invisible fields
invisible fields is a landscape animated not by the weather, but by the invisible winds of our digital lives. An abstracted cornfield sways in response to the electromagnetic currents of WiFi and Bluetooth traffic—signals usually hidden from our senses, yet constantly surrounding us nearly everywhere. The field becomes more animated as density and proximity of devices increase, while new arrivals spark movement like sudden gusts of wind. Shifting patterns of motion and sound emerge, turning intangible data flows into a sensory encounter. Visitors are invited to experience these ghostly winds, carrying with them the awareness how our lives are woven through with unseen fields of our own making.
Presented at:
- bits’n bolts May 3-4, 2025 at Dynamo, Zürich
- REFRESH X Fantoche September 3-7, 2025 at Stanzerei, Baden (AG)
- (upcoming) REFRESH #6 October 2-5, 2025 at Zürcher Hochschule der Künste (ZHdK)
On the technical side, this is an overview of the involved components:
Wifi and Bluetooth data are collected on two Raspberry Pi 4Bs using Adafruit Bluefruit LE Sniffer dongles. Data is collected and stored into an sqlite database and made accessible via webendpoints - thanks to Metin Feridun for this setup!
Another Raspberry Pi 4b ifields collects the data via regular webcalls to the scanners, identifies new devices (= MAC addresses) and packets, and calculates an activity level. Relevant data of new devices, new packets, activity statistics are sent out as OSC messages.
- to the driver process to activate the movement of the rods with the help of an Arduino, a CNC hat with stepsticks and 3 stepper motors
- to the osc_monitor that is doing a graphical rendering of the activity (for explanations and debugging) as well support some UI buttons for pausing, testing and shutdown of the full installation
- to a supercollider program that generates bell-like sounds for new devices and clicking sounds for packet activity
making of
Oh - and this remains after taking it completely apart again …
