GIJON.- Feather Tales II is a responsive environment that arose from an imaginary scenario in which a secretive dialogue between electromagnetic waves and their material surroundings become vaguely visible, thus captivating. The columns in the exhibition space that are covered with feathers become hypersensitive to waves emitted by mobile communication devices. Whenever electronic signals haunt the space the surfaces start to show involuntary reactions. These reactions are presented in the form of horripilation, the involuntary erection of feathers also known as ‘goose bumps’. Goose bumps are physiological phenomena that can occur in animals in a variety of emotional states, such as irritation, fear, admiration, and sexual desire.
Thus, in Feather Tales the existence of a secret dialogue becomes visible to the visitors, whereas the causing emotions remain unknown. The installation is composed of 200 reactive units that hold 1000 white ostrich feathers distributed in the Sala Nueva of LABoral. Each reactive unit includes an electromagnetic signal sensor, a processor, a servo motor and movable feathers. When a signal is detected in the proximity of a sensor, the feathers start to flicker and move accordingly. The units are sensitive to a variety of frequencies ranging from mobile telephony to WiFi and bluetooth. Hence, the visitors are provided with the chance to interact with the environment using their personal devices.
Ricardo O'Nascimento was born in São Paulo, Brazil and nowadays lives and works in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. He is graduated in International Affairs, Social Sciences and Multimedia Design. He also holds a Master in Arts by the University of Arts and Industrial Design of Linz, Austria, at the Interface Culture Department. He is an artist and researcher on the field of media and interactive art and investigates body-environment relations focused on the development of worn devices, interactive installations and hybrid environments. His work has been seen all over the world at venues such as Ars Electronica Festival, FILE festival, Transmediale, V2_, 404 Festival, MIS-SP, Instituto Itaú Cultural, among many others.
Ebru Kurbak is an artist, researcher and educator, currently based in Vienna. Her works deal with cultural and psychological implications of body-technology-space relations. In her recent works, she has been designing body-worn technologies and exploring their instrumental, aesthetic and semiotic potentials. She has shown her work in international platforms such as the Ars Electronica Festival, Siggraph, and FILE Festival among others. Kurbak studied architecture at the Istanbul Technical University. After graduating, she worked as a lecturer at the Departments of Visual Communication Design and Photography and Video in the Istanbul Bilgi University. She currently teaches at the Department of space&designstrategies in the University of Arts and Industrial Design in Linz.
