This is the Turbine Hall in the Tate Modern art gallery. The building was once the Bankside Power station and this hall was built to house electricity generating machinery. The Gallery was opened by the Queen in May 2000. This huge space is able to exhibit art work that wouldn't be possible to display in most venues.
The current exhibition is 'In Love with the World' by Anicka Yi. Her work explores the merging of technology and biology. Here her machines float in the air by means of Artificial Intelligence.
Yi calls the machines aerobes and based their shapes on ocean life forms and mushrooms. She imagined machines evolving to become living creatures.'The aerobes' individual and group behaviours develop over time, influenced by elements in the ecosystem like a bee's dance or ant's scent trail, the aerobes communicate with each other in ways we cannot understand. By merging technology and biology, Yi asks if machines could evolve as independent forms of life.'
'A team of specialists developed autonomous versions of uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAV's) to bring Yi's aerobes to life. UAV's do not require humans to plot them. Here, they each follow a unique flight path generated from a vast range of options in the system's software.The aerobes respond to changes in the environment including the heat signals of people nearby. They receive information from electronic sensors around the Turbine Hall, which act as stand-ins for their senses. This sensory information affects their individual and group movements, meaning they will behave differently each time you encounter them.'
There was something very calming and hypnotic about these machines and I followed their movements around the hall for ages. There is also something very unnerving about machines developing their own movement pathways. Entry to the exhibition is free but you have to book.
I am the _least_ technological person in the world and have to rely on children and grandchildren to get through. But I am quite impressed that the aerobes can respond to changes in the environment, especially by including the heat signals of close people. The electronic sensors around the Turbine Hall are brilliant and, as you say, calming and hypnotic.
ReplyDeleteRather interesting and it sounds like it was a very expensive art project.
ReplyDeleteFascinating! Thanks for the description and sharing this with me :-)
ReplyDeleteVery interesting - thanks for sharing
ReplyDeleteRemarkable!
ReplyDeleteVery modern, indeed ~ lovely shots ~ Xo
ReplyDeleteHappy Days to you,
A ShutterBug Explores,
aka (A Creative Harbor)
I have not heard of that artist. Sort of like creatures from outer space imagined by the artist?
ReplyDeleteThis is so interesting! I think tech savvy artists can create incredible wonders.
ReplyDeleteWonderful! A friend sent me a clip of these machines but I did not know anything about them or how they were displayed.
ReplyDeleteIntriguing and unnerving like you said. They look as if they would fit right in with a science fiction story about aliens.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting. This appears to be stretching the boundaries of art into something quite different. Just call me old fashioned, most people do. Give me a good painting anyday.
ReplyDeleteAmazing! Perfect fusion of art and science.
ReplyDeleteFascinating! And so clever. I would think a bit more color would have made them more attractive, but who am I to say!
ReplyDeleteVery interesting but the thought of machines becoming autonomous is a bit scary.
ReplyDeleteModern art has changed since the last time I visited the Tate Modern (I say as if it is something I am lucky enough to do semi-regularly instead of once in a lifetime). And it isn't just that you have to book! What an amazing exhibit and a little scary too.
ReplyDeleteAs you said, fascinating and unnerving! The hall is a perfect complement to the exhibit.
ReplyDelete-Soma
there is something I don't like about robots and machines developing intelligence...perhaps I have watched the Terminator movies with my son too much.... but I don't like a world that develops in that direction, however useful these machines might be. It would be an interesting exhibition however, if not unnerving. Stay safe, enjoy your weekend ahead and thankyou for visiting my blog this week.
ReplyDeleteHow interesting and the perfect display venue.
ReplyDeleteUFOs are alive and well in London? Did this come out of the Mayor's budget courtesy of the taxpayer?
ReplyDeleteInteresting to see, but modern art is not my favourite.
ReplyDeleteAll the best Jan
I never have seen something like that ! Very interesting ! I only knew the old Tate Gallery in 1999 I guess, when my son still lived in London.
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