The combined sound and light installation encompasses a projector, 20 centrally and vertically arranged threads and active loudspeakers. Animated points and lines are projected onto the threads and visualize the dynamics of the global solar radiation of one day, whose data is recorded over a 24 hour period and compressed to 6 minutes for the installation. Live generated electronic music surrounds the visitor.
This light installation was exhibited at the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa, Dübendorf) during the opening of the new SolAce unit at NEST (Next Evolution in Sustainable Building Technologies). It shows how abstract scientific or other data can be visualised in a spatial context with the aid of light in such a way that they can be experienced and understood in a sensual way.
The scientific data was collected by the Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology MeteoSwiss. For the visualization of the global solar radiation, we developed a visual language based on aesthetic criteria. Speed, length and total amount of light of the projected points and lines were all mathematically related to the scientific data. The visual results obtained by programming were then selected according to aesthetic criteria.
In contrast to scientific visualizations the underlying data can not be deduced anymore. However its aesthetic interpretation and transformation adds a completely new quality of personal experiencing of scientific processes with the invitation to reflect about the often abstract facts.
A direct impression of the complexity and an alternative approach emerge, which not only promote art, but also offer great potential for science itself.