daniel schulze: for those who see

‘for those who see’ by daniel schulze

‘for those who see’, is an installation by german designer daniel schulze that features a 7 by 7 grid of concrete block each emitting synchronized signals of smoke.

according to schulze, the digital bit is everywhere, the pixel widely spread. however, as an isolated signal they are worthless. only the unity of pixels gives significance to digital data and potential beauty. in this project, schulze tried to find a means to allow each ‘pixel’ to interact with other pixels, thus, helping to form a picture.

image © designboom

the sensuous experience of humans is based on electromagnetic waves. though four of the human senses are not affected by light, the sense of sight is rated as the strongest of all. for schulze, it was interesting that the same physical wave that allows humans to see is used, in another frequency, for the invisible transfer of digital data. in discovering this, data and vision, perception and invisibility, together assumed an interesting coexistence for this designer.

video demo of ‘for those who see’

detail of concrete blocks image © designboom

the installation ‘for those who see’ draws the attention on this relation, an invisible phenomenon is designed to become a visually sensible ‘pixel’. in a rectangular box pressure is created by a speaker. this pressure is vortexing the air at a perfectly circular opening whereby a vortex ring develops. the energy affiliated by the sound adds an impulse to the ring – invisible, as the sound itself. only fog demonstrates this aesthetic phenomenon. once activated the vortex ring moves linearly in the air, where after a short moment it decreases in velocity and slowly dissolves.

orchestrated smoke signals

a matrix of 7 by 7 boxes individually releases smoke in the air and plays with audiences’ visual perception as they connects the single rings, in the short moment of their appearance, to patterns, surfaces, symbols or bodies. the installation also seeks to offer a moment of visual freedom: corresponding to the focus of the observer. one time it may be the overall picture, another time it might be the individual fragment, which invites contemplation and draws attention to something that may have remained invisible before.