ about emergent behaviour n iedo games
+ analysis of joysticks (analogue to digital)
+ video game music
