Woodtrack is a highly complex digital product that collects, processes and transmits data in real time to a physical object. Its appearance is anything but digital, complex and fine mechanical.
From April to June 2015 the professors of the Burg Giebichenstein University for Art and Design Halle took advantage of the Universities 100 years anniversary in an exhibition which never took place before: every Professor was presenting a piece of private work. My contribution was Woodtrack, an interactive installation.
The starting point was to create an object that visualizes the visitor volumes of the exhibition in real-time and displays the activity at a specific time of day as well as the entire duration of the exhibition.
The tree trunk, turned around its own axis in 24 hours and acted as a 24 hour clock. A microphone measured the volume level in the Great Hall around the clock. The drilling machine drilled the amplitude of the measured volume level at regular intervals into the tree trunk – the louder it was in the exhibition, the deeper the bore. Similar to Hadrian’s column, the holes spiraled downwards over the course of the days. During the exhibition, the day and night side of the trunk became visible and on what days and at what time, how much was going on in the exhibition rooms.
Thus, through and during the exhibition, an image of the activities within the exhibition has been produced continuously. Woodtrack is a highly complex digital product that collects, processes and transmits data in real time to a physical object. Its appearance is anything but digital, complex and fine mechanical.
