Inflatable Wind Tunnel
Inflatable objects use air under high pressure. In wind tunnels, air circulates through controlled negative pressure. How could these two be combined? The Inflatable Wind Tunnel (2015) by Florian Dombois and Kaspar König is an artwork whose outer structure is created by the very air that flows through its own wind tunnel test section. Conceptually, the wind sculpture follows the Göttingen wind tunnel type, which recirculates air from an intake zone back to a blowing zone; in form, however, it resembles the Eiffel wind tunnel with a closed test section.
The wind tunnel can be used by interested parties upon request to conduct their own experiments.
Contact: Sascha Jösler (sascha.joesler @ zhdk.ch)
Where is the wind when it isn’t blowing? Where does it go after it has blown? How do high- and low-pressure winds differ? Fan blades divide the air into two parts: a here and a there. Through pressure, the air is expelled; through suction, it is drawn back in. Two versions of the same process: wind, wind. The fabric channels the wind—sensitive like a sail. A flower in the air, a flower made of air. Filament or pistil, depending on the point of view. Male and female figures. Exhaling, inhaling.
Wind instruments function by being blown into; could we build them the other way around? Could a trombone produce sound through suction? What kind of music might emerge from a forced absence, from the creation of a void into which the surrounding air flows? Could this instrument be accompanied by a fan, supporting the performance like a rhythm machine?
A mobile wind tunnel can appear anywhere. A flexible wind tunnel adapts to its environment and responds to it by continuously finding its most suitable form. An expandable wind tunnel. A tireless wind tunnel that circulates and recirculates endlessly and never gives up.
Artists: Florian Dombois, Kaspar König
Realization: Urs Meier and Fabian Wyss (Luft & Laune, Zürich), Dominik Fedier, Istvàn Major und Alex Stierli (ZHdK Produktionszenter)
Material: Spinnakertuch, Gebläse, Stahlrahmen
Size: 3.55 x 3.55 x 7.58 m
Year: 2015