Timestreams

Timestreams is a joint research and development project between the RCUK’s Horizon Digital Economy Research Hub, University of Nottingham,  and Active Ingredient. It explores the relationships between energy and climate change in collaboration with Carlo Buontempo with a senior climate change scientist at the UK MET office and British Brazilian artist Silvia Leal.

Timestreams are live data feeds created using a worpress plugin, and related API, that allows you to record, store, edit and replay data in timelines on you own personal WordPress blog. Much like a piece of video editing software, multiple Timestreams can be layered, synchronised and compared. The accompanying API then allows you to easily output

Working alongside Active Ingredient, I helped develop a series of artistic responses to the environmental data that we collected throughout a residency in Brazil. Using Timestreams, we were to investigate new possibilities that such platforms might allow for artists, designers and hackers working with data, as well as how communities in the UK and Brazil might exchange their ideas, information and conceptualisations of data, energy and environment.

My role in this project was primarily in the creative and technical development of physical prototypes that reacted to environmental data streamed through the Timestreams platform. The prototypes I worked on are listed below.

Timestreams is open source. If you would to get involved in the development of the platform, the source code can be found on github. The API is available here.

For more information about this project, please visit the website.

1. Inflatables

Working with local artists Natali Tubenchlak and Hugo Richard, we adapted these inflatable scupltures to react to the noise spilling into the gallery from the city street outside. Taking inspiration from the vibrant urban location of the gallery, we looked towards the human activity and the resulting noise as a strong signifier of the expenditure of energy in the urban environment. Each one inflates and deflates dependent on the live decibel data captured by our sensors, creating a soft tactile graphic equaliser.

Developed in Collaboration with Natali Tubenchlak & Hugo Richard, Barracao Maravilha, and Active Ingredient.

2. The Rites of Spring

This handmade grammaphone plays Stravinsly’s Rite of Spring. The speed of the turntable is determined by global CO2 data between 1959 and 2010, from the mauna loa observatory in Hawaii. The speed of playback therefore increased incrementally to reflect the rising CO2, getting faster and more hectic with every passing minute.

Developed in Collaboration with Bruno, Barracao Maravilha.

3. The Extreme Weather Prediction Machine

The machine gathers live Humidity and temperature data in order to offer predictions about the weather. However, rather than giving a weather forecast, it instead offers advice about steps that might need to be taken as instances of extreme weather become more frequent. This advice was derived from a series of interviews with other artists and local people.

Developed in collaboration with Rachel Jacobs, Active Ingredient