Nervous Machine· Jun 2024
| custom software, generative video & sound, heart rate sensor, silicon rocks, 8 programmed LCDs, metal frame, speaker
Nervous Machine is a generative video and sound installation. In real-time, my heart rate is measured and used to influence three compute shaders, which generate textures simulating the crystal lattice of silicon. The resulting video stream is projected onto a wall. Eight microcontrollers equipped with 480x320 LCDs are situated on the floor, each programmed to compute and display noise fields being modulated by periodic signals. Chunks of raw elemental silicon are placed on top, and around, thoses screens. At the same time, my heartbeat is made audible by modulating the amplitude of a 50Hz sine wave, the fundamental frequency of the European power grid.
The installation responds to my heart rate - as it increases and decreases, the visual and auditory form of the work reacts accordingly.
By experimenting with random number generators and studying their visual output through noise fields, I discovered that by modulating uniform noise fields with periodic functions, one could produce a wide range of textures similar to those found in nature, such as crystal lattices. This, coupled with my fascination with silicon — the very bedrock of the Earth’s crust beneath and the foundation of the digital world — has inspired this work.
(Image: Scan of a chunk of elemental silicon (right) and a LCD with a noise field (left)).